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Overview
Network management is the process of defining the structure of an organization's internal departments and external partner network, and subsequently defining access to data, at record level.
Major features
- Simulate the structure of your business departments and partner network
- Use communities, groups, and units to represent organizations, departments and teams (respectively)
- Establish access levels within the system.
- Use Network Entity Types to classify and control access to CRM.COM modules and define their behavior within the system.
Understanding network entity types
An understanding of CRM.COM network entity types is essential for setting up network management.
All CRM.COM entities such as subscriptions, subscription types and activities can belong to multiple entity network types. For example, the activities module is defined as an implicit viewing entity as well as an assignable entity. Entity entries inherit their functionality and access behavior from the network entity type.
Refer to the table below for a description of network entity types
Setting Up Network Management
Communities
A 'community' is the representation of an organization. Businesses with many partners can be split into two communities, one representing the business and the other grouping all of its partners. For each community, a single contact ('person' or 'company' contact information) can be designated as the representative.
Community fields
The table describes the sections of Community Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
| |
| Groups | |
| Displays the groups that belong to the community or which can be created and added by using Add New Group, available in the Actions menu or through the Groups Data Entry page. | |
| Units | |
| Displays the units that belong to the community, which can be added to a group through the Groups or Units Data Entry page. | |
| Users | |
| Displays the users that belong to the community, which can be added to a unit through the Units or Users Data Entry page. |
Groups
A group represents a department within an organization such as sales, marketing or finance or a partner. For each group, a single contact ('person' or 'company' contact information) can be designated as the representative.
Group fields
The table describes the sections of Group Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
Set default under Partner Settings: Foundation > Platform > Admin Settings > General Settings. The rewards module uses account information to credit or debit partners (represented by groups and units) through reward settlement runs.
Is Single Unit: One unit must be created only and assigned to the group. | |
| Contact Information | |
Details of the new representative. The contact information is created automatically and takes the name of the group. | |
| Covered Geographical Areas | |
New records are assigned to a group (through the 'Owned by Group' field), which designates the users that can access the record. Geographical areas can also be assigned to specific groups, making it possible for the system to automatically assign a group to new records by using the group's geographical area. Refer to Automatic assignments based on geographical areas for more information. Set as Owner Group automatically based on Covered Geographical Areas Area, District, Town/City and Postal Code can be defined as conditions. Conditions defined in the same row must all be met. | |
Units | |
Displays the units that belong to the group or which can be created and added by using Add New Unit, available in the Actions menu or through the Units Data Entry page. | |
Users | |
Displays the users that belong to the group, which can be added to a unit through the Units or Users Data Entry page. |
Units
A unit represents a team within a department such as team leaders and operators or could be partners under the umbrella of a partner group. For each unit, a single contact ('person' or 'company' contact information) can be designated as the representative.
Unit fields
The table describes the sections of Units Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
Accounts Receivable (created for the unit if required by its group)
Set default under Partner Settings: Foundation > Platform > Admin Settings > General Settings. The rewards module uses account information to credit or debit partners (represented by groups and units) through reward settlement runs. | |
| Contact Information | |
Details of the new representative. The contact information is created automatically and takes the name of the unit. Same as Group: The contact information of the unit's group is selected. This option is available if the classification of the associated group is set to 'Internal' or if the classification is set to 'Partners', in which case the Set up an Accounts Receivable on field (of the group) should be set to 'Partner group' (I.e., if an account must be created for every unit, then the contact information of the group cannot be used). | |
Covered Geographical Areas | |
New records that necessitate user input to complete are assigned to a unit or user. E.g., when a new activity is created for an installation, the activity is assigned to the installer team so that one of the installers will complete the installation. Geographical areas can also be assigned to specific units, making it possible for the system to automatically assign a unit to new records, using the unit's geographical area. Refer to Automatic assignments based on geographical areas for more information. Assign Unit automatically based on Covered Geographical Areas Area, District, Town/City and Postal Code can be defined as conditions. Conditions defined in the same row must all be met. | |
Sub Units | |
Displays all of the unit's sub-units, which can be created and added to the unit by using Add New Sub Unit, available in the Actions menu of the unit Data Entry page. | |
Users | |
Displays the users that belong the unit. Once units are set up, new users can be created and existing users added from other units, through the Actions menu:
|
Community collaboration profiles
Community collaboration profiles are used when groups belonging to different communities share data. For more information on collaboration, refer to Group Collaboration Profiles.
