Duplicate customers
sub
Note: In order to use the deduplication functionality, the system option ONTKCLI must be activated.
The Duplicate customers overview displays a list of all unexpired customer accounts that share a last name, address, or date of birth in the system. This overview can be used to check for and remove duplicate customer accounts.
The gender listed for an account is also a factor when deduplicating accounts. If multiple accounts match on other criteria (such as the same date of birth and address) but have different genders entered, the deduplicate function will not work on these accounts.
Run the Duplicate customers overview
To run this report, go to Customers > Overviews > Duplicate customers.
Wise checks for duplicates of unexpired accounts using all of the following match criteria:
- Last name
- Address
- Date of birth
Note: Each field must be an exact match to find a duplicate. For example, a field containing the address 123 Main St. would not be a match to the address 123 Main Street. If an account is expired, it will also not be selected as a match.
This report can take several minutes to run. To continue working in the staff client, click Background in the Execute task window. The report is transferred to the job manager.
The overview provides a list of duplicate customers including the following information:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Account type
Review and merge duplicate customer records
To review and merge duplicate customer records:
- Search for the customer that is duplicated.
- Click Change to edit the customer record.
- Click Deduplicate at the bottom of the screen. If there is a possible match, the Deduplicate window opens.
- If needed, click Move 'primaries' to change which record is Primary. The record in the top box is the primary record and will be kept, the bottom record will be merged into this record.
- Check the box Deduplicate to remove the duplicate customer and merge existing data to the primary customer. This action cannot be reversed. If this option is selected, the following data will be merged to the primary customer:
- Checked out items
- Holds
- Loan history
- Membership
Note: The primary account membership will be carried over as the active membership. Memberships from the merged account will be deactivated and retained for reference.
- Financial details
- Library card numbers
- Email addresses
- Click Process to complete the process.