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Whenever a debtor is entered into SimplicityCollect with a SSN, SimplicityCollect stores all of the debtor’s information together based on that social security number. This includes first and last names, addresses, phone numbers, employers, and debtor-based custom fields.

Every time that SSN is used in SimplicityCollect, the original data associated with that debtor will show on the screen (by default). If the debtor information has changed or been added to (perhaps on a new spreadsheet you received from a Client), you can use the Debtor Updater tool to update the data pertaining to those specific debtors.

It is required to have the Debtor SSN, Account Number, Internal ID, or the Client Claim Number of the accounts you will be updating to use this tool. Otherwise, you are only left with the option of updating the accounts manually.

NOTE:  Deleting an account import and re-importing those accounts will NOT override the information that is already associated with the debtor in the system. You will need to use this tool to modify the information.

Updating Debtors using the Debtor Updater

The Debtor Updater tool allows you the ability to update debtors once they have already been added into the system. This include things such as:

  • Adding/updating debtor information such as addresses, phones, email addresses, etc.
  • Adding/updating employer information
  • Updating debtor names
  • Adding/updating attorney information
  • Adding/updating custom debtor fields

Click here for information on updating co-debtors with the Debtor Updater Tool

The mapping capabilities of the Debtor Updater tool work just like the Account Importer tool.  To use this tool, perform the following steps:

1. Click Tools > File Updating > Debtor Updater in the menu bar.

2. Click .. / Choose File.

3. Select the file to be used to update your accounts.

4. Click Create New File Map.

5. You must now create a new mapping to associate with this file. If you already have a mapping you’d like to use, skip to step #9. Make mapping associations between the Debtor SSN in your file and the Debtor Social Security Number in Simplicity, OR the Account Number in your file and the Account/Claim Number field in Simplicity, OR between the Client Claim Number in your file and the Client Claim Number field in Simplicity. (NOTE: You only need to map one of these for it to be effective.)

6. Match up other columns from your file to the appropriate fields in Simplicity in order to update the information in those fields with the data coming from the file. You ONLY have to map fields that you want to update. (NOTE: If you map any fields that are blank, nothing will update. Only map fields that have data.)

7. Give this mapping a name.

8. Click Save New Mapping.

9. Choose the mapping from the drop-down list (if it is not already selected).

10. Click Update Debtors.

If you see that your debtors did not update properly (or only some did), the downloaded Results file will explain in the first column what the problem was. You can use this information to figure out what might have caused the issue, and what account(s) were not updated. Make the necessary adjustments to your file and/or mapping and preform the update process again to take care of any issues.

Updating Primary Addresses and Existing Phones

During the mapping process, you will see two check boxes under File Column labeled:


Update Primary Address (instead of adding a new one): When mapping any debtor address information with the Debtor Updater tool, the system will (by default) add the new address details as a brand new address on file (retaining the old one(s) as well as marking this new one as the “Primary” address). However, you can check this box to have the system overwrite the existing “Primary” address with this new one.

Update Existing Phones: Enabling this option will update the status of existing phone numbers (ex. “Good”, “Bad”, “Unknown”). Your spreadsheet will need to include a column for the phone numbers that are being updated and a column for the new statuses. Phone numbers and statuses will need to be arranged in columns according to their types, and for mapping purposes, the corresponding status and/or description should follow each type. For example, home phone numbers will need to be in their own column as well as the status and/or phone descriptions of those home phone numbers. As you can see from the example below, the order appears as Home Phone in column B, then their statuses in C. Cell Phones are in column D with their statuses in E. You would continue this pattern for each phone type in the file.

When you are ready to map the file, make sure to map the columns in the order they appear in your file. For the example above it would be mapped as:

  1. Account Number
  2. Home Phone
  3. Home Phone Status
  4. Cell Phone
  5. Cell Phone Status

Removing Bad Phone Numbers from Debtors

Sometimes you will receive a list back from a dialer of bad numbers they found (whether disconnected, wrong numbers, etc.) and you would like to remove these from Simplicity. To remove these, first create a .csv, .xls or .xlsx document of a) the Debtor SSN, Account Number, or Client Claim Number and b) the Phone number(s) in question.

Then perform the following steps:

1. Click Tools > File Updating > Debtor Updater.

2. Click .. / Choose.

3. Select the file from your computer that has the debtor’s correct information.

4. Click Prepare File for Uploading.

5. Click Create New Map.

6. Give the mapping a Name at the top. As an example: “Bad Phone Removal.”

7. Next you want to map your phone column to be removed. Select the field from File Column and the corresponding Debtor Element: Bad Phone Number – REMOVE.

8. Map the Debtor SSN, Account Number or Client Claim Number the same way.

  NOTE:  If you map the Debtor’s SSN, the tool will ONLY remove the phone number if it is listed under the Debtor Phone information or in Debtor custom fields.

  NOTE: If you map the Account Number or Client Claim Number instead, the tool will additionally remove the phone number listed from Account based custom fields AS WELL AS Debtor based custom fields AND Debtor Phone information.

  NOTE: On custom fields an exact match is required whereas on the Debtor Phone fields, dashes and parenthesis are stripped out on the search automatically by Simplicity.

9. Click Save New Mapping.

10. Choose the mapping from the drop-down list (if it is not already selected).

11. Click Update Debtors.

12. Your debtors are now updated. You can review the results file for any debtors that could not be updated successfully and why. Below you will see steps of what exactly occurred on the accounts.

In our example, we have a custom Account field “What”:

A custom Debtor field “Agency”:

And a Debtor Phone number:

Once the Debtor File Updater is run in our example, these values are removed and the following account and debtor notes are added:

Tips:

The data you get out of SimplicityCollect is only as good as the data that you put into SimplicityCollect. Make sure that you Import the correct data to save yourself work later.

See anything missing or out of date on this page? Please contact Simplicity Support at helpdesk@simplicitycollect.com.