AGIIS Learning Series 2: Directory Requests

Member Services

AGIIS Learning Series 2: Directory Requests – Tips to Expedite the Review Process

By Chris Crutchfield, AGIIS Product Manager

As we continue our series on AGIIS (Ag Industry Identification System) tips and tricks for a better user experience, I want to take this opportunity to talk about Directory Requests – what they are, what is being reviewed, and ways you can help expedite the review process.

The slate of presenters included Renato Rodrigues from the Agoro Carbon Alliance, Fábio Angelis from Agrorobótica, Eduardo Assad and Talita Priscila Pinto from the Bioeconomy Department at FGVAgro and Sandra Furlan Rodrigues from Embrapa Meio Ambiente.

When an AGIIS user adds a new entity or updates and existing entity in the directory, most often the Add or Update transaction is immediate. Your new entity is instantly assigned a Global Location Number, or your update to an existing entity is immediately applied. However, there are instances where the Add or Update requires a review by the AGIIS Directory Administrator (DA) prior to enumeration or prior to the update being applied. This is to ensure data quality and to ensure adherence to AGIIS business rules. These include:

  • There is already a pending request for the entity
  • Requests with Name/Address override
  • Requests when the “Comments” section is used
  • Requests that specify Member Services verification
  • Any entity status change (Reactivation, Out of Business, Replaced and Bought Out)
  • Entity has been identified as a Duplicate Exemption
  • Add requests that have the exact same physical or mailing address, state, and zip as an existing active entity when the requested name “sounds like” the name of the existing entity

The DA has multiple web tools at our disposal to verify an entity and the accuracy of its demographics, including the United States Postal Service website, White Pages, Yellow Pages, Google Maps and Google Search. With these tools we are often able to turn around your directory request rather quickly, but there are some things you can do to help expedite this process.

For example, if you submit an entity with a name or address override, this is a time when we encourage you to add comments to the request. Most helpful is a web URL to the company’s website or a link to a Google Maps page verifying the address being submitted. When submitting a Buyout our Out of Business transaction, providing a link to a formal company announcement helps us expedite and approve your request.

However, we caution you to not use the comments section unnecessarily – for example, comments like, “New Grower”, or “Need GLN for New Customer” do not provide information that is critical to the request, and because the section is filled in it will be automatically directed to the DA for review when it otherwise would not have required kicking in the review process. Comments should only be used to help the DA make an informed decision.