Communication types are used to classify the various forms of communication used for managing accounts and contacts.
When you create a communication type, you must assign a communication class. The class designates the method of communication, such as phone, fax, email, and so on. There are eight communication classes available:
- Phone
- Fax
- Pager
- Alpha Page
- Efax
- Web
- Other
When adding a communication to an account or contact, you will choose a communication type. You can only have one of each communication type on an account/contact, so if you would like multiple phone numbers, for example, you must create multiple communication types to hold those phone numbers. Each communication type must by unique, such as Office Phone, Mobile, and Home Phone.
Communication types are added to accounts and contacts via the Communications field on the Details tab. If you add the communication via the Phone field, a MAIN entry is added to the Communications field automatically. MAIN indicates the preferred communication type for the organization. If you enter a communication type of MAIN in the Communications field, it will also add this to the Phone field on the account or contact.
If an account or contact has multiple email communication types and you send an email from the account or contact page or window, all the email addresses of that account or contact will default into the To field.
In this article,
- Add a Communication Type
- Edit a Communication Type
- Synch Communication Type
- Delete a Communication Type
Add a Communication Type
- Navigate to the Communication Types page and click Add. The Add Communication Type window opens.
- Enter the following information:
- Description: Name of the type.
- Code: Unique alphanumeric value.
- Class: Method of communication for the communication type.
- Sequence: Order the communication type displays in the drop-down when adding communication types to accounts and contacts.
- Sensitivity: Not applicable.
- Label: Shortened description used in drop-downs when adding the communication type to accounts and contacts.
- Duplicate: If checked, possible duplicate accounts or contacts are determined based on the communication type. For example, since email addresses are typically unique to an account or a contact, you would want to check this check box to determine if any accounts or contacts already exist.
- Mask: Value to automatically append when sending reports via efax. This is typically a common domain name so you do not have to enter it on each account or contact with an efax entry. You cannot change the mask once it is entered. This is only available if E-Fax is selected in the Class drop-down.
- Click OK.
Edit a Communication Type
The information for a communication type can be edited after its creation. When the information is updated, the changes apply wherever that communication type is used. If the class for a communication type is modified, the Synch Communication Type process must be used to update existing communication types. To avoid updating the existing communication type data, a new communication type should be added using the steps in Add a Communication Type.
- Navigate to the Communication Types page and select the communication type to edit.
- Right-click and select Edit. The Edit Communication Type window opens.
- Update the necessary information.
- Click OK.
Synch Communication Type
The communication type synch process checks the class assigned (Phone, Email, and so on) to the communication type against the existing accounts and contacts that already have the communication type assigned. It updates the communication type on the accounts and contacts that do not match. To synch a communication class for a communication type:
- Navigate to the Communication Types page and select the communication type to synch.
- Right-click and select Synch Communication Type. A message appears with the number of accounts and contacts affected.
- Click Yes to continue. The sync process begins. This process can take a long period of time if there are a lot of accounts and contacts to update.
Delete a Communication Type
If a communication type is no longer in use and doesn't need to be kept, it can be deleted. When deleting a communication type that is in use, a prompt will appear to select a replacement. The delete or delete-and-replace process cannot be undone.
- Navigate to the Communication Types page and right-click on the communication type to delete.
- Select Mark for Delete.
- Click Save. If the communication type is used, the Replace window opens.
- Select the communication type from the drop-down to replace the deleted communication type.
- Click OK.
Comments
4 comments
Hello - how does one add alternate communication types to contact search results?
E.G. in the "Contacts - Personnel" search results, list Work, Mobile and Home phone numbers in the grid? (only Work ("Phone") and Mobile are appearing as available columns...)
zak.
0 upvotes
Hi Zak,
At first look there appears to be an issue with the Contacts - Personnel settings and how they are not respecting the way communication types are set. You should be able to add these alternate communication types so they show in the search result column. Can you please enter a ticket so our Development team can review further.
Thank you,
Ryan
0 upvotes
Hi - Can anyone assists us with this error while adding contacts - personnel. Thank you!
2 upvotes
I'm not 100% but just guessing, you have the unique option checked against the email or phone communication types.
I'm not sure if this means you can only have 1 communication entry with that type attached to each account/contact OR if it means you can only have one account/contact with that communication value.
As you are adding a new contact, I suspect it's the latter.
Can you check whether you have any other records with the same email or phone number?
0 upvotes
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