Contact Types help you organize your Contacts by logically grouping like contacts together (Suppliers, Architects, Competitors, etc.). Contact Types also determine which records you will see when you open certain "lookups", for example, when you click the lookup button to select a Supplier, only those Contacts set to a Contact Type of "Suppliers" are shown.
Contacts with a Contact Type of "Supplier" can be used in eQuotes. See Related Articles for details on eQuotes.
We will explain Contacts Types below. The next few articles cover adding Contacts including importing a list of Contacts into your database and even how you can download a list of local Suppliers directly into your Contacts list.
Contact Types
Contacts that are similar can be grouped by Contact Type. The Contact Type assigned to a particular Contact entry determines if it is shown when you click the lookup button in various screens. This mapping is configured in Tools > Options > Lookups, see Related articles for more information.
For example, when you click the Lookups button for "Subcontractor" (name) on the Subs Tab, the Contacts list presented is filtered to the Contact Type "Subcontractors". Another example, if a Contact is set to a Contact Type of "Supplier", then that Contact can be added to an Item Detail as a potential supplier for an Item. You also can send eQuotes to "Suppliers".
To create a new Contact Type,
Click Master > Contact Types - the Contact Types (Master) dialog opens.
Click New - a blank line displays.
Enter the name of the new Contact Type and click OK.
New Contact Types may be added by simply typing in a new Contact Type name when adding or editing a Contact. If you type in a Contact Type that does not already exist, you will be prompted to add it to the database, click Yes and the Contact Types List (Master) dialog opens with the new Contact Type added - click Select to close the dialog. Once saved, that Contact Type will be available for any Contact.
If you've entered similar Contact Types and want to get rid of one, just use the global "Find and Replace" function in the Item Types list, see previous articles for more information.
What are Contacts?