Use Duplicate Detection Rules Dynamics CRM 2016 to Maintain Data Integrity and Avoid Multiple Duplicate Records
Posted on: October 10, 2016 | By: Craig Thompson | Microsoft Dynamics CRM
When undergoing a Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation, a major concern is often what to do about duplicate records and how to avoid creating them. With many users in the CRM organization at once, it can be easy to lose track of who is entering which pieces of data. The same users may think they own accounts and contacts that other users already have their name on, and therefore try to enter existing accounts and contacts as their own. Luckily, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has a safeguard against creating the same overlapping pieces of data in the form of Duplicate Detection Rules. With these rules you have the ability to choose which criteria to check when creating and adding data so that you do not create duplicates and clutter the system with unnecessary information.
Creating your Duplicate Detection Rules
To navigate to your Duplicate Detection Rules module, you will want to click on Settings –> Data Management –> Duplicate Detection Rules. Once on the Duplicate Detection Rules screen you will see a few different options as well as a few Out-of-the-Box rules that exist within CRM Dynamics 2016 Online. These existing rules were created for some of the common entities where you would want to avoid duplicates such as Account, Contact, and Lead.
To create a new rule, click on New or simply double click an existing rule name to modify a rule. In this example we will look at one of the most common rules, ‘Accounts with the Same Account Name.’ Having duplicate accounts with the same name can be very bad for data integrity and can cause confusion within an organization so I would highly suggest putting this rule in place.
As you can see in the image below you will first want to name your rule. Then you will choose your ‘Base Record Type’ which in this case is account. Note* – Your matching record type will almost always match your base record type. Here you also have the option as to whether you want your rule to be Case-sensitive and also if you want to exclude inactive matching records. My suggestion would be to keep the Case-sensitive button unchecked and to check the exclude inactive matching records button, but this will depend on how your organization uses active and inactive records.
Next you will choose your fields to match on. Here you have the ability to choose multiple fields to match on. Say for example, you only wanted to consider an account a duplicate if it matched on Account Name, e-mail address, and phone number. You could choose all three fields for this one rule and in this case if only 2 of the 3 fields matched it would not be considered a duplicate. Conversely, if you wanted to make your duplicate detections a little stricter, you can create three different rules, each only matching on one field. Here we are only choosing to match on Account Name and for our criteria we are saying that is has to be an exact match.
Now you will save your rule and publish. It is important to remember to publish your rules. Once saved, a rule remains unpublished and will not work until published. Note that this means you do have to unpublish your rule to make any changes, then republish to put the rule back into effect.
If you think that a CRM system is your next best step for your business, contact Logan Consulting your Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner of Chicago.