Sharing data between Salesforce and the Message platform is a key part of what both Message for Salesforce and Message Sync take care of. You'll set how you want the data shared and Message will take care of the rest. Both packages have the same interface, options and behavior.
How the syncing works
To start, let's remind ourselves of how syncing works between Message and Salesforce.
- Tracking records
As part of implementation, you pushed over a population of students and likely create a Flow that would automatically add records to Message. Once added, the sync will track and changes to those records and queue them up to be synced during the next sync window. Message does not sync ALL records each time, just incremental updates to records when changes have happened. - Sync window
By default, the sync window is 10 minutes. Any changes made and any new contacts that meet the Flow criteria during that window are queued up to be shared with Message. - Syncing
Once the end of the window is reached, the sync will process all the changes and create records that need to be created. It will also check for any changes made from the Message web app that need to be synced back to Salesforce. The data synced back will be determined by your field mapping.
Once the syncing is complete, a number of additional self-healing processes will run to make sure the list of contacts we're tracking is correct and up-to-date.
Setting Up Data Sharing
Creating a mapping between fields is how you'll let us know which data you want to share. Message does not track all contacts or all field changes. Push and Flows are how you tell us which contacts we track. Field mapping tells us which fields should be shared.
Go get started, go to the Message package -> Programs and select the program you want to configure. You'll start with the Fields section.
Step 1: Selecting the sync object
To start, we'll need to select which object you'll be sharing data to and from. This needs to represent a person and the record must include a phone number. This is typically Contact, Opportunity or Lead, but it can be any object - including custom objects.
The +add another object option is useful when you're planning to have Leads convert to Opportunities and have both record types in a single program. This isn't a common option, so please speak with our team before you enable it.
Step 2: Mapping the phone field
The phone field is the only field that is required to be mapped. Now that's selected your record type, you'll see the phone field in the list below. Click the pencil icon to pick the field you want to map and the direction you want the data to flow. For phone field, you almost always want this to be from Salesforce to Modern Campus Message.
Step 3: Sharing fields
Now you can map each field you want to share with Message. As you select each column, the next column will become available.
Modern Campus Message Field
This is the field in the Modern Campus Message web app you want to share the data to or from. If you created the field in the web app but don't see it here, go back to the Programs list and click "Update Programs." When that is complete, the field should appear.
Salesforce and Related fields
This is the field on the record type you've picked above. The list of available fields will be restricted to just those that match the Message field type you've selected.
If you want to get field data from a related object, you can find a field on the main record that creates the relationship. For example, the Account Id creates a relationship with the Account object. You'll be able to see which fields have relationships by looking for the "Related Object Name" tag.
If you've selected a related object field, you will have to select the Related field.
Direction
You have three options:
- From Salesforce to Modern Campus Message
This will be what you select for 99% of fields. This only sends data to Message does not update the field with changes made in the Message platform. - From Modern Campus Message to Salesforce
You may need to occasionally bring data from Message and overwrite what you have in Salesforce. The most common use for this is the "active" field in Message, we represents opt-in state. When a contact opts out, you will likely want to bring that info back into Salesforce. - Bi-directional
Another option that can be occasionally needed, bi-directional allows the most recently updated platform to share that value with the other platform. Be careful with this one, as it's easy to accidentally change data in ways you didn't intend.
Be aware: any writing of data from Message to Salesforce (#2 and #3) will be treated as an Admin making that change. If a user changes the value in Message, it will change in Salesforce regardless of that user's specific role or permissions in Salesforce.
Step 4: Turning on and resyncing
Once you have the fields set the way you want, you can go back to the Programs list and toggle Data Sync on. From that point, the sync will take over and keep things up-to-date.
If the sync has been running and you're adding or editing fields, you'll want to resync data when you're all done. Since the sync only updates incrementally, adding or editing field mapping will only affect records as they are changed. If you want to get data into the new or updated fields, you'll need to run the resync
Resyncing can be found in SV Sync Setup under Advanced Tools or in Program - Settings.
Comments
Article is closed for comments.