If you are an Arkansas court using Contexte as your case management system, this guide explains how the automated Contexte integration works with eCourtDate and how to set up your agency for optimal results.

### Overview

The Contexte integration provides automated, hourly data syncing between your Contexte case management system and eCourtDate. Clients, events, cases, and contact information are automatically uploaded so you can send court reminders and communicate with defendants without manual data entry. This integration is specifically designed for Arkansas courts and requires authorization from eCourtDate.

If you are unsure whether your agency uses this integration, email help@ecourtdate.com for assistance.

### Prerequisites

- Your court must be an authorized Arkansas Contexte location
- You must have an active eCourtDate agency (provisioned by the eCourtDate team)
- Super Admin access to configure agency settings
- At least one primary agency phone number
- At least one primary agency email address

### How-To Steps

#### How the Contexte Integration Works

eCourtDate receives an hourly upload of any newly created or updated data from Contexte. If your agency is enabled for Contexte uploads, the following data syncs automatically within one to two hours of any change in Contexte.

#### Clients

Individual defendants are the message recipients, identified by Defendant ID. The following data is included:

- Defendant ID
- First Name
- Middle Name
- Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Status
- Gender
- Race
- Zip Code

#### Events

Court dates at a physical or virtual location based on the event type and case number. The following data is included:

- Date
- Time
- Location Name
- Location Notes
- Judge Name
- Case Number
- Description/Type
- Status

Note: The event status may not always be available.

#### Cases

Filed cases are synced based on each case number. The following data is included:

- Case Number
- Charge Number
- Judgement Status
- File Date
- Arrest Date
- Plea Date
- Offense Type
- Warrant Status

#### Contacts

Phone numbers and email addresses associated with clients are synced automatically. Only clients with an existing phone number or email address in Contexte will have contact data uploaded.

#### How to Get Started

1. Email help@ecourtdate.com with the following information:
   - Location Name
   - Location Address
   - Location Phone
   - Judge Name
   - Primary Contact Name
   - Primary Contact Email
   - 3 Sample Case Numbers (preferably from the last month)
   - Whether the court handles Juvenile cases or not
2. Wait for the eCourtDate team to verify that your location is authorized and has available data.
3. Once verified, eCourtDate will provision an agency for your location and enable automated data uploads.
4. Test your agency in simulation mode, where messages are generated but not actually sent to clients.
5. When you are ready to go live, navigate to **Admin** > **Settings**, change **Send Mode** to **Live**, then click **Save**.

#### Agency Setup

Follow these steps to configure your agency for optimal performance.

You can check your current setup status by scrolling to the bottom of the page, then clicking **Agency Setup** > **Checklist**.

#### General Settings

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Settings**.
2. Confirm that basic agency settings such as agency name, timezone, and address are configured.

#### Business Hours and Days

1. Review your business hours and days under **Admin** > **Settings**.
2. Adjust hours as needed. These are used to determine optional timing with automated messages.

#### Enabled Languages

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Settings** and locate the language settings.
2. Note that Contexte does not currently send a language preference, so all clients default to English.
3. Enable **Auto Detect Language** if you want clients to change their language preference by sending an inbound message in their preferred language.

#### Agency Phone

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Settings** and click **Agency Phones**.
2. Confirm that at least one local phone number is marked as **Primary**.
3. Click **Edit** on each agency phone to review inbound settings for auto response and forwarding.

#### Agency Email

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Settings** and click **Agency Emails**.
2. Confirm that at least one email address is marked as **Primary**.
3. Click **Edit** on each agency email to review inbound settings for auto response and forwarding.
4. Verify a general agency email address to send emails with your domain (for example, notify@agency.gov).

#### Roles and Users

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Users** > **Roles** and create at least one role with limited permissions for non-admin staff. You can import sample roles, and the **Editor** role is recommended for non-admins.
2. Navigate to **Admin** > **Users** and invite any additional staff who need access. Users marked as **Super Admin** have no restrictions. Otherwise, assign at least one role to each invited user.
3. After inviting, each user receives an email notification to set up their account.

#### Locations

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Locations**.
2. Confirm that at least one physical location is marked as the **Default**. This location is used for auto-uploaded events unless you have multiple locations.

#### Portals

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Portals**.
2. Confirm that at least one web portal is marked as the **Default**. This portal is used for links in messages unless you have multiple portals.

#### Domains

1. Consider configuring a custom domain for portal links to increase client trust and credibility.
2. Visit the [custom domain configuration guide](https://domains.ecourtdate.com) for technical instructions (intended for IT staff).

#### Data Dashboards

1. Navigate to **Admin** > **Dashboards** and create at least one data dashboard.
2. Set the dashboard status to **Private**, then open the link.
3. The dashboard updates in real time with newly created or updated messages and events.

