Topic

This article describes how the UKG contact integration synchronizes contact data into Everbridge Suite. It focuses on how synchronization modes behave for contacts and record types, how updates and deletions are handled, and how administrators can configure and test the integration.

Description

The UKG integration is managed from the Everbridge Manager Portal. To access the configuration, go to Settings > Contacts and Groups (or Contacts/Assets) > Contact Integration. From this area you can edit connection details, update credentials, adjust sync schedules, and map fields. Field mapping includes user-defined fields and options such as Title, Alternate Job Title, and time zone. You can also manually trigger syncs, review sync health, and update credentials when needed.

The UKG contact integration adds or updates contacts in Everbridge based on the data present in your HR system. Contacts found in the HR system are added to or updated in Everbridge during the sync. When a contact exists in both Everbridge and the HR system, the HR data updates the Everbridge record. This behavior aligns Everbridge contact information with the HR system data for the contact record types included in the integration.

The integration behavior depends on the selected synchronization mode. When a replace-type update is used in Everbridge contact integration, the system performs the following actions for the contacts in scope:

• Updates existing contacts that match the new list.
• Adds any new contacts that appear in the new list.
• Deletes any contacts that are not included in the updated list.

To ensure that existing users are retained when using a replace-type update, the full list you send must always include both existing and new contacts. Contacts that are not included in the incoming list when replace behavior is used are deleted.

For some organizations, using a replace mode can introduce the risk that contacts not present in the integration feed are removed. If contacts that are not sourced from UKG are stored in the same Everbridge organization and record types that are targeted by a replace operation, those contacts may be deleted if they are not included in the incoming UKG dataset. In contrast, using an upload mode avoids deleting existing contacts, because it does not remove contacts that are not in the new list. However, upload mode can lead to data duplication or require ongoing manual cleanup over time because it does not remove out-of-date records.

Because of these trade-offs, some administrators consider contact and organization structure as part of their integration design. One general approach is to separate contacts that are managed by the HR integration from other contacts. For example, HR-managed internal contacts can be associated with record types and organizations that are mapped to the UKG integration, while external or manually managed contacts are kept in different organizations or record types that are not in scope for the integration. This separation avoids the risk that a replace-mode integration will delete contacts that are not present in the UKG data, while also avoiding the long-term duplication that can occur if only upload behavior is used in a mixed contact set.

Contact record types are important to how the UKG integration behaves. If a contact was manually added to Everbridge using a different contact record type than the one mapped to the UKG integration, that manually added record may not be removed or updated when the person is deleted in UKG. To verify how specific contacts are affected, review the contacts in Everbridge and check their contact record types, then compare those record types to the contact record types that the integration is configured to use in the Contact Integration settings of the Manager Portal. Only contacts within the configured record types are affected by the integration for that connection.

When configuring synchronization between UKG and Everbridge, there are two primary options for how contacts are synchronized:

• Sync Contacts with Everbridge Record Type – uses predefined record types in Everbridge to categorize and sync contacts.
• Sync Contacts using the following UKG field – allows mapping specific fields from the UKG system for more customized contact synchronization.

The choice between these options depends on your organization’s contact management needs. Select Sync Contacts with Everbridge Record Type if you want to maintain existing record types in Everbridge and align the integration with those record types. Select Sync Contacts using UKG field if you need to leverage specific fields from UKG that are important for accurate contact synchronization and do not align directly with existing Everbridge record types.

When integrating Everbridge with UKG, consider the following key points for planning and configuration:

• Verify how contact order preferences are handled during data transfer.
• Determine whether phone and email fields should be included in the data transfer.
• Ensure only necessary contact information is sent to create user accounts.
• Test the integration in a controlled test environment before full deployment to minimize potential issues.

Testing is a critical step before enabling the UKG integration for main record types in production. Use a controlled test environment or test organization to validate the integration behavior. Testing should cover the overall synchronization process, the impact of different synchronization modes, and how contact updates and deletions behave for the configured record types. For detailed guidance on planning and running contact integration tests between Everbridge Suite and an HR system, refer to the article EBS: Contact Integration Testing. This resource provides steps for understanding the synchronization process, testing in a test organization, and validating integration behavior before moving to production.

Before full deployment of the UKG integration, administrators should also verify that only necessary contact information is shared, confirm that field mappings (including user-defined fields) meet organizational requirements, and confirm that sync schedules and manual sync options are configured to support operational needs for critical event management and notification.