What is Zoom Integrator (ZI)?
Zoom Integrator is a tool that integrates data from INSZoom with other applications, such as HR management, or billing systems. It connects INSZoom to other systems of record that may be used in a customer’s business process so that both systems have up to date information. It can also be called as ‘A field-to-field periodic data transfer tool’ because it transfers data from fields in one application to the fields in another application periodically, (weekly, monthly, daily, etc.). Therefore, ZI is not a “live” or “real-time” integration where changes immediately show from one system to another. ZI is a field-to-field data transfer tool that transfers a selection of data (not all data in a system) at pre-defined intervals.
What does it offer?
The Zoom Integrator tool enables customers to transfer data relating to the assignee (foreign national) such as their company, case status, visa information, immigration documents, petition reference tables, and passport information, etc. from INSZoom to other applications.
Zoom Integrator offers the following values to users:
- Export data from INSZoom to other applications- Using ZI, users can push critical information such as case status, visa information, etc. from INSZoom to other applications such as an employee management system without any major hassle.
- Import data from other applications into INSZoom- ZI allows users to import critical information such as employee profiles from an HR management system, such as Workday into INSZoom with ease.
- Easy-to-use Pre-defined templates- The use of pre-defined templates makes the process of specifying the data set that needs to sync between INSZoom and other applications quite seamless.
How does it work?
Following steps need to be performed to setup Zoom Integrator to work with other external applications.
1. Set Pre-defined Templates- Zoom Integrator uses pre-defined templates for transferring information. These templates are like Excel spreadsheets, where each column corresponds to a field in the application and each row corresponds to a “record” in the system.
Columns = Fields
Rows = Records
The current INSZoom pre-defined templates contain the fields most frequently requested in integrations, but NOT ALL fields in INSZoom are included in those templates.
If the fields required are not currently in one of our pre-defined templates, then a new template will need to be created. The creation of a new, custom template would have to be scoped as an additional, billable service on top of the ZI set up and subscription.
2. Mapping Fields- To successfully integrate with other applications, we map what fields in INSZoom correspond to the fields in the other application. For instance, in INSZoom we have a field for ‘Nick Name’ and another application might have a field for ‘Preferred Name.’ The mapping exercise is where we determine which fields should equal one another.
3. Transferring Templates- The updated templates with the new data are then transferred via SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) that acts as a secure medium of file transfer between both the applications. INSZoom stores the updated templates at a secure folder that can only be accessed by the customer. This step is to export the new data fields, and the customer application fetches those templates and imports data fields into the application. This process is followed when INSZoom exports data fields to another application. In case of import of data fields by INSZoom, updated templates are exported by the external application to the secure folder via SFTP. INSZoom fetches the updated templates from the secure folder and updates those data fields.
How to get started?
Firm administrator can get in touch with the INSZoom Accounts team by dropping an email to accounts@inszoom.com from their business email ID asking for Zoom Integrator for the firm. INSZoom team will contact firm administrator to understand the exact requirements of the firm. We will connect with customers to understand the INSZoom fields the firm needs to integrate with another application and why integration is required. This supports in identifying which of the pre-defined templates to use or if custom templates need to be created. This will also help in deciding on the scheduling of sync between ZI and other applications.
Few of the questions that we will ask the interested customers are given below-
1. What is the application with which INSZoom needs to be integrated?
2. What data fields need to be transferred between INSZoom and the other application?
3.What is the frequency of transfer of data between the two applications?
4.What is the direction of flow of data fields between the two applications? Whether
-Import only- Pull data fields into INSZoom
-Export only- Export Push data fields from INSZoom to the other application
-Import and Export- Both push and pull or two-way sync of data fields between the applications
Zoom Integrator Reports
INSZoom users can make use of ZI reports to look at the status of data transfer tasks that have been executed and the tasks that are pending for execution.
Users can navigate to ZI reports from Main Menu, mouse-hover Reports > Click on Reports 1.0 > Click on Zoom Integrator Reports. A new window will open with Zoom Integrator Reports related to your organization.
The first tab in ZI reports is ‘Need Attention'. The page consists of a table that gives details of the transactions that failed while execution. The status of files could be-
-‘Interrupted’- The ZI run failed, and/or
-'Incomplete’- A few files/records had some errors.
You can perform a set of actions using the following icons/buttons on this page-
1. INSZoom users can click on the 'eye' icon to get more details about the failed transactions. It opens a pop-up that gives details of the errors and the files or records that failed from execution.
2. Add Comment- Users can add a comment for each record in the table. For example, a comment capturing the reason of failure of a job/task etc.
3. Acknowledge Record- Users can make use of the tick mark icon to acknowledge a record. After acknowledging, the record is removed from the 'Need Attention' list.
4. Setup- Users can click on the gear icon on the top right of the page to select 'Setup'. The Setup page includes a table that list all the tasks that are set up for the users to run at scheduled intervals. Users can click on the 'eye' icon at the right of each record to look at the details of the configured job.
5. Billing- Users can click on the gear icon on the top right of the page to select 'Billing'. The Billing page gives details of the Allowed Limit of the records to be processed for the organization. It provides details of the Used/Processed and the number of Unused records for the organization. It also lists details of all the Jobs that have been setup for the organization such as Job Name, Job Type and Number of Records Processed.
The Second Tab on the Zoom Integrator Reports page is the 'Completed Runs' tab. It gives details of all the scheduled Jobs that have been completed.
On click of the eye icon at the right of each Job, users can also see the Job Status Report that even includes the Start and End Date details of the Job.
The Third Tab on the Zoom Integrator Reports page is the 'Upcoming Runs' tab. It gives details of all Jobs that are supposed to be executed next.
Implementation and Data File Requirements
- INSZoom will provide Zoom Integrator subscribers with access to a secure FTP-folder where they can upload their data files.
- INSZoom will only accept .CSV file formats and each data file must conform to the naming convention of the specific template selected and include the file upload date. Format of the file name should be fn_Custom_Data_import_YYYYMMDD.csv (Example - fn_Custom_Data_import_20151201.csv)
- Files must be uploaded to the FTP-folder before 2AM PST in order for data to be available the following day in INSZoom. Users will need to access INSZoom to confirm successful data import.
- Customers can consult with INSZoom if they have questions or issues with identifying the appropriate fields to map based on the pre-defined templates.
Pre-defined Template Details
INSZoom also allows customers to import and export data relating to the employee (foreign national) and their company, case status, visa information, immigration documents, petition reference table and passport information from the system using pre-defined templates. The names and descriptions of each of the Pre-defined templates are given below-
Import Data Templates
Export Data Templates
7. Implementation and Data File Requirements
-INSZoom will provide Zoom Integrator subscribers with access to a secure FTP-folder where they can upload their data files.
-INSZoom will only accept .CSV file formats and each data file must conform to the naming convention of the specific template selected and include the file upload date. Format of the file name should be fn_Custom_Data_import_YYYYMMDD.csv (Example - fn_Custom_Data_import_20151201.csv)
-Files must be uploaded to the FTP-folder before 2AM PST in order for data to be available the following day in INSZoom. Users will need to access INSZoom to confirm successful data import.
-Customers can consult with the INSZoom if they have questions or issues with identifying the appropriate fields to map based on the pre-defined templates.
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