IN THIS ARTICLE:
Learn how to use the Family Merge tool to easily merge duplicate family/student records together.
Why Merge Families/Students?
Duplicate families, or accounts, are a common problem in any database system. In iClassPro, this happens most often when a family already has an account from a previous enrollment and creates a new account online.
The Family Merge tool easily merges duplicate families, or accounts, into one record in just a few clicks. With this feature, ledger transactions, students, enrollments, contact info, family notes, special discounts, and policy acceptance can be easily combined into one account.
How to Merge Family/Student Accounts
When merging two or more families, the previous families are deleted and a brand new family is created with the selected information. Take care when selecting vital information, as this action cannot be undone.
- Navigate to the FAMILIES Page by clicking the Family icon at the top of iClassPro.
- Use the search filters on the left side of the page to locate the families to be merged. (See image below)
- Check the boxes next to the families you would like to merge (maximum of 5).
- Click the Family Merge Icon that appears at the bottom of the window (See image below).
- This will launch the Merge Families Wizard. This wizard will guide you through multiple steps to complete the merge process for the selected families and students.
If the Primary Guardian selected during the merge process has stored payment information, or if a secondary guardian is promoted to Primary, their payment details will be retained. Following the merge, however, "This Payment Method is Authorized for Recurring Billing" will be disabled and will either need to be re-enabled by the family via the Customer Portal, or a staff member may re-enable it in the Office Portal with the cardholder's permission.
Any secondary guardians who have their Customer Portal access revoked due to the merge process will have their payment details hidden until the new Primary Guardian chooses to grant them login access.
Merging Families/Guardians
Steps 1-6 of the Merge Families Wizard will guide you through selecting the appropriate details to be retained and assigning the details to the correct guardian(s). This is done using a series of questions.
After making your selection(s) to answer each question, click NEXT to continue, or click GO BACK if you need to make any changes/corrections.
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Select the default family
- Lists all selected families, along with policy acceptance details and the date/time the account was last updated. Whichever family is selected will be used as the basis for the new family account.
- Lists all selected families, along with policy acceptance details and the date/time the account was last updated. Whichever family is selected will be used as the basis for the new family account.
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Who do you want the Primary guardian to be?
- Lists all guardians, along with policy acceptance details. The person selected here will be listed as the Primary Guardian on the new family account.
- Once you select the Primary Guardian, all other guardians are kept as secondary.
NOTE: If the selected guardian did not originally accept the policies for the chosen base family, this primary guardian will need to accept the family policies for the newly merged family.
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Please select the correct information for this family
- Lists additional family data associated with the selected families and allows you to select which information to be kept.
- If the same information exists for all families (e.g., the same value in a custom field), then only one option will be displayed.
- Each custom field will be listed in a separate section of the screen.
- Lists additional family data associated with the selected families and allows you to select which information to be kept.
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Assign the following emails to the proper guardian.
- Lists all email addresses associated with the selected families and provides a drop-down menu that allows you to assign them to a specific guardian.
- The default selected value for the dropdown will be the guardian who was originally assigned the email address, with a blank option.
- If the blank option is selected, the email address will not be assigned to any guardian and will be discarded when the merge is completed.
NOTE: If a guardian is selected for one email address, then the remaining email dropdowns will not display that guardian. If the staff member wishes to assign the guardian a different email address, they must first select the blank option on the one they are currently assigned to so they will appear as an option on other dropdowns.
- Lists all email addresses associated with the selected families and provides a drop-down menu that allows you to assign them to a specific guardian.
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Assign the following phone numbers to the proper guardian.
- Lists all phone numbers associated with the selected families and provides a drop-down menu that allows you to assign them to a specific guardian.
- The default selected value for the dropdown will be the guardian who was originally assigned the phone number, with a blank option.
- If the blank option is selected, the phone number will not be assigned to any guardian and will be discarded when the merge is completed.
NOTE: If a guardian is selected for one phone number, then the remaining phone dropdowns will not display that guardian. If the staff member wishes to assign the guardian a different phone number, they must first select the blank option on the one they are currently assigned to so they will appear as an option on other dropdowns.
- Lists all phone numbers associated with the selected families and provides a drop-down menu that allows you to assign them to a specific guardian.
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Assign the following addresses to the proper guardian.
- Displays each unique address only once, but lists guardians with checkboxes to allow multiple guardians to be associated with a single address.
- A delete/”garbage can” icon will be displayed next to each address. If this icon is clicked, all records for this address will be completely deleted during the merge process.
- Displays each unique address only once, but lists guardians with checkboxes to allow multiple guardians to be associated with a single address.
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Summary of Guardians
- Displays a summary of all guardians with their associated emails, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.
- A delete/”garbage can” icon will be displayed next to each guardian. If this icon is clicked, all records for the guardian will be completely deleted during the merge process
- Displays a summary of all guardians with their associated emails, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.
If all information is correct, click NEXT to review Student details.
Merging Students
Steps 7-8 of the Merge Families Wizard will guide you through selecting the appropriate details to be retained and assigning details to the correct student(s). This is done using a series of questions.
After making your selection(s) to answer each question, click NEXT to continue, or click GO BACK if you need to make any changes/corrections.
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Does the following student need to be merged with any of the students listed below?
- Each step of this process will list a student name associated with the family with all available student profiles. Selecting one or more student profiles will merge all enrollment, evaluation, and attendance records for the student(s) together during the merge process, leaving only one record for that student.
- If the student profile should NOT be merged, click "No, go to next Student."
- If you choose to merge student records together, you will be asked to “Please select the correct information for this student.”
- This screen lists name, birthdate, and gender details from the selected student profiles and allows you to select which information should be kept.
- This screen lists name, birthdate, and gender details from the selected student profiles and allows you to select which information should be kept.
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Summary of Students
- Displays a summary of all student profiles and the information that will be retained in the final student record.
If all information is correct, click SAVE to complete the family merge process.
Additional Notes
- To prevent potential load time issues with the resulting family, the system will prevent including the current "--, Point of Sale" and "--, Gift Certificate" families as part of any family merge process.
- After clicking SAVE, the system will check to ensure that none of the families included in the merge have had data updated since the merge window was launched. If any changes are detected, the merge process will fail and the system will not complete the merge. Staff members will need to monitor the Background Tasks window to ensure that the merge completes successfully.
We highly recommend having customers log into their accounts via the Customer Portal or mobile app following a merge to review the changes and enable recurring billing or supply new payment information as needed. This provides the family with the opportunity to review any outstanding balances, new students, and added enrollments merged into the new family account to resolve customer service issues early on.
This also helps to ensure that the primary guardian (who will be financially and legally responsible for the account) has access, has agreed to the policies, and can update their contact information. Ultimately, this best practice will help your business streamline payments and improve the delivery of important business communications.