Key metrics to track:

- **Messages**: Total, delivered, opened, failed, spam, and opt-out counts
- **Events**: Total events by status/type and failure to appear rate

#### Reports

1. Configure at least one monthly auto-export report with a list of outbound messages.
2. Report recipients receive a monthly CSV of all messages from the previous month.

#### Flows

1. Create at least one Flow marked as the **Default** to send a series of reminders for upcoming events.
2. Add additional Flows based on event description or type as needed.
3. Enable or disable specific messages in a flow based on event status.
4. Avoid using triggers based on "event created" or "event updated" due to frequent data changes from Contexte.

#### Auto Messages and Bulk Actions

1. Browse sample templates for **Auto Messages** that you may want to use for one-off or bulk communication.
2. Verify that any desired merge tags populate as expected before using them in live mode.
3. Train staff on **Bulk Actions** to send messages such as location closure notices to a filtered list of clients.

#### Statuses Configuration

Statuses automatically disable messages, enable messages, and archive records. Status codes are based on the original Contexte codes. Any statuses received from Contexte uploads are automatically created if they do not already exist.

Once a status is created, you can configure it to disable further messages and/or archive the record. The following statuses should be configured to disable messages:

| Status Code | Type   | Description                          |
|-------------|--------|--------------------------------------|
| O           | Client | Open client                          |
| C           | Client | Closed client                        |
| HR57        | Event  | Continued revocation plea hearing    |
| HA30        | Event  | Canceled pre-trial hearing           |
| HR60        | Event  | Canceled revocation hearing          |
| HA20        | Event  | Continued pre-trial hearing          |

### What to Expect

- Data from Contexte syncs automatically within one to two hours of any change.
- Your agency starts in simulation mode so you can test messages before going live.
- Once live, court reminders and notifications are sent automatically based on your configured Flows and Auto Messages.
- Status changes in Contexte automatically update records in eCourtDate, disabling or archiving as configured.

### Best Practices

- Start in simulation mode and thoroughly test all message templates and merge tags before switching to live mode.
- Configure status codes to disable messages for canceled or continued events to avoid sending reminders for events that are no longer active.
- Set up a data dashboard to monitor message delivery, open rates, and failure to appear rates in real time.
- Enable **Auto Detect Language** so clients who speak other languages can automatically receive messages in their preferred language.
- Create at least one monthly auto-export report so your team has a regular record of all outbound communications.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: How often does data sync between Contexte and eCourtDate?**
A: Data syncs hourly. Any newly created or updated records in Contexte are reflected in eCourtDate within one to two hours.

**Q: What happens if a client does not have a phone number or email in Contexte?**
A: Only clients with an existing phone number or email address in Contexte will have contact data uploaded to eCourtDate. Without contact information, messages cannot be sent to that client.

**Q: Can I test messages before sending them to real clients?**
A: Yes. Your agency starts in simulation mode, where messages are generated for testing purposes but not actually sent. Switch to live mode only when you are ready by navigating to **Admin** > **Settings** and changing **Send Mode** to **Live**.

**Q: What should I do if my location is not yet set up for the Contexte integration?**
A: Email help@ecourtdate.com with your location name, address, phone, judge name, primary contact details, 3 sample case numbers, and whether your court handles juvenile cases.

**Q: Can I use multiple locations with the Contexte integration?**
A: Yes. If you have multiple locations, each can be configured separately under **Admin** > **Locations**. Events are assigned to the appropriate location based on the data received from Contexte.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** Data is not syncing from Contexte to eCourtDate.
**Symptoms:** No new clients, events, or cases appear in eCourtDate despite recent changes in Contexte.
**Solution:** Confirm that your agency is enabled for Contexte uploads by contacting help@ecourtdate.com. Verify that your location is authorized and that sample case numbers have been validated.

**Issue:** Messages are not being sent to clients.
**Symptoms:** Messages appear in the dashboard but show as simulated rather than delivered.
**Solution:** Check that your agency is in **Live** mode by navigating to **Admin** > **Settings** and verifying that **Send Mode** is set to **Live**. Also confirm that at least one agency phone number is marked as **Primary**.

**Issue:** Clients are receiving reminders for canceled or continued events.
**Symptoms:** Reminders are sent for events with statuses such as HA30 (canceled pre-trial hearing) or HR57 (continued revocation plea hearing).
**Solution:** Navigate to **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses** and configure the appropriate status codes to disable messages. Refer to the statuses table above for recommended configurations.

### Related Articles

- [How to Manage Cases](/how-to-manage-cases)
- [How to Manage Events](/how-to-manage-events)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)
- [How to Send a One-off Message](/how-to-send-a-one-off-message)
- [How to Upload a Flat File](/how-to-upload-a-flat-file)