Data Sources in Plecto

A data source contains all the raw data imported automatically from external systems or created manually in Plecto. You can also import data from a database or through custom API. Visit our integration page to see what systems Plecto integrates with.

All data sources are organized in rows and columns. In Plecto, we call them registrations and fields. A data source can contain various types of fields such as decimal number, text, list (dropdown), Yes/No, and other fields.

Each data source in Plecto needs to include some required fields – this applies to all data sources (manual, integrations, databases, API). The required fields are the following:

• ID. Each registration in Plecto needs to have a unique ID. The ID is what allows you to find specific data or update existing data in your data source.
• Employee. Employees are an indispensable part of Plecto, and therefore, every registration must be linked to an employee. This field enables you to display data grouped by employees, create teams in Plecto, see who closed the sales deal or answered a call, and more. Learn more about employees.
• Created date. See the date and time the registrations were created. This date field is what allows you to see data for today, the current week, the previous month, and so on. If there are multiple date fields in a data source, you can choose which should be the default date field. Learn more here.

In some cases, Plecto allows you to add custom fields to your data sources. All manual data sources support custom fields, and many integration data sources do as well. The custom fields imported from integrations depend on the type of integration. Visit our integration page to find all the technical details such as the update frequency, custom field support, available data types, and more.

Use Plecto as your own CRM system and create registrations manually. You can also add data to manual data sources by importing Excel spreadsheets.

How to create a manual data source

1. Go to Data management > Data sources > + New data source.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose one of the options under Manual Data Entry.
   > Plecto offers 3 templates for manual data sources: Closed deal, Sales target, and Booked meetings. If you select one of these, all you need to do is click Confirm to create the data source.
   > If you select the Custom input data source, you will have to create your manual data source from scratch. Give your data source a title, adjust the permissions if necessary, then click on Save in the bottom-right corner.

Add custom fields to your manual data source

Custom fields are additional columns in your data source. You can add custom fields in different formats: number, text, date, list, yes/no, and country.

1. Go to Data management > Data sources and open your data source settings.
2. Click + Add field to create a new custom field.
3. Fill in the details such as field name, data type, and others.
4. Click Save to finish.

Plecto integrates with a variety of systems. Each integration is different in terms of the data types you can import, data source update frequency, custom field support, webhook support, and more. You can see all the technical integration details on our integration page.

For each data type you import, Plecto will create one data source and list it under Data management > Data sources.

How to integrate a system with Plecto

1. Go to Data management > Data sources > + New data source.
2. Choose a system you want to integrate. Not all integrations follow the same configuration process. Follow the steps on your screen or find our integration guides to help you set up.

After you've integrated a system with Plecto, all your data sources will update automatically. You can see the import logs in your data source settings.

If you have a large data source, you can filter the information to find or troubleshoot your registrations.

1. Go to Data management > Data sources and open a data source.
2. Click Filters in the top-right corner. A sidebar will appear on the right where you'll be able to see all the fields from your data source.
3. To apply a filter, click the filter icon and type in the parameters you would like to see. For example, Status = answered for a data source that keeps data for your calls. You can also choose to hide or view entire columns by clicking on the eye icon on the right.

What to do if your data source has stopped importing data or there is an error?

1. Go to your data source settings and click the View logs button in the top-right corner. There, you'll see how much data you have and the date and time of the last import.
2. If there is an error with the imported data, a red triangle will be displayed on the right side of each registration. Hover the cursor over the red triangle to see more information about the error.
3. If there is an error, follow this troubleshooting guide on how to refresh your credentials, and please do not hesitate to contact our support team should you need any help.