Community Collaboration Profiles fields
The table describes the sections of Community Collaboration Profiles Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
Collaboration Scope: Define whether data from groups of this community will be shared with groups of 'Specific' or 'All' Communities. | |
Collaboration with Communities | The |
| Inward Collaboration | |
View existing community collaborations established through an explicit definition (specific community) or through collaboration with 'All Communities' and either:
| |
Set default under Partner Settings: Foundation > Platform > Admin Settings > General Settings.
The rewards module uses account information to credit or debit partners (represented by groups and units) through reward settlement runs.
Group collaboration profiles
CRM.COM data is subject to different levels of access. The level of access depends on the group (or business department) of the user.
For example, if customer Z belongs to group A then only users belonging to group A will have access rights to customer Z entries.
Data can be shared between groups (departments) by setting up group collaborations and defining restrictions on:
- View
- Modify
- Assign
- Search
Group collaborations do not apply to Controlled Selection Entities. I.e., if Group A is set as an 'Allowed Organisational Unit' for a certain activity type, a user from Group B will not be allowed to create an activity of that type, even if there is a collaboration between the two groups.
Group collaboration profile fields
The table describes the sections of Group Collaboration Profiles Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
| |
| Collaboration Settings | |
If the 'Specific Groups' collaboration scope is selected, then collaboration settings are defined for each group. Start by Adding the group and defining the settings. For the 'All Groups' collaboration scope the actions are only defined once. Collaboration Settings: Define access restrictions to shared data. For each restriction, you can define which data will be shared and its access level ('None', 'All Privacy Levels', 'Specific Privacy Level', 'Specific Privacy Level Groups'). What does each Access Level denote
| |
View My Records
| Defines the data (if any) that will be available for other groups to view.
|
| Modify My Records (Includes View) | Defines the data (if any) that will be available for other groups to view and modify.
|
| Assign My Records (Includes View & Modify) | Defines the data (if any) that will be available for other groups to view, modify or assign (for Assignable Entities).
|
| Share My Groups | Defines whether the group will be available in (Data Entry page) search results and for use as a value in group-related fields of various modules.
|
| Share My Units | Defines whether the units of the group will be available in (Data Entry page) search results and for use as a value in unit-related fields of various modules.
|
| Share My Users | Defines whether the users of the group will be available in (Data Entry page) search results and for use as a value in user-related fields of various modules.
|
| Inward Collaborations | |
View the existing group collaborations that share their data with this group, either through an explicit definition or through collaboration with all groups. There are two options: View existing group collaborations established through an explicit definition (Specific Group) or through collaboration with 'All Groups' and either:
| |
Related Configuration Areas
The following optional modules are related to network management and can be configured for the network management module to operate at its full capacity.
Manual Link | Area | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | General Settings | Set up the default value ('Group' or 'Unit' level) for creating accounts receivable for partner groups. |
| Security Management | Privacy Level & Privacy Level Groups | Configure the privacy level and privacy level groups which can be used in group collaboration profiles as conditions for sharing data. |
Using Network Management
Cloning groups and collaborations
Groups and collaborations (between groups and between communities) can be cloned to save time.
When a group is cloned all of its attributes are automatically replicated in the new group (such as its classification (e.g., partner group), the number of its units, and the number of accounts of each unit).
When a community collaboration is cloned, all of the communities that the community collaborates with are replicated in the new collaboration profile.
To clone any of the above entities, use Clone (entity) from the Actions menu of the respective page and provide the required information.
Automatic assignments based on geographical areas
Groups and units can be assigned automatically on new or existing records using common geographical areas. For example, the system can assign an installer from the same area (e.g., US postcode MA20155) as that of the customer who requested the installation.
