Communication

In ContactsLaw, the term "communication" describes a contact's various methods of communication, their preferences, and whether they inherit any such details from related contacts.

Telephone

• Formatting: ContactsLaw uses information about the practice's location to automatically format, simplify, or expand telephone numbers you enter.
• Labeling: You can assign a particular label to any telephone number, either selecting from a predefined type or providing your own description. Some labels have a special meaning within the system. For example, a contact will automatically inherit its associated entity's 'Business switch' number during contact creation.
• Hyperlink Actions: Clicking on a telephone number hyperlink will start a new outgoing call (if telephone integration is configured). You can right-click the link for additional options, such as explicitly controlling whether the call is journalled.

Facsimile

• Features: Fax numbers benefit from the same features as ordinary telephone numbers.
• Document Creation: Clicking on a fax number will start the document creation activity and select the practice's default fax template.

E-mail

• Features: Communicating with contacts via e-mail provides access to the widest number of features in ContactsLaw and is the most convenient and streamlined method.
• Document Creation: Clicking on an e-mail address will start the document creation activity and select the practice's default e-mail template.
• Advantages: Two distinct advantages of composing e-mails in ContactsLaw are the ability to automatically attach enclosures, as well as on-the-fly conversion to PDF (for selected document formats).

Website

• Capture: ContactsLaw also captures the web addresses of your contacts. This is particularly useful for banks, creditors, and other organisations your practice does business with.

Preferred Telephone Number

• Marking Preferred Numbers: Often, several telephone numbers will be stored against a contact. You can mark the number which is preferred. When calling the contact, ContactsLaw will suggest this number first.

Preferred Method of Written Communication

• Specification: ContactsLaw allows you to specify whether a contact prefers to receive correspondence by fax, e-mail, or post. For the former two methods, you can nominate a preferred number/address.
• Inheritance: You can inherit the communication details from any related contact. The inherited details will remain stored against the contact until the relationship is changed or removed. Any changes to the related contact's details will be reflected in the inherited details.