By integrating your Unanet CRM database with OpenAsset, you can connect project and employee data with project photos to create a searchable image library that leverages Unanet CRM as the single source of project information.
This article is intended as an overview of the installation process. Our Implementation Managers will guide you through all the steps outlined below during your implementation.
Note: the Unanet CRM Connector is available as an add-on in your OpenAsset system. Contact your CSM to discuss enabling it.
Setting Up the Connection
To establish the connection between OpenAsset and Unanet CRM, we obtain the following credentials:
A unique username/password ,
Firm ID
Confirmation of API Access/Key and Unanet URL site.
Your implementation Manager will reach out to Unanet your behalf. Once we receive the credentials from Unanet (typically ~48 hours), we’ll confirm the connection has been established.
Setting Up Field Mappings
Your Implementation Manager will send you a spreadsheet that is used for listing out all the Unanet CRM field names that you wish to sync, and the corresponding field name in OpenAsset. Please ensure that the field names are entered exactly as they appear in your system!
Submit this spreadsheet to your Implementation Manager and they will work with our Support Engineers to initiate the mapping process. If you require any updates or changes to field mappings after implementation, reach out to our support team.
Unanet CRM Connector Filters
In order to keep your OpenAsset system well organized, Connection Filters enable you to exclude any projects, employees, and roles that you do not wish to automatically sync across to your OpenAsset system.
For example, you may want to consider using filters to exclude:
Projects that are at a planning stage
Project roles below a certain number of hours
We recommend using a single test project or employee to test the sync between Unanet CRM and OpenAsset before enabling the connector across your whole system. At this stage, any changes to field mappings or filters can be more easily implemented. Don’t worry, your Implementation Manager will walk you through this testing phase!
Most of our clients re-label an unused existing field (such as ‘Prominent’) to ‘OpenAsset Sync’. Your team’s workflow would mean that you check off this box, or whichever field you have chosen in Unanet CRM, and this would trigger a project to be created in OpenAsset. Your Implementation Manager will guide you on best practices.
Tip: you can use the CSV Exporter to export a spreadsheet of all projects in your OpenAsset system and send this to Unanet to bulk-update your records. Your Implementation Manager will ensure you feel comfortable with the filter settings and confirm your team has a plan to update your Unanet records effectively.
Switching on the Unanet CRM Connector
Once the testing of the field mappings is completed, the connector’s daily sync will be enabled. This occurs approximately every 3 hours. A Unanet icon will appear on every Project and Employee in your OpenAsset system that has synced with Unanet CRM.
There is also a field for those with applicable permissions to see the last time-stamp of sync as well. To identify any Projects or Employees that are not currently synced, you can use the data menu by clicking the ‘Synced’ drop down menu and selecting ‘Not Synced’.
Once a Project or Employee is synced with Unanet CRM, the fields will be ‘locked’ and won’t be editable within OpenAsset to maintain the source-of-truth with your Unanet CRM system.
Unanet CRM Connector Image Uploader
The Unanet CRM Connector Image Uploader functionality enables you to upload images directly from your OpenAsset system to Unanet CRM. To learn how to use the Unanet CRM Connector Image Uploader, read the following article.
Activating the Unanet CRM Connector Image Uploader Feature
The Unanet CRM Connector Image Uploader must first be activated within your OpenAsset system. This can be completed by a System Administrator. Once activated, the feature will be available to all users with the relevant Group Permission enabled (see the next step).
To do so, select System Settings from the settings cog.
Then select 'System Preferences' from the following menu.
Within the 'Activate Feature' menu select the checkbox next to 'Enable Unanet image uploading', the click 'Save Changes' at the top of the page.
Enabling the Image Uploader via Group Permissions
System Admins can control who has access to the Image Upload functionality with Group Permissions.
Note: To successfully upload images into Unanet CRM, users must possess Read/Write Permissions on the respective API account.
If you encounter a situation where your search for project and personnel records yields no results (see image below) during the image upload process, it is likely due to insufficient permissions on the API account.
To resolve this issue, kindly contact support@openasset.com for prompt assistance. We are here to help you navigate through any permission-related requests.
To enable the Image Uploader functionality, you must provision the 'Upload images to Unanet' setting at the Group Permission Level under Advanced Permissions.
To do so, select System Settings from the settings cog.
Select Groups within the Users menu.
Within the following menu, select Edit next to the group that wish to grant this permission to.
Select the 'General permissions' category tab. Within the 'Advanced' menu, you will find a setting labelled 'Upload images to Unanet'. Select this checkbox and then click 'Save Changes' at the top of the page.
To learn how to use the Unanet CRM Connector Image Uploader, read the following article.