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Managing communication methods

Communication methods capture the various channels for communicating with an entity. This includes methods such as phone numbers, email addresses, and personal websites. Add as many communication methods for an entity as needed. For example, you can add home, mobile, and business phone numbers, multiple personal email addresses, and LinkedIn and Twitter URLs for an entity. You can add communication methods when adding a new entity to the system or add and manage communication methods for existing entities on the Contacts workspace.

You can create and manage the communication methods for an entity from the Detail tab, using the Communications card.

Adding new communication methods

To add a communication method for an existing entity, navigate to entity's record on the Contacts workspace and select the Detail tab. On the Communications card, click the Add button , select a communication type, and fill in the required information. Communication methods are grouped on the Communications card by type.

When adding new communication methods, the following fields are included for the appropriate type of communication method:

Fields and checkboxesCommunication typeDescriptionRequired field
DescriptionAll communication types

The description for a communication method is displayed under the method on the Communications card. You can personalize the description text to more accurately reflect the information contained in the field. For example, you can add a link to a contact's LinkedIn profile and change the communication method description from Web Site to LinkedIn.

Changes you make to a communication description apply only to the selected communication method and only for the currently selected entity. Changes do not apply to new instances of the communication type or to the communication method for other entities. Existing and new descriptions are unaffected.

Yes
NumberAll phone communication types, such as Business, Home, and Mobile.Enter phone numbers using the following international format: + <countryCode> <nationalDestinationCode> <subscriberNumber>. In the Add Telephone Number dialog, the Country field shows your preferred country by default. When you enter a phone number, it is validated for the selected country. You are notified if the number is invalid. If you purposely want to add a phone number that does not conform to a country's specific patterns, select Unspecified in the country field. Yes
Send ToEmailWhen you add a new email address for an entity, the Send To checkbox is automatically selected. To configure an email address for automatic inclusion or exclusion in email messages from NexJ CRM, select or clear the Send To checkbox. Yes
URLWeb SiteEnsure that you enter a valid website. Include http:// (or https://) in the URL address, such as http://linkedin.com/in/username.Yes

To edit or delete a communication method on the list, click the More Actions button for the method, and select the appropriate menu item.

Selecting existing household communication methods

If the contact is a household member, you can select an existing communication method from their household profile instead of typing it in. On the contact's profile, in the Detail tab, click the Select Communication button on the Communications card, and select the existing household communication method you want to use.

The Select Communication button is disabled if the contact doesn't belong to a household, if the household doesn't have any communications, or if all household communications have already been added to the contact's profile.


If you edit the communication method from a household member's profile, the changes are reflected on the household profile and on the profiles of any other household members using the communication method.

If you delete the communication method from a household member's profile, it is removed from the Communications card only for that member. Communication methods on the household profile or the profiles of any other household members are not affected.

Setting the preferred communication method

If the entity you are working with has a specific preferred method of contact, you can indicate this by marking a preferred communication method. To indicate the preferred means of reaching an entity, apply the preferred method label to one of the items in the entity's Communications card by clicking the More Actions button  for that method and selecting Set Preferred. The preferred communication method is indicated by a blue circle on the Communications card and is displayed on the entity's banner.

To clear the preferred label, click the More Action button and select Clear Preferred.

Setting communication method defaults

If an entity has multiple entries for the same type of communication method, you can specify a default method. This method is used automatically for initiating communications and filling merge fields in batch printed documents and batch emails. For example, if an entity has multiple email addresses listed on the Communications card, you can click the User Preferences button and set a Primary Email Address.

Preferred communication method example

You can also configure multiple email addresses for an entity. For more information about email configuration, see Configuring multiple email addresses for one entity.

Configuring multiple email addresses for one entity

Although many entities have more than one email address listed in their profile, usually one default email address is used for sending emails from NexJ CRM. In some cases, however, you may want to send emails to multiple addresses, and to set this as the default behavior. For example, you may have a client who requests that all email communications be sent to their personal email address, their work email address, and their lawyer's email address.

You can configure email addresses for automatic inclusion or exclusion in email messages from the Communications card. To include an email address in the mailing list for an entity, click the More Actions button for the email and select Edit. In the Edit Communication dialog, select the Send To checkbox. To exclude an email address from the mailing list for an entity, clear the Send To checkbox.

When you set a primary email address for an entity, it is automatically included in email messages to the entity.

You can review which email addresses are configured for inclusion in email messages (and which are not) in the Communications Defaults dialog. Click the User Preferences button on the Communications card to open the Communications Defaults dialog and scroll down to view the Available email addresses table.

Emailing entities

If you want to email an entity in NexJ CRM, you can use it to launch your default email client, and begin a new email with the To field information automatically filled in. If an entity has multiple email addresses configured for automatic inclusion in email messages, then all addresses with the Send To checkbox selected will be auto filled in the email To field. You can only email entities that have an email address listed on their Communications card.

There are multiple ways to email a selected entity from NexJ CRM:

  • Navigate to the Contacts workspace, hover over an entity record in the data table, and click the Email button for the record.
  • Navigate to the detail page for the entity, click the More Actions button in the banner, and select Email.
  • On the Communications card, click the More Actions button for an email address, and select Email. In addition to the email address you launch from, all emails with the Send To attribute are also included.

Navigating to websites

Use the Web Site communication type to store a URL for an entity. To access the website directly from the application, click the More Actions button for a website communication type on the Communications card and select Go to link.

Include http:// as part of the website URL.

Initiating a call from a phone number

As of the NexJ CRM 22.03 release, you can call a contact, company, household, or user by clicking on their phone number in the banner or Communications card.

Before you attempt to call an entity, install a telephone application as a default application on your computer (for example, Google Voice, Microsoft Skype, or Microsoft Teams) by searching for "default apps" in the Windows search bar, clicking on Choose defaults apps by protocol in Settings, navigating to the TEL: protocol, and selecting the telephone application that you want to set as your default telephone application. When you click on a phone number in the banner or Communications card, the default telephone application will open automatically.

If no country code was specified when the phone number was added for the entity, when you click on the phone number NexJ CRM will attempt to validate the phone number by first using the entity's country code, and if that doesn't exist, NexJ CRM will attempt to validate the phone number using the code for the country specified in your User Preferences. If NexJ CRM cannot validate the phone number, you will receive an error message asking to dial the phone number manually using the keypad.

Related links

  • Batch operations - Print batch documents, send batch emails, and use merge fields to deliver personalized documents and emails to an entity or group of entities.