7. Contact

CRM Contact section.

7.1.  New Contact

Contacts are people who may be associated directly with CRM Accounts, Customers, Ship-To Addresses, Vendors, Vendor Addresses, and Sites. To create a new Contact, select the "New Contacts" option. The following screen will appear:

Create New Contact

When creating a new Contact, you are presented with the following options:

Title

Select a Title from the list of available Titles.

First

Enter the Contact's first name.

Last

Enter the Contact's last name.

Initials

Enter the Contact's initials.

CRM Account

Specify the CRM Account the Contact is associated with (if any). Contacts may also be attached to a CRM Account on the Account master.

Active

Select if you are actively doing business with this Contact. Not selecting makes the Contact inactive.

Job Title

Enter the Contact's job title.

Voice

Enter the Contact's phone number.

Alternate

Enter an alternate phone number for the Contact.

Fax

Enter the Contact's fax number.

E-Mail

Enter the Contact's e-mail address.

Web

Enter the Contact's website address.

Note

If a new Address is manually entered here, that Address will be added automatically to the master list of Addresses.

Address

Manually enter Address information in the fields below—or use the browse button to select pre-existing Address information. If a new Address is manually entered here, that Address will be added automatically to the master list of Addresses. For additional documentation related to creating Addresses, see Section 8.1, “ New Address”.

Notes

This is a scrolling text field with word-wrapping for entering Notes related to the Contact. Any Notes entered on this screen are for internal purposes only.

To add Comments to a Contact, select the "Comments" tab at the bottom of the "Contact" screen. The following screen will appear:

Contact Comments

When adding or reviewing Comments, you are presented with the following options:

Verbose Text

Select to display all Comments in the list in an expanded view which includes the entire text of each Comment. To edit a Comment, simply select the "Edit" link next to the Comment. That link will not be shown for Changelog Comments, which can't be edited. If the "Verbose Text" option is not selected, the Comment list will display only header level information for each Comment.

Comments

Display lists Comments related to the record.

To the far right of the screen, the following buttons are available:

NEW

Opens screen for creating a new Comment.

VIEW

Highlight a Comment and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted Comments—as long as the Comments are not "ChangeLog" Comments. ChangeLog Comments are system-generated and may not be edited. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Comment—except that when editing, the fields will contain Comment information. Double-clicking on a Comment will also bring you to the editing screen.

To enter a new Comment, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Create New Comment
Comment Type

Select a Comment Type from the drop-down list to classify the Comment. This is a required step. Comment Types may be system-defined (i.e., "ChangeLog" and "General") or user-defined, as described in Section 13.13, “Comment Types”. Once you have specified a Comment Type, begin typing your Comment in the main text area. The text area features word-wrapping and scroll-bar support for longer Comments.

To the far right of the screen, the following buttons are available:

CANCEL

Closes the screen without creating the Comment, returning you to the previous screen.

SAVE

Creates the Comment and adds it to the list of Comments.

SHOW MORE

Select to show the complete list (i.e., "thread") of Comments associated with the record. To hide the list, simply select the SHOW MORE button again. The Comment thread will show the most recent Comment first.

Contact Characteristics are user-defined definitions of a Contact which may be used to provide additional layers of description. To enter Characteristics associated with a Contact, select the "Characteristics" tab. The following screen will appear:

Contact Characteristics

Tip

Use Contact Characteristics, for example, to record and remember a Contact's birthday—or similar personal information.

Characteristics

Display lists the Characteristics related to the Contact.

To the far right of the screen, the following buttons are available:

NEW

Opens screen for creating a new Contact Characteristic.

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted Contact Characteristics. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Contact Characteristic—except that when editing, the fields will contain Contact Characteristic information. Double-clicking on a Contact Characteristic will also bring you to the editing screen.

DELETE

Highlight a Contact Characteristic and then select this button to remove the Contact Characteristic from the list.

To create a new Contact Characteristic, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Create New Contact Characteristic

When creating a new Contact Characteristic, you are presented with the following options:

Characteristic

Select a Characteristic from the list of Characteristics designated as being available for use as Contact Characteristics.

Value

Enter a value to associate with the Characteristic.

To the far right of the screen, the following buttons are available:

CANCEL

Closes the screen without creating the Contact Characteristic, returning you to the previous screen.

SAVE

Creates the Contact Characteristic and adds it to the list of Contact Characteristics

To locate where in the application the Contact is used, select the "Uses of the Contact" tab. The following screen will appear:

Uses of the Contact

The "Uses of the Contact" list displays information on all Contact cross-references, including used-at reference, CRM Account Number, CRM Account name, role, and active status.

To the far right of the list, the following buttons are available:

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted used-at references.

VIEW

Highlight a used-at reference and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.

7.2.  List Contacts

Contacts are people who may be associated directly with CRM Accounts, Customers, Ship-To Addresses, Vendors, Vendor Addresses, and Sites. To access the master list of Contacts, select the "List Contacts" option. The following screen will appear:

Contacts Master List

The "List Contacts" screen displays information on all existing Contacts, including Contact first name, last name, Account number, Account name, phone number, alternate phone number, fax number, email address, and web address.

Tip

Web addresses will launch a web browser when selected. However, for this to work you must drop the http:// prefix from the web address. Instead use the form www.website.com.

To the far right of the list, the following buttons are available:

CLOSE

Closes the screen, returning you to the application desktop.

PRINT

Runs the report associated with this screen.

NEW

Opens screen for creating a new Contact.

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted Contacts. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Contact—except that when editing, the fields will contain Contact information. Double-clicking on a Contact will also bring you to the editing screen.

VIEW

Highlight a Contact and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.

DELETE

Highlight a Contact and then select this button to remove the Contact from the list.

7.3. Search for Contact

To search for a Contact, select the "Search for Contact" option. The following screen will appear:

Search for Contact

When searching to retrieve Contact information from the database, you are presented with the following options:

Search for

Enter any character or combination of characters you want to match, followed by the TAB key. The "Search for" field supports pattern matching with Regular Expressions.

Tip

Hitting the TAB key activates the search operation.

Search through

Specify which of the following criteria you want to include in the search:

CRM Account Number

Select to search by CRM Account Number.

CRM Account Name

Select to search by CRM Account Name.

Contact Name

Select to search by Primary Contact Name.

Contact Phone #

Select to search by Primary Contact Phone Number.

Contact Email

Select to search by Primary Contact Email Address.

Street Address

Select to search by Primary Contact Street Address.

City

Select to search by Primary Contact City.

State

Select to search by Primary Contact State.

Postal Code

Select to search by Primary Contact Postal Code.

Country

Select to search by Primary Contact Country.

Show Inactive CRM Accounts

Select to show inactive Contact as well as active Contact.

Contacts

Display will show search results for Contacts, using specified parameters.

To the far right of the screen, the following buttons are available:

CLOSE

Closes the screen, returning you to the application desktop.

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted Contact. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Contact—except that when editing, the fields will contain Contact information. Double-clicking on a Contact will also bring you to the editing screen.

VIEW

Highlight a Contact and then select d this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.