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 for entities. Add as many communication methods for an entity as needed. For example, you can add home, mobile, and business phone numbers, 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 for the entity.

Adding 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 checkboxes	Communication type	Description	Required field
Description	All 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
Number	All 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 To	Email	When 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
URL	Web Site	Ensure 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.

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.

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.