In your Inova Classic platform, it is possible to merge company or contact records using the Merge Tool. The Merge Tool gives the administrator the ability to perform field-by-field data maintenance, remove duplicate companies and contacts, and maintain data quality.

The Merge Tool lets the administrator find duplicates via automated or manual searches. Potential duplicates are selected from a list of search results. Duplicates are shown side-by-side, allowing the user to select specific fields from each to be added to the merged record, and also manually add information to blank fields. The user then previews the master record and if it is correct, he can complete the merge. All object linked to the duplicates will be automatically linked to the master record. 

To use the merge tool, go to Administration>Merge Tool. 

1. Choose whether to search for duplicate companies or contacts.
2. If deduplicating companies, you can search using either the name only, OR name or synonyms.
   
   
   If deduplicating contacts, you can search using the person's name or email address.
   

When performing name field searches, you can search for an exact match (the system default) or use regular expressions, as shown in the examples below. 

• . Matches any single character. Example: a.c matches "abc", "acc", etc.
• * Matches the preceding character zero or more times. Example: ab*c matches "ac", "abc", "abbbc", etc.
• .* Matches any text before that character-a wildcard search. Example: a.*c matches "ac", "acme inc", "actldadfc", "abbbbbbbbc", etc.
• ^ Marks the start of the search string.
• $ Marks the end of the search string.
• [] Marks a set of possible character matches. Example: [ABC]aa matches "Aaa", "Baa", "Caa"
• \ Allows to escape special characters used by regular expression language. Example: gsk\.com matches "gsk.com"
• You can also combine expressions. For example: ^Bio.*Inc$ matches "Biomira Inc", "Biotex Labs Inc", etc.

3. After entering the criteria, click Search. The results will be displayed as shown below:

1. The results may include multiple records, depending upon your search criteria. Select the one you're looking for. 
2. Click Next.

1. In the Select tab, choose the specific records you want to merge. 
2. Then, click Start Deduplication. 

In this screen, the system displays a table listing all the fields for that object type, as well as a column for each duplicate record you selected in the previous tab. Review the content of each column carefully.

1. If the field is blank in all of the duplicate records, enter a new value if you have the information. If the field is marked with a red border, that means it is required. The red will change to green once you've selected or entered content. 
2. If the field is populated in one or more of the duplicate records, select the correct value for that field by clicking the double-arrow button. 
3. When you've made or entered all your field selections, click Go to Preview. 

Note: The above example shows only two records being merged. If you are merging more than three records, a horizontal scrollbar will appear at the bottom to allow you to quickly scan through the records and select the right values.

The Master Record Preview tab will be displayed, showing what the final record will look like after the merge:

Review the Master record and the list of links. If you need to make additional changes, click Go Back, make your changes, and click Preview again. Click the Linked Objects link to see a list of all the objects in the system that will be affected by the change.

Once the Master record is ready, click Merge. Once the merge is complete and the associated objects are successfully re-linked, the system will display a confirmation page, as shown below.