Create or edit a contact

Can I do this task?

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Sales, and then click Contacts.
2. On the Actions toolbar, click New, or open the record that you want to edit.
3. On the General tab, enter information or observe any noted restrictions or requirements as needed:
   • First Name

     If you enter a first name, it can only be a name with a length of 50 characters or fewer.You can use accent marks when you enter data, for example, in a customer's name. Your ability to sort and find information is not affected by these accent marks.

   • Last Name

     You must enter a name with a length of 50 characters or fewer.

   • Parent Customer

     If the contact you are creating is a subcontact, you will want to set up a relationship to its parent contact. If you are setting up a parent customer, leave this field blank. To locate and select a parent customer, click the Parent Customer box. You can select a record from a filtered list in the Form Assistant pane, or you can click the Lookup button to search for other records.

   • E-mail

     E-mail addresses must be valid. For example, someone@microsoft.com.

   • ZIP/Postal Code

     Enter a code of 20 characters or fewer.

4. On the Details tab, observe any noted restrictions or requirements and enter all the information you have available in the following fields:
   • Birthday

     You must enter the date in the format your organization has set for dates. For example, 01/01/2006 or 31.12.2005.

     If you omit leading zeros in a date, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will add them automatically. For example, when you type 1/1/06, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will display it as 01/01/2006, if that is the date format of your organization.

   • Anniversary

     You must enter the date in the format your organization has set for dates. For example, 01/01/2006 or 31.12.2005.

     If you omit leading zeros in a date, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will add them automatically. For example, when you type 1/1/06, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will display it as 01/01/2006, if that is the date format of your organization.

5. On the Administration tab, enter information or observe any noted restrictions or requirements as needed:
   • Owner

     This box is filled automatically with the name of the user who is creating the record. You can click the Lookup button to search for other records.

   • Originating Lead

     If this contact was the result of converting a lead, then this field will automatically show the lead record. You can also enter the originating lead. To locate and select a lead, click the Originating Lead box. You can select a record from a filtered list in the Form Assistant pane, or you can click Lookup to search for a lead.

   • Credit Limit

     This field is not used as part of the business logic in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online; however, your organization might use it as part of a workflow process.

   • Credit Hold

     This field is not used as part of the business logic in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online; however, your organization might use it as part of a workflow process.

   • Payment Terms

     This field is mapped to any orders that are created for the record.

   • Price List

     If your organization has price lists Groups of the specific prices that can be charged for each unit in the unit groups of products. Price lists are used to determine the pricing in a quote for a customer. A default price list can be added to a product. set up, you can select a record from a filtered list in the Form Assistant pane, or you can click Lookup to search for and select the appropriate price list. This field is mapped to any orders that are created for the record.

   • Contact Methods
     • Preferred

       Select the option that best describes the preferred method of contact.

     • E-mail

       If you select Allow, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online allows all e-mail, including e-mails related to campaign activities, to be sent to the e-mail address associated with the record. However, if you select Do Not Allow, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online does not allow any e-mail to be sent to the e-mail address associated with the record.

     • Bulk E-mail

       If you select Allow, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online allows any e-mail as part of a bulk e-mail process, including bulk e-mails related to campaign activities, to be sent to the e-mail address associated with the record. However, if you select Do Not Allow, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online does not allow any bulk e-mail to be sent to the e-mail address associated with the record.

     • Phone

       The selected option simply provides information to anyone who views the record. This field is not used by Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to control initiating or receiving phone calls.

     • Fax

       The selected option simply provides information to anyone who views the record.

     • Mail

       The selected option simply provides information to anyone who views the record. This field is not used by Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to control initiating or receiving mail.

   • Marketing Information
     • Send Marketing Materials

       If you select Yes, marketing material corresponding to campaigns is sent to the respective addresses (e-mail, physical address) for the record. This includes general marketing mailers that might be sent on a regular basis that are not part of a targeted marketing campaign. If you select No, marketing materials are not sent, nor can activities related to sending marketing materials be created for the record.

     • Last Date Included in Campaign

       Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online automatically sets the date for this field when any marketing communication is sent to the addresses for the record. You can also manually update this field and enter a date. This field is used as filter criteria in Marketing Automation. For example, the Anti-Spam Setting area of a Campaign form uses the date in this field to ensure that you do not send frequent mailers to a customer.

   • Service Preferences

     Select the customer's preferred time and day for service activities.

     Click the Preferred Service, Preferred Facility/Equipment, or Preferred User box to search for the appropriate record.

     You can select a record from a filtered list in the Form Assistant pane, or you can click Lookup to search for other records.

6. On the Notes tab, click Click here to enter a new note, and add the information that applies to your record.
7. Click Save or Save and Close.

   Resolve potential duplicate records.

   1. If the system detects that your record might be a potential duplicate, instead of saving the record, you'll see the Duplicates Detected dialog box.
   2. To open a record to make sure it is a potential duplicate, in the Potential duplicate records list, double-click the record.
      • If the duplicate-detection rule A rule that specifies criteria for identifying a record as a duplicate. identified potential duplicate records in other record types, review records from each record type listed.
   3. If your new or updated record is not a duplicate, to create the new record, click Save Record.

      - OR -

      If your new or updated record is a duplicate, to cancel your changes, click Cancel.

   Notes

   • If you enter a duplicate record within a few minutes of entering the first record, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will not detect the duplicate record. The matchcodes Codes created for every record that a duplicate-detection rule might apply to, used as part of the process of detecting duplicates. for new and updated records are created every five minutes, rather than as a record is created.
   • Duplicate detection can take place only if duplicate detection is enabled in Duplicate Detection Settings and if at least one duplicate-detection rule A rule that specifies criteria for identifying a record as a duplicate. exists for the record type.More information: Avoiding Duplicate Records

Note

You can associate multiple contacts with an account A company that might do business with your organization., but only one contact A person who represents a customer or potential customer, or an individual related to an account. For example, an individual who purchases products or services for their own use, or an employee of an account. A contact may also be a person involved in a business transaction, such as a supplier or a colleague. can be the primary contact for an account. If you consolidate contacts and subcontacts, you can create relationships between them and use the reporting features to generate revenue reports for all the related contacts.

Tips