CRM to Needles 4 Integration Follow
This feature only applies to Law Ruler instances of the CRM.
The CRM proudly supports an integration with the legal case management software vendor, Needles. The default configuration of the CRM > Needles 4 integrated connection is to manually click the “Create Needles Intake” option inside the Action Menu of a lead in the CRM portal. This will allow your firm to create a Needles Intake directly from the CRM.
As of January 2020, we have introduced an automated approach that will automatically create a Needles Intake when a certain status is reached (as configured) in the CRM. This automated approach will need to be set up for each CRM Case Type. This tutorial will also help familiarize you with how to set up automated insertion of Needles Intakes into Needles 4.
Needles Case Management Software © is a legal case management software that the CRM integrates with for Needles version 4. Aside from CRM, all other trademarks, trade names, or company names referenced herein are used for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners.
Table of Contents
How the Needles Integration Works and What's Included
How to Map Each New CRM Intake Form Field to a Needles Intake Sheet Field
How to Map Existing CRM Intake Form Fields to Needles Intake Sheet Fields
How to Activate the Needles Integration for Existing CRM Case Types
How to Activate the Needles Integration for New CRM Case Types
How to Disconnect Your Needles 4 System from the CRM
How the Needles Integration Works and What's Included
The CRM > Needles 4 integration offers automated creation of Needles Intakes when a specified CRM status is reached. It is strongly recommended that you use the “Signed e-Sign” or “Signed Retainer Contract” status as the trigger status when configuring each CRM Case Type to pair with a Needles Matter Code.
If a Needles Intake fails to create, then the CRM API will attempt to create it three more times after 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 15 minutes. If the three additional attempts to create the Needles Intake fail, then the failed intake will need to be created in Needles manually. This can be done by clicking the “Create Needles Intake” option inside the Action Menu of a lead record in the portal.
Once a Needles Intake has been successfully created in your Needles case management system, then you will want to review it for duplicate/conflict checking internally and audit the intake data at your convenience. If there are no duplicate or conflict issues and the intake is valid, then you will press “Make a Case” inside of your Needles legal case management software system. Each CRM lead may only be inserted one-time as a Needles Intake Sheet.
After you have made the intake into a case inside your Needles system, the CRM will detect that a Needles case has been made from the intake. The CRM checks for new Needles cases about every 5 minutes. If the CRM detects that a Needles case has been made, then it will automatically insert any documents from the CRM intake into the specified folder on your Needles server or the specified network path at your firm. If a valid document path has not been specified, then the CRM will not be able to insert any documents from your CRM > Needles 4 integration.
How to Map Each New CRM Intake Form Field to a Needles Intake Sheet Field
Mapping the CRM intake form fields to the Needles Intake Sheet fields, for each Case Type, is a prerequisite of the Needles 4 integration.
⚠️ Please make sure that any Case Type that you want to automate to Needles 4 has an Intake Form that is mapped from the CRM to Needles *before* you activate it. The mapping of CRM Intake Form Fields to Needles Intake Sheet fields may be performed by your firm or done for you as a consulting service.
Let’s get started on how to set this up using the Intake/Case Form Builder in the CRM. This must be performed for every CRM Case Type that you want to connect to your Needles 4 system.
First, go to “Setup” using the main navigation menu on the left-hand side.
Next, navigate to “Intake/Case Form Builder”. You must be a user with admin access, or you will not be able to see these menu options. Please ask your firm administrator or IT department if you need these changes made.
Using the available dropdown, select the Case Type that you want to configure.
On the left side of the Form Builder, you'll find the ADD NEW FIELDS menu. At the bottom of this menu, use the dropdown in the Needles Matter Type section to select a Needles matter to map to the new field.
Next, in the Map to section, select a Needles question to map to the new field.
Then, if applicable, select the corresponding default CRM field to map to the Needles field. However, if you would like to create a new custom CRM field, do not make a selection in the secondary dropdown.
Click the “Create Field” button.
Then, continue to create the next field that needs to be mapped.
🔁 Rinse and repeat until all the Needles Intake Sheet fields are mapped for this Case Type. Repeat this process for as many Case Types as you need.
⚠️ At this time, it is imperative that you have all your Needles Matter Types mapped to each CRM Case Type, or the automation will not work well for any case types not configured. As you add new Matter Types in Needles, you will want to perform the same process for each.
How to Map Existing CRM Intake Form Fields to Needles Intake Sheet Fields
If you have an existing CRM intake form and would like to map those existing fields to Needles Intake Sheet fields, then you will want to follow similar steps to enter the CRM Form Builder.
First, go to “Setup” using the main navigation menu on the left-hand side.
Next, navigate to “Intake/Case Form Builder”. You must be a user with admin access, or you will not be able to see these menu options. Please ask your firm administrator or IT department if you need these changes made.
Using the available dropdown, select the Case Type that you want to configure.
In the intake form, locate the existing CRM field that you would like to map to a Needles Intake Sheet field. Hover over the 3 dots in the upper-right corner of the field, and click the pencil icon to edit.
