Data cleansing system and method

1. A computer implemented method for updating customer data that includes a plurality of electronically stored contact records that each include contact information for a respective individual contact, comprising:

applying automated filtering to the customer data to identify one or more duplicate contacts that fall within defined filtering criteria, wherein the defined filtering criteria include similarities in separate individual contact data found in multiple contact records, and the similarities are identified through logic based comparison algorithms;

generating a multi-dimensional feature vector representing each identified duplicate contact;

performing cluster analysis on the resulting feature vectors to reduce the identified duplicate contacts to a smaller candidate list of one or more identified duplicate contacts;

providing information about the duplicate contacts included in the smaller candidate list to a decision making authority for additional filtering; and

receiving feedback derived from the decision making authority in respect of the provided information, and based on the feedback, automatically updating the customer data in respect of the duplicate contacts included in the smaller candidate list.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronically stored contact records include, for at least some of the individual contacts, a first contact record maintained by a customer relationship management (CRM) system, and a second contact record maintained by a CRM support system, the contact record and the second contact record for an individual contact being linked by a unique contact ID,

wherein:

applying the automated filtering to the customer data comprises applying the defined filtering criteria to contact information at least partially derived from the second contact records; and

automatically updating the customer data comprises causing the CRM support system to update the second contact records and causing the CRM system to update the first contact records.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the defined filtering criteria are selected to identify individual contacts that are potential active contacts, the method comprising, for each of a plurality of potential new contacts:

receiving information identifying the potential new contact;

determining a completeness indicator for the potential new contact that quantifies a completeness of contact information available for the potential new contact;

determining a contact relationship value indicator for the potential new contact that quantifies a perceived value of the potential new contact;

wherein the filtering criteria is applied to the completeness indicator and the contact relationship value indicator determined in respect of each of the plurality of potential new contacts, and the information provided to the decision making authority includes the potential new contacts identified as potential active clients;

wherein the feedback identifies the potential active clients that are to be included in the customer data as active contacts.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein automatically updating the customer data comprises, for each potential contact identified in the feedback for inclusion as an active contact:

adding a new contact record for any contact that does not have an existing contact record;

merging non-overlapping individual contact data from one or more contacts found in filtered contact records identified by the data steward module as duplicate contact records into the identified master contact record;

deleting one or more contact records identified by the data steward module as duplicate contact records of the identified master contact record; and

including an indicator in the customer data to indicate that the contact is an active contact.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the contact relationship value indicator for each potential new contact is determined based on combination of: (i) a perceived value of an existing relationship with the contact's organization, and (ii) the potential new contacts position within the contact's organization; and wherein the contact relationship value indicator is included in the information provided to the decision making authority.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the contact information for a respective individual contact includes a relationship strength information that quantifies communication interaction history with the individual contact, wherein the defined filtering criteria is based on the relationship strength information.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the contact information for a respective individual contact includes a total contact value indicator that quantifies a perceived overall value of the respective contact based on: a position of the individual contact within the contact's organization; a size of the contact's organization; and the relationship strength information,

wherein the defined filtering criteria is based on the total contact value indicator.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the defined filtering criteria are selected to identify individual contacts for potential archiving based on contact information included in the contact records for the respective individual contacts, the defined filtering criteria being based on a recentness of communication interaction with individual contacts determined based on the contact information.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the defined filtering criteria are selected to identify one or more possible duplicate contact records that potentially all correspond to a same individual based on a similarity of contact information included in the contact records.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the individual contact data includes one or more of the following contact data fields for a respective contact: first name, last name, title, organization, e-mail address, phone number, and social media link, and wherein the multi-dimensional feature vector representing each identified duplicate contact includes incudes respective numeric values derived from a respective plurality of the contact data fields for the respective contact.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein automatically updating the customer data comprises:

updating one or more of the fields of the individual contact data in one of the multiple contact records with data included in one or more corresponding fields of another one of the multiple contact records.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein automatically updating the customer data comprises:

merging non-overlapping individual contact data from one or more of the multiple contacts records act records into a master contact record.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein providing information about the duplicate contacts included in the smaller candidate list to the decision making authority comprises:

causing a user interface to simultaneously display information about the duplicate contacts in adjacent display areas of a user interface screen to enable a visible comparison of contact data from identical data fields for the duplicate contacts.

14. A computer system for updating customer data that includes a plurality of electronically stored contact records that each include contact information for a respective individual contact, the computer system comprising:

a processor;

a non-volatile storage coupled to the processer and including software instructions that when executed by the processor configure the computer system to:

apply automated filtering to the customer data to identify one or more duplicate contacts that fall within defined filtering criteria, wherein the defined filtering criteria include similarities in separate individual contact data found in multiple contact records, and the similarities are identified through logic based comparison algorithms;

generate a multi-dimensional feature vector representing each identified duplicate contact;

perform cluster analysis on the resulting feature vectors to reduce the identified duplicate contacts to a smaller candidate list of one or more identified duplicate contacts;

provide information about the duplicate contacts included in the smaller candidate list to a decision making authority for additional filtering; and

receive feedback derived from the decision making authority in respect of the provided information, and based on the feedback, automatically update the customer data in respect of the duplicate contacts included in the smaller candidate list.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the electronically stored contact records include, for at least some of the individual contacts, a first contact record maintained by a customer relationship management (CRM) system, and a second contact record maintained by a CRM support system, the contact record and the second contact record for an individual contact be linked by a unique contact ID,

wherein:

the computer system is configured to:

apply the automated filtering to the customer data by applying the defined filtering criteria to contact information at least partially derived from the second contact records; and

automatically update the customer data by causing the CRM support system to update the second contact records and causing the CRM system to update the first contact records.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the contact information for a respective individual contact includes a relationship strength information that quantifies communication interaction history with the individual contact, wherein the defined filtering criteria is based on the relationship strength information.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the defined filtering criteria are selected to: (i) identify individual contacts for potential archiving; (ii) identify individual contacts for potential removal based on a predetermined privacy policy; and/or (iii) identify one or more duplicate contact records that potentially all correspond to a same individual based on a similarity of contact information included in the contact records.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the defined filtering criteria are selected to identify individual contacts that are potential active contacts,

wherein the system is configured to, for each of a plurality of potential new contacts:

receive information identifying the potential new contact;

determine a completeness indicator for the potential new contact that quantifies a completeness of contact information available for the potential new contact;

determine a contact relationship value indicator for the potential new contact that quantifies a perceived value of the potential new contact;

wherein the filtering criteria is applied to the completeness indicator and the contact relationship value indicator determined in respect of each of the plurality of potential new contacts, and the information provided to the decision making authority includes the potential new contacts identified as potential active clients;

wherein the feedback identifies the potential active clients that are to be included in the customer data as active contacts.