Skip to content
Laravel

CRMs Integrations

Introduction

Due to the similarities between University CRMs (S-apply) and OTAS, and to minimize redundant manual efforts in duplicating applications and student details across both platforms, integration between these systems is essential. OTAS integrates with various university CRMs, enabling the seamless transfer of application data and associated student information to these systems, ensuring data is accurately saved. All available integration drivers—such as Ticaret Integration, Nisantasi Integration, Gatala Integration, among others—follow a standardized interface for efficient interoperability.

Workflow

The integration process operates through an intermediary broker responsible for managing requests between OTAS and S-apply systems and vice versa.

When an institution within the OTAS system configures its integration settings—specifying the University System Base URL, API Key, and Agent ID (as recognized by the University System)—a "Send to School" button becomes visible on the application view page. Clicking this button initiates a request to the broker, carrying both student information and application details. The broker then relays this request to the corresponding institution's system, invoking an API designed to record the student information and application. The API's response is sent back to the broker, which, in turn, forwards this status update to the OTAS system.

In the OTAS system, actions that alter the status of an application automatically trigger updates to be sent to the institution's system via the broker. This ensures that any changes in application status are synchronized between OTAS and the institution's system.

Additionally, student files such as photos, passports, and certificates are synced between the systems to ensure consistency of files.

Should any modifications be made to the application within the S-apply system, these changes are communicated back to OTAS through the broker, allowing updates to be automatically reflected in OTAS.

This integration streamlines operations, significantly reducing manual labor, preventing redundant tasks, and saving time that would otherwise be spent managing a larger volume of applications.

Database

The integration of CRM systems within the OTAS database brings modifications to several tables, significantly impacting their structure and functionality. Below is an overview of the affected tables and the specific changes:

  • institutions: This table stores the configuration details for the integration, with the following columns:

    • has_integration: A boolean flag indicating whether integration is enabled for the institution (1 for enabled, 0 for not enabled).
    • api_key: The API key used for synchronizing changes from OTAS to the CRM.
    • agent_id: The agent ID from the CRM system, to which the applications will be assigned.
    • base_url: The base URL of the institution's CRM system.

  • integration_requests: This table tracks all requests sent from OTAS to the CRM, along with their status and responses, featuring columns like:

    • id: Primary key, auto-increment integer.
    • application_id: The ID of the application pushed to the CRM system.
    • request: A JSON column containing the request data, including student information, application details, and files.
    • response: A JSON column with the CRM's response.
    • response_code: The status code received from the CRM; null indicates an incomplete request.
    • response_action: Describes the outcome (e.g., null, duplicate_application, application_created, nothing, no_action_to_take).
    • created_at: Timestamp marking the creation of the request.
    • updated_at: Timestamp of the last update to the request.
    • otas4u_id: The application's ID within the CRM system.

For simplicity, the institutions table is referred to as such in this context, although its actual name in the OTAS database is spotlayerteam_institutionsprograms_institution, indicating there's no direct table named institutions. These changes facilitate seamless integration and interaction between OTAS and external CRM systems, enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of data management and synchronization between the systems.