# IDS Synchronization Overview

The system automatically determines if user entries in the MiCollab database and the directory server database are a matching pair based on a variety of criteria. If the user entries are identified as a match, the system automatically links the accounts and copies the data from the directory service entry to the MiCollab entry. If minor discrepancies exist between directory service attributes and the user specific fields (e-mail, first name, login ID, and so forth), the directory service data is applied to the MiCollab entry. However, if discrepancies exist between the telephony fields (Prime DN, Other Telephone, or EHDU external number), the MiCollab entries are not updated.

After a user is paired, the mapping is stored on the system. The mapping remains unless the IDS Manageable option is unchecked.

If you create a new user on the directory service and the user name (first name, last name) and login ID match an existing user in the MiCollab database, the update operation will be blocked and fail on MiCollab in the following circumstances:

- The same user already exists in MiCollab and both users have roles: At creation time, MiCollab will prompt for domain, user name, and login ID. If these fields match the fields of an existing user, the operation fails.

- The same user already exists in MiCollab but only the new user has a role: At creation time, MiCollab will prompt for domain, user name, and login ID. If these fields match an existing user, the operation fails. The role is not applied because the user already exists.

- Both the new user and current user have the same role but the current user doesn’t have all services provisioned for that role: At creation time, MiCollab prompts for domain, user name, and login ID. If these fields match an already existing user, the operation fails. The role is not applied because the user already exists.

- The matching users in the directory service and MiCollab databases have different telephone numbers: The operation is sent to the detained user updates queue.

Parent topic: Synchronizing IDS Data