Sometimes when discussing our connection with your Point of Sale or Shop Management System we may reference Data Connectivity or Syncs.
Data connectivity refers to the pipeline of data coming into Retention Pro servers. This is all of your shop’s data and information and is a crucial ingredient to the success of the features of our system.
We collect this information from your local server in one of two ways; by installing a service we call an “uploader”, or an “online source” which may be an API source or a web scraper.
Depending on the type of connection we have with your Point Of Sale system the timing of your "syncs" may vary. With some systems a sync will be triggered each time you add new information, such a new repair order or a new customer, while others automatically sync at regular daily intervals. Please see the article for your Point Of Sale system under the Understanding Your Data In Retention Pro section of Data Connectivity Articles for details on when and what we will sync.
TYPES OF UPLOADERS/DATASOURCES
There are two(2) types of “uploaders”:
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Retention Pro Window’s Service, which is installed on your server computer, and is used for “SQL” databases and file-based databases.
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Quickbooks Web Connector which is primarily used for Quickbooks Desktop.
There are many types of “online sources” but can be classified basically as:
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API Accessible - typically utilizes a non-changing set of credentials.
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Web Scraper - typically utilizes a username/password type combination that is subject to be updated often.
Everyday we run each shop that is active in our system through various tests to check the 'data health state' of that shop. This allows us to determine if any additional support is needed for a better connection in an attempt to notify you as soon as possible if there has been a disruption.
For more on Data Connections please see Data Connectivity Articles