When you move to Manitou from an existing system, it’s important to know what to expect from your data conversion. No data conversion is ever perfect. Every system stores information differently, and some data won’t map cleanly from one system to another.
The quality of your converted data depends directly on the quality of your source data. If fields in your current system were used for purposes other than what they were designed for, or if data was entered inconsistently, those issues will carry over and may not convert as expected.
A successful conversion depends on a partnership between our team and yours. Before the transition, we’ll need your help to review and clean up your existing data. After the conversion, you’ll need to set aside dedicated time to review your data in Manitou and confirm it’s accurate before going live.
Your involvement at both stages is essential: you know your accounts, sites, and procedures better than anyone, and your review is the best way to catch issues before they affect your operations.
What is included in your conversion?
| Conversion Item | Description |
| Customer Name |
During conversion, we take the customer name from your source data and format it based on the customer type. For residential customers, the “File As” field is formatted as Last Name, First Name (for example, Smith, John). The Customer Name field is formatted as you would read it aloud, from left to right (for example, John Smith). Note: If names in your source data are already stored in Last Name, First Name format, the conversion may produce unexpected results, such as a reversed or duplicated order (for example, “John, Smith” or “Smith, Smith John”). Please review residential names in your source data before conversion so we can account for this. |
| Address | Street addresses based on the values in the source data. We encourage normalizing any misspelling of data such as city or State. |
| Contact People | See this link to review how our conversion determines the person type to apply for each contact person. |
| Contact Points | If indentifiable, the phone type is applied, otherwise it will convert to phone, then phone 2, etc. Email addresses are converted as found in the source system. |
| Tramsmitters | Manitou inserts systems and transmitters on a one-to-one basis. Whatever communicator type your system is using is defined, on the system, if available. The transmitter will contian a prefix and transmitter ID, also known as the panel ID, based on your data and receiver requirements. |
| Transmitter Intervals | We encourage normalizing your intervals, but will convert any value you have as a new interval within Manitou if it doesn't already exist. |
| Programming | We convert any override signal translations (called Programming in Manitou) when required, but do not convert items that are already managed in the Event Maps or are redundant. (Such as a Burglary Alarm translating to a Burglary alarm without any special overrides) |
| Default Programming | Any dealer or equipment based signal overrides such as for DMP or for an individual dealer's overrides. Unless they are redundant or already managed by Manitou features. |
| Zones | The physical locations based on your source data (Front Door, 2nd Floor Pull Station, Entry PIR, Teller 2 Panic button, etc.) Zones are separate from the signal translations therefore many values may be unnecessary in Manitou. |
| Open/Close Schedules | Accounts where you monitor open close violations, we convert based on the values in your current system. Please see this article about how to understand Open/Close schedules in Manitou. We convert only the Permanent (when all else fails) schedule and apply it to the area(s) (partition(s)) found in your source data. |
| User Defined Fields | This is a direct conversion, we will add however many userdefined fields your source data has to the same user defined field in Mantiou and load the customer-specific details there. |
| Group and/or Class Codes | These values, if in your source data will move directly from your source data into Manitou. Manitou only allows one of each type to be applied on each account. |
| Dealers (Installers) | Any dealers found in your source data will be applied into Manitou and linked to their appropriate accounts. |
| Authorities | Any contacts that are identified as Police, Fire, or Medical are converted to the applicable type then linked to the accounts where they reside. |
| Agencies | If applicable any groups, guarding, jantorial, cleaning, notification, etc., are created based on the same type in the source data. |
| Comments (Notes) | We convert comments as found in the source data. |
Items that are NOT included in Data conversion are:
- Action Patterns - You learn how to set your globals based on your operational standards and where you have variances, the team can review this as part of your training.
- Scheduled Reports - Every system builds their regular reports substantially differently, therefore it is not able to be converted into Manitou.
- Customizations - If you used your legacy system or placed data in a non-standard location, the conversion will not be able to address those and may require manual updates after your conversion is complete.
What will Cause Data to not Convert Properly?
Some issues may interfere with data conversion, including:
- Misuse of Data fields, such as entering address information in a non-address field or using the contact list as a notes location;
- Phone numbers with the wrong telephone number type;
- Comments containing many topics will move into Manitou as a single comment;
- Comments with blank lines at the beginning of the comment;
- Using Contact List persons for Notes
- Programming when manipulated for all possible permutations of events, such as a single zone pointed to both an Opening and Closing events;
- Incorrect spelling (one of the top issues causing conversion problems);
- Authorities listed as contacts;
- Events with improper Event properties;
- Misspelled or misused cities, states or provinces;
- Improper Zip Codes, as Manitou's functionality and features rely on proper zip (postal) codes;
- Duplicated equipment IDs, as this presents a conversion challenge when equipment is installed with a duplicate identifier (such as the same prefix and transmitter number);
- Signal formats.