How to connect and share projects to external organizations using Teams

Summary:

Collaborating with other organizations or companies in OpenSolar is possible by using the Teams functionality.

The Teams feature in OpenSolar enables seamless collaboration between different organizations by allowing them to connect, share project data, and coordinate workflows.

This functionality is ideal for businesses operating across multiple locations or specializing in different service types (e.g., residential vs. commercial).

Table of contents:

• Overview
• User Role Access
• Accessing the Teams Feature
• Connected Orgs
• Establishing Connections
• Accepting Connections
• Sharing Control Items
• Bulk Sharing of Entities
• Sharing Projects
• Collaborating on Shared Projects
• Managing Sharing Permissions

Overview:

The Teams feature allows organizations in OpenSolar to:

• Establish connections with other businesses

• Share control entities (e.g., pricing schemes, hardware components)

• Collaborate on projects and manage data sharing permissions

This is particularly useful for businesses with distributed teams, partners, or subcontractors.

User Role Access:

Only users with Admin privileges can:

• Access the Teams section

• Connect to other organizations

• Manage sharing permissions and project data

Accessing the Teams Feature:

1. Click on the “Control” tab.

2. Navigate to Control > Company > Team.

Connected Orgs:

Under Team, you’ll find two subsections:

• Connected Organisations – View and manage your organizational connections.

• Sharing Permissions – Configure what data is shared with each connected organization.

Establishing Connections:

To connect with another organization:

1. Go to Connected Organizations and click “Connect an Org” (top right).
   

2.  Fill in the organization name you want to connect with.

3. Set the connection status to Enabled or Disabled (controls data sharing).

   • Optional: Input any users in your org to receive notifications about shared projects.

4. Set teh project sharing Settings. When toggled on, all created project will be automatically shared with the connected organiaztion

5. Set the Design Page Component Selector to show for shared projects. 
   This determines which organization’s components should appear by default when viewing the Component Selector in projects shared to this org.

6. Configure Sharing Permissions to define what data can be shared.

7. Click “Save” to send the connection request.
   

Accepting Connections:

• If another organization sends you a connection request, it will appear as a Pending Connection in the Connected Orgs section.

• Accepting the request lets you define the sharing permissions for project data and entities.

Accepting the request allows you to specify sharing permissions for project data with the connecting organization. 

Sharing Control Items:

To share entities like pricing schemes or hardware components:

1. Go to the specific control item under the Control tab.

2. Choose the organization to share it with.

3. Save the changes.

You can also view a list of all shared entities in the Teams > Connected Orgs section.

Bulk Sharing of Entities:

To bulk share (e.g., pricing schemes):

1. Navigate to the relevant entity section (e.g., Pricing Schemes).

2. Use the checkboxes to select multiple entities.

3. Click on “Share with” and choose the connected organization.

4. Confirm by clicking “Save Changes”.

5. To unshare, use the “Unshare with” option and save.

Sharing Projects:

To share a project:

• Create or open a project.

• In the Manage tab > Details section hover over "Team" and click "Edit"

• Open "External Organization"
• Select the connected organization(s).
• Choose permission settings and toggle visibility as needed.

• Save the project.

🔒 Note: The receiving organization will only have access to what your permissions allow.

Collaborating on Shared Projects:

Using Shared Entities:

In shared projects, you can use:

• Equipment

• Payment options

• Pricing schemes

• Other shared assets

Each shared entity in the Design tab will indicate whether it was shared by or shared with the connected organization.

Using the Email Feature:

To communicate with the connected org:

1. Go to the Project Manage  > Edit the team section.

2. Click the email icon.

3. This sends an email to the users assigned to the project from the owning organization.

Managing Sharing Permissions:

To customize what connected organizations can see:

• Go to Company > Teams > Sharing Permissions.

• Click “Create a New Record”.

• Define the visibility settings.

• Save the permission set.

• Apply it to specific connections. These settings will apply to future project shares.

Video Walkthrough:

FAQs:

When I send a connection request, how is the other organization notified?

They will see a Pending Connection in their Teams > Connected Orgs page. Currently, no email notifications are sent.

Can I connect with organizations in different countries?

Yes, international connections are supported. Ensure pricing and other entities are configured in the same currency for consistency.