Units are assigned to 'assignable entities' and represent the teams responsible for performing the task. Groups are assigned to 'explicit viewing access entities' and represent the departments that own and have full access rights to the record.
Unit assignment
Units can be assigned automatically based on covered geographical areas provided the feature is enabled through Units. Unit assignment is applicable for entities that require that a task is completed by a user. The following are Assignable Entities:
- Activities
- Leads
- Service Requests
- Jobs
A unit is automatically assigned to an entry provided that the customer is located within the covered geographical area.
The system compares the address of the customer to the geographical areas covered by each unit and assigns a unit when a match is found (see table below). Automatic assignment cannot take place if more than one unit covers the area.
| Assignable Entities | Entity Address Compared To Geographical Area |
|---|---|
Activity Lead Service Request | All active addresses of the related contact information. |
| Job | Job location |
The system initially refers to Automatic Collaboration Rules (ACRs), which also offer the option to automatically assign units based on geographical area. If a match is not found the system subsequently checks the unit configuration.
Group assignment
'Owned by Group' of entries can be based on covered geographical areas if the feature is enabled through Groups.
'Owned by Group' is only associated with explicit viewing access entities (entities for which the owner group is defined on the record). A group will automatically be set as the 'Owner' of entries provided that the customer is located within the covered geographical area.
The system will compare the address of the customer to the geographical areas covered by each group and will assign a group when a match is found (see table below).
In each case, the system will compare the customer address, according to the table below, against the covered geographical areas of each group and will assign a group when a match is found. If more than one group covers the area the assignment is not automatic.
| Explicit Viewing Entities | Entity Address Compared To Geographical Area |
|---|---|
Subscription | Subscription location |
Job | Job location |
Accounts Receivable Communications Contact Information Leads Activities Service Requests | All active addresses of the related contact information. |
Resource Plans Warehouses Reward Offers | Not set automatically. |
Network Management Business Examples
Set up Network Management for your business network
Scenario 1
Company ZX wants to set up its Network Management for two organizational units (Internal and Partner) with the following structure:
Solution
Communities
- Create a Community for External Organizational Units.
- Create a Community for Internal Organizational Units.
Groups
- Add Groups on the Internal Community (through the Community page).
- Add a Groups for managers, classify it as Internal.
- Add a Group for sales manager, classify it as Internal.
- Add a Group for sales branch 1, classify it as Internal.
- Add a Group for sales branch 2, classify it as Internal.
- Add a Group for finance, classify it as Internal.
- Add Groups to the External Community (through the Groups page).
- Add a Group for sales partner 1, classify as Partner.
- Add a Group for sales partner 2, classify as Partner.
Units
- Add Units on sales branch 1 (through the Groups page).
- Add operators sales branch 1 Unit.
- Add team leaders sales branch 1 Unit.
(Repeat the same for all internal and partner groups)
- Add a Sub-Unit for each operator sale branch.
- Add call operator Sub-Unit.
- Add vehicle operator Sub-Unit.
Users (User Management)
- Add users to each Unit.
- Add Call Operator Users.
- Add Vehicle Operator Users.
Automatic Group Assignment
Scenario 2
Company ZX wants to set the 'Owned By Group' of all applicable entities based on the area in which the customer is located, as the information will always be handled by departments in the respective location. There are three 'Owned By Groups': London, Birmingham, and Manchester.
- London Metropolitan Area
- Southend
- Chatham
- Luton/Dunstable
- Reading
- Birmingham metropolitan area
- Coventry
- Nuneaton
- Redditch
- Kidderminster
- Manchester metropolitan area
- Manchester
- Macclesfield
Solution
- Configuration
- Create three groups in the system
- London
- Birmingham
- Manchester
- For all the groups select the option: Set as Owner Group Automatically Based on Covered Geographical Areas.
- In the geographical area section of each group provide the respective towns.
- Create three groups in the system
Notes
- If you are using a previous release, view CRM.COM Release Changes.
Glossary
| CRM.COM Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Organisational Unit | A unit, group or community, used to organize the company’s network. |
| Privacy Level | A numeric value (ascending with higher privacy) used to control access to view and modify data shared between organizational units. |