Pick a Facility Node in the Facility Tree, and click on Alternate Identifiers to assign or edit alternate facility identifiers. Alternate Identifiers are user-defined, and are convenient for narrowing the Facility Tree or finding a particular facility using a legacy identification system. Alternate Identifiers also help to link external systems with ManagingEnergy and allowing them to uniquely specify a specific building.
This functionality is also available under the Alternate Identifiers tab in the Edit Facility feature.
Alternate Identifiers must be unique; however there can be two levels to an Alternate Identifier. There is the Alternate Identifier field itself but there is also an Alternate Identifier Type. The Alternate Identifier Type provides uniqueness in a situation where two buildings might have the same Alternate Identifier code if an Alternate Identifier Type field wasn't also provided. This is best described through an example:
A company wants to link their current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and accounting system to ManagingEnergy. The ERP system and accounting system for historical reasons have never been linked. It just so happens that the ERP system has a building 001 (lets call it building A) and the accounting system has a building 001 (we'll call it building B), but they actually refer to different buildings. In this case you could set up two Alternate Identifier Types, one named ERP, the other Accounting. Then for building A within ManagingEnergy assign it to an Alternate Identifier Type of ERP, Alternate Identifier of 001. Building B is assigned to Alternate Identifier Type of Accounting, Alternate Identifier of 001. Problem solved, both external systems can continue to use their historical naming conventions but ManagingEnergy can now distinguish them separately.
It is not necessary to assign values for all Alternate Identifiers to all Facilities.
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