Equator Integration

Broker Brain now has the ability to interface with Equator. Where users once had to duplicate Equator tasks in Broker Brain, you can now use the auto tasking system to upload Equator tasks for you. The integration process will bring new and incomplete Equator tasks into Broker Brain hourly, and will update tasks completed in Equator to a completed status in Broker Brain.

In order for this feature to work properly, there is some setup involved. The following information will guide you through this process.

Groups and Power User Privileges

The Equator integration process involves syncing of Equator tasks with Broker Brain auto tasks. The first thing you will need to do is determine which group will be managing the Equator syncing, and then assign power user privileges to those individuals. It is advisable to create a group with a limited number of users specifically for this purpose, as this group's responsibilites will include receiving notifications regarding failed sync attempts and manually syncing tasks where needed. Once your group has been created, follow the instructions below to add power user privileges for those users. Note: For information on how to create a group, click here.

1. From the Admin tab, select the Groups sub tab at left.

2. Scroll down to the Privileges section of the screen, and enable the External Systems Power User checkbox, shown circled below.

3. To save your change, click the green Update button at the bottom of the screen.

Individuals who have been granted External Systems Power User privileges will see an Equator sub tab when they click the Home tab at the top of their screen.

External System Triggered Auto Tasks

Each time Broker Brain performs an auto sync, it locates all incomplete Equator tasks and their due dates and uploads them into your system. However, these tasks do not have group or user assignments attached to them, so they cannot task your users. You must create some auto tasks that tell Broker Brain what to do with this new information. There are two methods for doing this. Using the first method, you will create one Property Auto Task per market that assigns all Equator tasks to a specified group of users. You can also elect to assign these tasks to the Assigned Transaction Coordinator or Assigned Agent to ensure that your workflow keeps moving. This is the quickest and easiest method for getting your system to integrate with Equator. Using the second method, you will also create one Auto Task per market, but in addition to those tasks, you will create some customized keyword auto tasks that have their own set of behaviors, with the ability to do things such as sending automatic email notifications, triggering other tasks, or tasking a different group of users.

You should also know that creating these auto tasks will not cause the system to automatically start interfacing with Equator. The "On" switch is located in Site Settings, and is the last step required to start the syncing process. So you can take as much time as you need to set up your auto tasks without concern that any tasks will be fired before your setup is complete.

Note: For detailed information on creating a property auto task, click here.

Method 1 - Create a Catch-All task per market

This is the simplest method for getting the Equator Sync feature up and running in Broker Brain. With this method, you create a single property auto task per market (or you can create one global task for all your markets) that is designed to "catch all" tasks that exist in Equator, bring them into Broker Brain, and task one specified group of users. Because you must create a Catch-All task in Method 2 also, it is recommended that you start here. When creating a Catch-All task, you must do the following:

• • Enter a simple task name, such as Equator Auto Task.

  • Set the Days to Complete field to 1 day (the task duration is insignificant here, as the due date will be determined by Equator, not by Broker Brain).

  • Enable The Equator Agents checkbox from the External System Trigger section, as shown highlighted below.

  • Leave the External Task Keywords field BLANK. This field will be used in Method 2 only. If any words are added in this field, you no longer have a Catch-All task and the syncing will not work properly.

  • Assign a generic group, such as External Systems Power User group (as discussed in the Groups and Power User Privileges section above).

  • If desired, assign a generic user, such as Assigned Transaction Coordinator or Assigned Agent.

Method 2 - Create both a Catch-All task per market AND Create some Customized Keyword Auto Tasks

With this method, you create the Catch-All task outlined in Method 1 so that Broker Brain can fire off all Equator auto tasks, and then you create some additional tasks that will perform certain behaviors you need. These tasks can be set to send out automatic email notifications, assign Equator tasks to different users than those specified in the Catch-All task, or trigger other tasks. For instance, perhaps all Equator tasks related to a BPO require some kind of email notification, or perhaps you have utility issues that need to be managed by a particular group.

When you create customized keyword auto tasks, you will assign some keywords that Broker Brain will use to trigger these tasks when it finds tasks in Equator whose names contain the same words or phrases. When these tasks are triggered, they will apply the behaviors you set within the task. If you wish, rather than creating multiple keyword tasks, you can group items that require the same behaviors into one task. For instance, you could create one task containing the keywords: hoa, utility. This would cause all Equator tasks containing either of these names to perform the same behaviors.

When creating a customized keyword task, you must do the following:

• • Create a single Catch-All task for each market or a global Catch-All task for all your markets, as described in Method 1. DO NOT skip this step!

Next, apply the following criterion to each keyword auto task you create:

• • Set the Days to Complete field to 1 day (the task duration is insignificant here, as the due date will be determined by Equator, not by Broker Brain).

  • Enable The Equator Agents checkbox from the External System Trigger section, as shown highlighted below.

