The Flex Connection functions enable various types of “extended” relationships to be managed, such as connecting branch offices to an Account’s head office or when a Project or Opportunity needs to connect (and at some point “disconnect”) all Stakeholders involved.
In the screen below these 3 contacts are connected via the Reasons shown. They can be disconnected as required.
Any two Flex list items can be connected. For example, an Opportunity item can be connected to a Project item, Contacts can be connected to Contacts, Accounts can be connected to Accounts, Issues can be connected to Projects, etc.
Summary of Connections
- Details for connections get logged in a Connection list.
- Every Connection must have a corresponding setting that links the two lists together and the reason the items will be connected – ie. “ContactsOpportunitesConnectionsReasons”.
- Every Connected list must appear in the Connection setting (Ie. “CreateNewAndSearchManager” that controls what field can be searched (ie. Full Name, Account Name, Last Name, etc.) and the View (“All Items”) that is displayed in the Search result.
- Connections can be manually carried out by using the Search feature or can be automatically connected based on a field designation.
- When no result is found based on a search of Contacts a new Contact can be added without having to leave the Connect screen.
- All Flex Connections are managed through the Sub Grid.
- Connection functionality is supported via a Connections List and a series of Advanced Settings.
- Flex Connections can be set to filter on a set criteria, such as the example of branch offices to a head office or dynamic, such as the example of adding unrelated stakeholders involved in a project.