In the pop-up that appears, use the Needles Matter Type dropdown to select the appropriate Needles Matter Type to map this field to. You can either scroll through the dropdown list or type to search for the Needles Matter Type.
Next, you will use the “Map To” dropdown to pick a field from the Needles Intake. You can either scroll through the dropdown list or type to search for a Needles Intake Sheet field.
⚠️ Please Note: To prevent issues in existing integrations, the field's mapping dropdowns will lock after you save it, so please do your best to choose the correct Needles matter type and field.
Press the "Save" button at the bottom of the pop-up.
Then, continue to the next field that needs to be mapped.
🔁 Rinse and repeat until all the Needles Intake Sheet fields are mapped for this Case Type. Repeat this process for as many Case Types as you need.
⚠️ At this time, it is imperative that you have all your Needles Matter Types mapped to each CRM Case Type, or the automation will not work well for any case types not configured. As you add new Matter Types in Needles, you will want to perform the same process for each.
How to Activate the Needles Integration for Existing CRM Case Types
Let’s get started with how to connect Needles 4 to your CRM system. This requires implementing the CRM API that connects to Needles 4. After the custom API is implemented and connected to your server by the CRM’s software team, you will be eligible to start using the Needles 4 API connection.
⚠️ Mapping the CRM intake form fields to the Needles Intake Sheet fields, for each Case Type, is a prerequisite of the Needles 4 integration. Please ensure this is completed for all Case Types.
Make sure that any Case Type that you want to automate to Needles 4 has an Intake Form that is mapped from CRM to Needles *before* you activate it. This requires the configuration of each Intake Form in Law Ruler to map each respective field that you want to send to Needles 4. The mapping of CRM Intake Form Fields to Needles Intake Sheet fields may be performed by your firm or done for you as a consulting service.
Please note that Needles is a third-party vendor and is responsible for supporting and maintaining the Needles service. The CRM provides a connection to Needles to allow our clients to use their Needles system with our CRM software. Any issues related to the connection/integration to Needles 4 will be supported by the CRM support team, not Needles support.
To activate the Needles 4 intake automation, first, go to “Setup” using the main navigation menu on the left-hand side.
Next, navigate to “Case Types, Milestones, Task List Items”. You must be a user with admin access, or you will not be able to see these menu options. Please ask your firm administrator or IT department if you need these changes made.
On the left side of the screen, select a CRM Case Type to begin pairing it with a Needles Matter Code. To do this for an existing CRM Case Type, press the “Edit” option to the left of the Case Type.
If you have the CRM > Needles 4 integration properly connected, then you will see a “Needles Matter Code” column on this screen. If you do not see the “Needles Matter Code” column then please contact the support team for further assistance before proceeding further.
This will open the "Edit Case Type" pop-up. Some of the fields inside this pop-up are required to pair the CRM Case Type to a Needles Matter Code.
You will need to set the defaults for each Needles Intake that will be automatically created for this CRM Case Type. The following fields are required to properly configure each Case Type:
- Activate Automated Needles API Posting – Click this toggle to turn it to the “On” position.
- Status Trigger – Select 1 or more CRM statuses that will be used to trigger leads to Needles for this CRM Case Type.
- Needles Matter Code – Select the 1 Needles Matter Code that will be paired with this CRM Case Type.
- Needles User # 1 – Select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “User # 1” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.
- Needles Intake Taken By – Select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “Intake Taken By” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.
Once these fields have been configured, press “Save” at the bottom of the pop-up to complete pairing of the CRM Case Type to the Needles Matter Code.
Repeat as many times as needed to pair all CRM Case Types to Needles 4.
Screenshot of a Successful Pairing for Auto Accident > MVA Matter Code:
After you have successfully connected each CRM Case Type to Needles 4, you will see the Needles Matter Code appear in the case types screen in the “Needles Matter Code” column.
Screenshot showing a Successful Pairing for MVA Matter Code:
How to Activate the Needles Integration for New CRM Case Types
If you need to add a new Case Type in the CRM and pair it to your Needles 4 system, then you will click the “Add New Case Type” button in the top-right corner of the case types screen.
This will open the "Add New Case Type" pop-up.
Next, you will need to set the defaults for each Needles Intake that will be automatically created for this CRM Case Type. The following fields are required to properly configure each Case Type:
- Activate Automated Needles API Posting – Click this toggle to turn it to the “On” position.
- Status Trigger – Select 1 or more CRM statuses that will be used to trigger leads to Needles for this CRM Case Type.
- Needles Matter Code – Select the 1 Needles Matter Code that will be paired with this CRM Case Type.
- Needles User # 1 – Select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “User # 1” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.
- Needles Intake Taken By – Select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “Intake Taken By” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.
Once these fields have been configured, press “Save” at the bottom of the pop-up to complete the pairing of the CRM Case Type to the Needles Matter Code.
Repeat as many times as needed to pair all CRM Case Types to Needles 4.
How to Disconnect Your Needles 4 System from the CRM
If you need to disconnect your Needles 4.x system from the CRM, then please contact the support team to assist you further. It is best if this action is performed with the assistance of our CRM support team.
🤗 Thank you very much for choosing CRM!