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PowerSchool SIS Contact Matching

Contact matching happens automatically behind the scenes based on your delivery options when you initiate the Deliver Data task and load or create the delivery batch. This page describes how the system checks matching criteria during contact matching. After the process completes, the system-generated results appear as matches, no matches, or potential matches. You must use the Match window to confirm or reject any potential matches prior to delivery.

Contact Matching

  1. Check if a contact ID exists that matches the record in PowerSchool SIS.
    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a match.
    2. If there is no contact ID or the contact ID does not match the record in PowerSchool SIS, go to Step 2.
  2. Check if records exist with a begins-with match on first name initial and last name, and either a match on any phone number, a match on any email address, or a soft match on address line 1 of any address.
    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a potential match.
    2. If no such records exist, there is no match.

Contact Matching Schema

Matching Inactive Contacts

In PowerSchool SIS version 20.4.1.0+, you can match inactive contacts. Within the delivery target, a toggle turns this feature on and off. When turned on, both Active and Inactive contacts appear in the Match window and can be selected for matching. The Status column shows whether a contact is Active or Inactive.

A versioning check automatically determines the version of PowerSchool SIS in relation to inactive student matching and delivery. The check is as follows:

  • If the version is earlier than 20.4.0.0, the delivery occurs using the old endpoint.
  • If the version is 20.4.0.0 or before 20.4.1.0, there is an additional call to the new Enroll Student endpoint to verify if it is present. If present, the new endpoint is used for delivery. Otherwise, the old endpoint is used.
  • If the version is 20.4.1.0 or later, the new endpoint is used for delivery.

Contact Matching (Match Window)

Matching takes place when the Match window loads. The goal is not to find a match or no match, but to find a full set of potential match records that the user can view and make a decision on. In other words, all records are filtered down to a list of potential matches.


Match Window Example

Contact Matching (Automatically Match When an Exact Match Is Found)

  1. Check if a contact ID exists that matches the record in PowerSchool SIS.
    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a match.
    2. If there is no contact ID or the contact ID does not match the record in PowerSchool SIS, go to Step 2.
  2. Check if records exist with an exact match on first and last name, with either a match on any phone number, a match on any email address, or a soft match on address line 1 of any address.
    1. If only one such record exists, it is considered a match.
    2. If no contacts or more than one contact meet the exact-match criteria, go to Step 3.
  3. Check if records exist with a begins-with match on first name initial and last name, with either a match on any phone, a match on any email address, or a soft match on address line 1 of any address.

    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a potential match.

    2. If no such records exist, there is no match.

If a matched contact is inactive, the contact's status is updated to Active when the data is sent to PowerSchool SIS.


Contact Matching (Automatically Match When an Exact Match Is Found) Schema

Enhanced Contact Matching

  1. Check if a contact ID exists and if it matches the record in PowerSchool SIS.
    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a match.
    2. If there is no contact ID or the contact ID does not match the record in PowerSchool SIS, go to Step 2.
  2. Check if records exist with:
    a begins-with match on first name initial and a contains-match on split last names and a soft match on address line 1 of any address
    or
    an exact match on any email address
    or
    an exact match on any phone number.
    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a potential match.

    2. If no such records exist, there is no match.

A contains-match on split last name is performed based on the following conditions:

  • If the last name value entered in Enrollment contains no spaces or hyphens, do a "contains" search for the name listed.
  • If the last name value contains spaces, split the string by the spaces and do a "contains" search for each of the names.
  • If the last name value contains hyphens, split the string by the hyphens and do a "contains" search for each of the names.
  • If the last name contains hyphens and spaces, split the string by hyphens and spaces and do a "contains" search for each of the names.


Enhanced Contact Matching Schema

Enhanced Contact Matching (Match Window)

  1. Check if a contact ID exists that matches the record in PowerSchool SIS.
    1. If such a record exists, it is added to the list of potential matches.
    2. If there is no contact ID or the contact ID does not match the record in PowerSchool SIS, go to Step 2.
  2. Check if records exist with:
    a begins-with match on first name initial and a contains-match on split last names and a soft match on address line 1 of any address (ignore address component if address is empty)
    or
    an exact match on any email address or web access account
    or
    an exact match on any phone number.

    1. If such records exist, they are added to the list of potential matches.

    2. If records do not meet the criteria, they are added to the list of potential matches.
  • If Enrollment is not sending an address for a contact or if a contact in PowerSchool SIS does not have an address, the address component of the match criteria should be ignored; potential matches should be found purely on the name criteria (such as a begins-with match on first initial and a contains-match on split last name). The address component of the match criteria should only impact the potential match results if both the delivery record and the contact in PowerSchool SIS have an address.
  • If a potential contact match does not have any standard contact email addresses but does have a web access account email, the web access account email appears in the Email column of the Match window.

  • A contains-match on split last name is performed based on the following conditions:

    • If the last name value entered in Enrollment contains no spaces or hyphens, do a "contains" search for the name listed.
    • If the last name value contains spaces, split the string by the spaces and do a "contains" search for each of the names.
    • If the last name value contains hyphens, split the string by the hyphens and do a "contains" search for each of the names.
    • If the last name contains hyphens and spaces, split the string by hyphens and spaces and do a "contains" search for each of the names.

Enhanced Contact Matching (Match Window) Schema

Enhanced Contact Matching (Automatically Match When an Exact Match Is Found)

  1. Check if a contact ID exists that matches the record in PowerSchool SIS.
    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a match.
    2. If there is no contact ID or the contact ID does not match the record in PowerSchool SIS, go to Step 2.
  2. Check if records exist with an exact match on first and last name, with either a match on any phone number, a match on any email address, or a soft match on address line 1 of any address.
    1. If only one such record exists, it is considered a match.
    2. If no contacts or more than one contact meet the exact-match criteria, go to Step 3.
  3. Check if records exist with:
    a begins-with match on first name initial and a contains-match on split last names and a soft match on address line 1 of any address (ignore address component if address is empty)
    or
    an exact match on any email address or web access account
    or
    an exact match on any phone number.

    1. If such a record exists, it is considered a potential match.

    2. If no such records exist, there is no match.

  • If One Exact Match Found is enabled, the web access account email associated with each contact should be considered along with the standard contact email address when identifying exact matches without a contact ID. This impacts the batch load and the Clear Match button.

  • A contains-match on split last name is performed based on the following conditions:

    • If the last name value entered in Enrollment contains no spaces or hyphens, do a "contains" search for the name listed.
    • If the last name value contains spaces, split the string by the spaces and do a "contains" search for each of the names.
    • If the last name value contains hyphens, split the string by the hyphens and do a "contains" search for each of the names.
    • If the last name contains hyphens and spaces, split the string by hyphens and spaces and do a "contains" search for each of the names.

Enhanced Contact Matching (Automatically Match When an Exact Match Is Found) Schema


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