Searching for Contacts

Top  Previous  Next

When you click Search on the Contacts tab, the Search Contacts page is displayed, as shown in Figure 1. You can search for contacts by specifying the search criteria. The more information you enter in the search query form, the more refined your search becomes.

You can search for a contact by entering one or more of the following details:

First Name
Middle Name
Last Name
Company
Title
Contact Type
Contact Source, which includes the following options:
My Contacts - your contacts
All Contacts - all the contacts in the system
Controlled Hierarchy Contacts - contacts of a hierarchy.

For example, if you are a manager, you can view contacts of employees reporting to you.

Site

When you enter a partial name in an input field, the system executes the search and returns all results with your search term anywhere in the field. For example, entering "or" in the first name field displays all contacts with "or" in their first names, such as George, Gordon, and Lorna. To view all the contacts in the system, leave all fields blank, and click Search.

Caution: In applications with a large contact database, using blank fields to search for contacts may be time consuming.

Contact Type provides many options to refine your search. The options available are:

Contact Types - This category includes options, such as acquaintances, competitors, shareholders, and vendors.
Account Contact Types - This category includes all contacts associated with an account.
All Contact Types - This category includes Contact types and Account types.

 

Contacts_search_form

Figure 1 The Search Contacts Page

Viewing Contact Search Results

The Search Results page, resulting from a set of criteria specified during the search, is shown in Figure 2. The search results can be sorted by name, company, or site using the field headers at the top of the results page.

When you click action_icon, a context menu is displayed, which contains the following task options:

View Details - to view the details of the contact
Modify - to edit the details of the contact
Move - to move the contact to the Accounts module
Clone - to duplicate the contact
Download vCard - to download the details of the contact in vCard format
Send Address Request - to send a message to the contact
Delete - to remove the contact from the database

 

Contacts_search_results

Figure 2 Contact Search Results

Viewing Contacts

Clicking a contact name in the search results displays the Contact Details page, as shown in Figure 3.

 

Contacts_details

Figure 3 Contact Details

You can modify, clone, delete, or download vCard of the contact using the options available on the Contact Details page. In case the contact is imported, the import name is displayed on the Contact Details page. For more details, refer to Importing Contacts. The Contact Details page also contains the following sub-tabs:

Details - Select this sub-tab to view the details of the contact.
History - Select this sub-tab to view information related to a contact till date. For more details, refer to Viewing History.
Folders - Select this sub-tab to view the all the folders created in this module. For more details, refer to Using Contact Folders.
Activities - Select this sub-tab to record and schedule activities. For more details, refer to Recording and Planning Activities.
Messages - Select this sub-tab to view the messages sent to and received from the contacts. For more details, refer to Sending Messages.
Documents - Select this sub-tab to view the list of folders and attached documents relevant to the contact. For more details, refer to Adding and Accessing Documents.
Opportunities - Select this sub-tab to view opportunities associated with this contact. For more details, refer to Viewing Opportunities.

Understanding the Contact Preference Icons

On the Contact Details page, the contact preference icons are displayed, as shown in Figure 3. For the selected contact, these icons suggest the preferences for being contacted. These icons stand for:

phone Phone
fax Fax
email Email
inst_message Instant message
text_message Text message
postal_add Postal address

If you specify any of these contact details while adding a contact, the respective icons are highlighted on the Contact Details page. For more details, refer to Understanding the Contact Preference Icons.

Adding a Contact

You can add a new contact by:

clicking Add a Contact on the Search Result page, as shown in Figure 2.
clicking Add on the menu bar.

To add a contact, click Add on the menu bar. The Add Contact page is displayed, as shown in Figure 4.

 

Adding_contact

Figure 4 The Add Contact Page

1.Enter the following details:
Contact name
Company and title
Contact details that include the following:
Phone numbers
Email addresses
Instant message addresses
Text messages addresses
Postal addresses
2.Click Save.

Adding a vCard

You can add a vCard of a contact. This allows you to add a contact.

To add a vCard:

1. Click Add vCard on the menu bar.

The Add vCard page is displayed, as shown in Figure 5.

 

add_vcard_contacts

Figure 5 Adding a vCard

2.Select the site of the contact. You can add the options in the Site field in the Admin module on the Admin > Configure Modules Website > Lookup Lists page.
3.Click Browse to locate the vCard on your system.
4.Click Save to add the vCard.

The Add Contact page is displayed. The field values that are available in the vCard are automatically populated. For more details, refer to Adding a Contact.

Modifying Contacts

The Modify button on the Contact Details page enables you to modify the contact details. Click Modify to display the Modify Contact page, as shown in Figure 6. You can modify the following information:

Personal information - details, such as names and birthday.
Official information - details, such as role and title.
Contact information - details, such as phone numbers, email addresses, mailing address, and IM address.
Additional information - notes.

Click Update to save the changes or click Cancel to return to previous page without saving the changes.

 

Contacts_modify

Figure 6 Modifying a Contact

Cloning Contacts

Contact cloning is a feature that enables you to add new contacts from the same company without having to re-enter common information, such as company name and address.

You can create another contact similar to the one you are viewing by clicking Clone on the Contact Details page. The name of the company, email address, mailing address, and phone numbers are entered automatically from the current contact.

Deleting Contacts

You can delete a contact that is no longer required by clicking Delete on the Contact Details page. ConcourseSuite displays a warning to confirm the deletion.

Downloading a vCard

A vCard is an electronic business card containing:

Geographic and time zone information
Multiple languages support, which enables you to view the details in the language of your choice

You can download a contact's vCard in a .VCF format to your laptop, desktop, and other communication tools, such as phones and palmtops. Click Download vCard and select from the options whether you want to open the vCard or save the same, as shown in Figure 7.

 

Contact_dwnld_vCard

Figure 7 The Download vCard Dialog Box

On selecting Open, a pop-up window is displayed, as shown in Figure 8.

 

viewvcard

Figure 8 Viewing the vCard