  • In the External Task Keywords field, enter any key words or phrases that will match some or all wording in Equator's task name field, separating each word or phrase with a comma. Key words can be very general, as shown in the example below, or they can match a task within Equator word-for-word. If desired, include both the singular and plural spellings of a word to be sure either are found (utility, utilities).

Important:

• If you are working in a multiple market structure, be aware that because auto tasks are market specific, External System Auto Tasks will apply only to the market you specify. You must either create separate tasks per market, or create one set of tasks for your Global market.

• Do not include any conditions in External System Auto Tasks. Auto Task conditions are ignored when the sync is performed.

• When tasks are synced, task names will reflect the name given in Equator, not the name given in the External System Auto Task.

• A single task in Equator could fire off multiple tasks in Broker Brain if keyword matches occur in more than one Broker Brain auto task.

• Due Dates in synced tasks will reflect the date assigned by Equator, not dates assigned by Broker Brain.

• If an External System Auto Task contains a Due on Day of Week restriction, Equator will override this in order to assign the Equator due date to the task.

• If a task triggers from a keyword match, it will not fire a catch-all for that task.

Updating your Site Settings

The last thing you will need to do is update your Site Settings, as this is when you will activate the Equator Syncing system. To do so:

1. From the Admin tab, click the Site Settings tab at left, then click the External Systems tab (at right), as shown below:

2. Place a check mark in the Auto sync with Equator field. Enabling this field will turn the syncing feature on. Once enabled, Broker Brain will run an hourly auto sync with Equator to bring in any new tasks that have been added.

3. Enter your Equator username in the Equator Agent Username field, and your password in the Equator Agent Password field.

4. Earlier, we discussed the importance of creating a catch-all task using the External System Trigger of Equator Agents. If you have not created a catch-all task or Broker Brain somehow finds a task in Equator that does not match any Auto Tasks you have created, it will send a notification to users indicating that Equator tasks exist that cannot be integrated into Broker Brain. The Equator Failed Task Group Notification field allows you to specify which group of users should receive these notifications. The group you specify here should be the External Systems Power User group that was created to manage the Equator Syncing process.

5. Be sure to place a checkmark next to Auto Complete Broker Brain tasks when tasks are completed in Equator. When this field is enabled, tasks marked as complete within Equator will be automatically marked complete within Broker Brain once the auto sync is performed.

Important:

• Be aware that Broker Brain performs a one-way sync with Equator, bringing Equator information into Broker Brain. It does not take information from Broker Brain and update Equator. Therefore, you must mark completed tasks as such in the Equator system. When the system performs the sync, your Broker Brain tasks will then be marked completed as well.

Associating Broker Brain Properties with Equator

If an Equator task comes into the system with a property address that does not have an exact match to an existing address in Broker Brain, an error message indicating this will appear on the Home>Equator page, as shown in the screen shots below. Individuals in the External Systems Power User group will see a similar alert appear on all screens within the Broker Brain system until the issue is resolved. Once the property has been associated, it will permanently reside within Broker Brain, elilminating the need to repeat this process again.

To Associate an Equator property with an existing Broker Brain property

If similar adresses exist within the Broker Brain system, you can associate the desired address as follows:

1. From the Home tab, click the Equator sub tab at left. You will see this screen:

2. Click the drop-down arrow adjacent to the Choose... field. A list of properties with similar addresses will appear.

3. Select the property you wish to associate the task with.

4. Click the green Select button. The address information will disappear from the screen.

5. When Broker Brain performs its hourly auto sync with Equator, any tasks associated with this property will fire at that time. If you wish to fire those tasks immedicately, click the green Sync button at the top of the screen. This will fire those tasks and cause the alert to be removed from the screen, showing this image:

To Add an Equator property into Broker Brain when no similar properties exist

1. From the Home tab, click the Equator sub tab at left. If no similar properties exist within Broker Brain, you will see the screen shown below.

2. Click the green Add Property button.

3. The property will appear in the Add New Property dialog box. Click the green Validate button, add any necessary information to the following screens, and click the Add button to add the address (for more detailed information on how to add a property, click here).

Equator Association Icon

Once Equator tasks have been associated with Broker Brain, this icon will appear adjacent to the flag icons in all views where flags appear, as shown below. This icon indicates that the address came from an Equator property.

If you point to this icon with your mouse, the following tag will display:

Clicking on this icon will direct you to the task in Equator, where you can view the task directly and mark it as complete.

Viewing Tasks Completed in Equator

When you view the list of completed tasks for any property (from Properties>Tasks), you can easily tell which properties were marked complete within Broker Brain and which were completed in Equator by viewing the information in the Owned By column shown below. Tasks completed in Broker Brain will show the name of the individual who completed them. Tasks completed in Equator will show Equator in this field.