Below is an example of how relational fields were used by Wind Tree Consulting (a fictitious company). We will be adding more information to our help section and encourage anyone interested in learning more about relational fields to contact support and/or attend one of our upcoming Webinars on Relational Fields.



Wind Tree Consulting Embraces Relational Fields

Wind Tree Consulting specializes in providing environmentally friendly building solutions for residential and commercial clients. As this field is growing and becoming more popular, it is very important for Wind Tree to carefully select its partners(builders, energy experts, multi-use contractors).

Wind Tree Consulting currently has two main databases they use on a regular basis:

• Preferred Partner Master - listings of approved partner companies
• Preferred Partner Contacts - individual contact names at partner companies

A year ago, Wind Tree implemented a preferred partner screening process and tracks all Preferred Parttners in its Partners Masters Database. They also have a database to track the individual names of contacts at the preferred companies who work on individual projects. It is not unusual for employees at partner companies to switch to another partner company. This makes it a cumbersome process to ensure all information is up to date and accurate when preparing proposals or assigning teams.

Prior to relational fields, Wind Tree Consulting had to input the company name in BOTH the Partner Master and Partner Contacts databases. They had redundant information in each database (address and company name), and it was time intensive to make updates in each database as their referral partner companies and contact lists were growing fast. In addition, not all information was consistently updated in both databases leading to inconsistencies. For example, an employee who swtiched from one partner to another had the wrong company name in the project proposal which did not reflect well on Wind Tree when the partner pointed it out.

With the addition of relational fields, Wind Tree has been able to streamline the data input process by creating links between databases.

• Since the Company Name field was a unique field in the Partner Master database and needed in both databases, they linked it from the Partner Master(parent database) to the Partner Contacts (child database).


      


• When reviewing the Partner Contact database, an individual can find out more about the company by clicking on the Company Name relational link (field denoted by a green arrow. They will then be redirected to the detailed Company Name record where they have access to the company address, billings, etc.





• An individual also has the ability to add fields from the parent database to a report in the Partner Contact database. For example, if they wanted to add addresses to the contacts in a Partner Contact Report, all they have to do is select any of the parent database field options (denoted by [Parent Database Name] in filter and these fields will be displayed in the report.

This is only a snapshot highlighting a few key points related to relational fields. We encourage you to explore linking fields and contact us with any additional questions or comments.