Contact Types Screen

Overview

Contact types represent the types of contacts that can be setup on accounts (a billing contact, administrative contact, site contact, etc.). Contact types contain contact points which are configured to store contact related data (email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, etc.). Once a contact type is setup you will be able to add it to an account during account creation or add it to existing accounts (on the Account / Communication / Contacts screen).

Certain contact types have special functionality in the system, for instance, the Billing contact type on an invoicer account is the contact who will receive invoices (if invoices are configured to be delivered by email). When taxing is configured the Service contact's address on an account is used to determine what taxes apply to service charges. An option also exists at the account level to use a billing contact's address to determine what taxes apply in the event that a Service contact is not setup on the account.

Prerequisites

Contact types can be setup immediately, there are no prerequisite configuration steps.

Contact Types Panel

The Contact Types panel on the left of this screen allows you to select existing contact types to view and edit on the Edit Contact Type panel to the right. Actions are also available in this panel which are shown as icons above the Filter text box. The available actions are described below.

Actions

Icon	Description

Icon	Description
Open	Deletes the selected contact type if not in use
Open	Adds a new contact type

Edit Contact Type Panel

The information in this panel reflects the currently selected contact type. From here you can change contact type details (note: fields with a magenta left border are required).

Contact Type Fields:

• Name: a unique and descriptive name for the contact type (Account Administrator, On-Site Contact, etc.)

• Contact Type: the back-end contact type. These contact types can only be used once, with the exception of the 'Other' contact type which can be used on any additional contact types you create. Billing contacts setup on invoicer accounts will receive invoices (if invoices are sent by email). Service contact addresses are used to determine what taxes apply to account transactions (if taxing is configured)

• Description: an optional field that can be used to describe the contact type for internal reference

• Required: determines if the contact type must be setup when creating a new account. When required is enabled the 'Show on New Account' setting will automatically be enabled as well

• Show on New Account: determines if the contact type fields will be displayed on the contacts screen when adding a new account. If the 'Required' option is not set then the contact type details will be displayed when creating an account but the user will not be required to populate the contact details

• Show on Overview: contact details for the contact type in question will appear on the Account / Overview screen when this option is enabled

Contact Points tab

This tab displays the contact details that the contact type can store. These details are sub-elements called 'Contact Points'. Contact points are configurable and are used to capture contact information such as the contact's address, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. From this tab you can view, add, edit and remove contact points.

Guides

Adding Contact Types

1. Under the Contact Types heading on the left click the  icon

2. Under the Add Contact Type heading on the right specify the contact type details

3. To add contact details that can be attached to this contact type click on the + New button on the Contact Points tab. On the Add Contact Point modal enter a Name (e.g. 'Work Phone') then choose the appropriate Data Type (e.g. 'Phone'). Select 'Allow Multiple' if you want the user to be able to add the same contact point multiple times and 'Required' if you want to make it a requirement to add the contact point (e.g. the administrative contact type is required to have an email address)

4. Repeat the step above to add additional contact points if desired

5. Click Save

Editing Contact Types

1. Under the Contact Types heading on the left click the contact type you wish to edit

2. Under the Edit Contact Type heading on the right modify the contact type details

3. On the Contact Points tab add, edit or delete contact points as needed

4. Click Save when you have finished making changes

Deleting Contact Types

1. Under the Contact Types heading on the left select the contact type you wish to delete

2. Under the same Contact Types heading click the  icon

3. On the confirmation dialog that appears select Yes