Setting up Action Network

The Action Network sync to Mobile Commons requires that user records include a mobile number. To subscribe users, the mobile opt-in status must be true.

Note: You must have Administrator access to work with data syncs in Mobile Commons. For assistance, contact Technical Support.

To set up the Action Network data sync:

Preparing for setup

Before you begin, gather the log-in credentials and set up any other key connection settings for your Action Network CRM system.

  1. In Mobile Commons, create or designate a web opt-in path, which will serve as the default opt-in path for any new users pulled from the Action Network data set. For more information, see Adding a new web opt-in path.

    New subscribers will receive the Welcome message associated with the selected opt-in path. For more information, see Data sync paths.

  2. Make a note of the following credentials from your Action Network system:

    • Existing Action Network login or API user name (email address) and password

      Tip: Create a new set of credentials exclusively for use with Mobile Commons (recommended).

    • Action Network OSDI API token

Configuring the Action Network integration

To sync data between your Action Network database and Mobile Commons:

  1. Select Home Home in the left pane, and then select Data Sync.

  2. From the Integration Type drop-down list, select Action Network.

  3. Select Create.

    The Action Network configuration form opens.

    Action Network configuration form

    For assistance, select Help Help next to the field label.

  4. In the Login field, enter your user name for your Action Network system, and then enter your password in the Password field.

  5. (Optional) If users from Action Network will opt-in to your campaign via a web path opt-in, select the Mobile Commons web opt-in path from the drop-down list. All mobile users from Action Network will receive opt-in messages from the opt-in path you specify.

  6. Enter the OSDI Token from your Action Network system.

  7. Enter the source code identifying Mobile Commons to your Action Network system. The default entry is Mobile Commons.

  8. In the Mobile opt-in Boolean field name field, enter the name of the Action Network checkbox field that identifies the constituent as a Mobile Commons subscriber.

  9. (Optional) Enter your notes for internal use only.

  10. When you are done, select Update.

Logging in to Action Network

After you set up your Action Network integration, you can log in to Action Network directly from Mobile Commons.

To log in to Action Network:

  1. Select Home Home in the left pane, and then select Data Sync.

    The home page for your Action Network sync opens.

  1. In the Integration Actions panel on the right, select Login Login to Action Network.

    The Action Network log-in page opens.

Reviewing required and supported fields

The Action Network data sync supports all standard profile fields; it does not sync custom fields. After you configure your Action Network integration with Mobile Commons, review your Action Network system and Mobile Commons user records (profiles) to ensure required and supported fields are available in both data sets.

The following fields are required:

  • Phone number

  • Email

  • Opt-in status

Category Field

Default field name

(The field names differ by data set)
Subscription status Opt-in (required)

  • "opt_in_status" (Mobile Commons)

  • "mobile opt-in" (Action Network)
Demographic Phone number (required)

  • "phone_number" (Mobile Commons)

  • "mobile_phone" (Action Network)
  First name

  • "profile_first_name" (Mobile Commons)

  • "given_name" (Action Network)
  Last name

  • "profile_last_name" (Mobile Commons)

  • "family_name" (Action Network)
  Email (required)

  • "profile_email" (Mobile Commons)

  • "email" (Action Network)
Address/Location Street address

  • "address_street_1" (Mobile Commons)

  • "address!" (Action Network)
  Street address 2

  • "address_street_2" (Mobile Commons)

  • "address2" (Action Network)
  City

  • "address_city" (Mobile Commons)

  • "locality" (Action Network)
  State

  • "state" (Mobile Commons)

  • "region" (Action Network)
  Zip Code

  • "address_postal_code" (Mobile Commons)

  • "postal_code" (Action Network)
  Country

  • "address_country" (Mobile Commons)

  • "country" (Action Network)
Other

Identifier

  • "Constituent ID" Mobile Commons)

  • "id" (Action Network) Mobile Commons)

Use custom field mappings to specify field names in Action Network.

To set up custom field mappings:

  1. Select Home Home in the left pane, and then select Data Sync.

    The home page for your Action Network sync opens.

  2. In the Integration Actions panel on the right, select Edit Field Mappings.

    Field mapping

  3. Review the field names to ensure that they are correct.

    • The Field column contains the Mobile Commons field name.

    • The API Field Name column contains the API field name in Action Network.

  4. To limit the sync to records that contain data in specific fields, select the Required? checkbox next to the field name. When a field is required, it must contain a value in order to be synced. Empty fields are not synced.

    Caution: Do not select Required for Phone number, Email, or Opt-in status fields, which must by default exist in both databases in order to sync data. Use caution if you change the field name for any of these three fields; if the custom field name is incorrect, the data sync will fail.

    Caution: Do not select Required for Constituent as this ID is provided by Action Network. If it is set to Required, Mobile Commons profiles will not have this ID, causing the sync from Mobile Commons to Action Network to fail.

  5. When you are done, select Save.

Activating the Action Network sync

Before you begin, review the configuration settings for your sync:

  1. Select Home Home in the left pane, and then select Data Sync.

    The home page for your Action Network sync opens.

  2. In the Integration Actions panel on the right, select Edit Configure Integration.

  3. Review the configuration settings, making adjustments as needed.

  4. When you are done, select Update.

  5. To activate the Action Network integration sync, in the Integration Actions panel on the right, select Activate Activate Integration.

    The indicator in the upper-right corner is Active Active. The first data sync will run the following morning.

    Note: When syncing records, Mobile Commons pushes records to Action Network to add the identifier to the profile, which will keep both records in sync. Mobile Commons can match a record based on the mobile phone number and acquires the email address from Action Network.

Data sync updates

After activation, the Mobile Commons data set and your Action Network database are both updated on a regular basis:

  • Mobile Commons checks for updates nightly, processing all recent updates from Action Network during overnight hours or updates to any of the supported fields within the past 48 hours.

  • Any new opt-ins or opt-outs from Mobile Commons are synced to Action Network  every five minutes during the day.

    • For users whose profile records contain an email address, new opt-ins are added to Action Network as a new record with an opt-in status of true.

    • For users with a matching record in Action Network, new opt-outs update their opt-in status to false.

    Note: Once user records are synced, the record number from the Action Network system is added to the Constituent ID field in Mobile Commons user profile and serves to identify records across both of your systems.

After your data sync runs, you can open the Synchronization report. For more information, see Working with the Synchronization report.

Tip: If you need to shut off the data sync with your CRM system, whether temporarily or permanently, you can deactivate it. For more information, see Deactivating the integration.