RB User Guide > Entities > Contacts

Adding contacts to RB

You can add contacts to your RB database in advance, import them from other applications (RB9 only), or on the fly in firms, cases, jobs, and invoices. Contacts must be tied to a firm in RB, and you can add firms on the fly too.

1. Start a new contact

   • From scratch

     1. Entities > Contacts
     2. Click New.
     3. In the New Contact window, the Lookup Firm panel automatically opens. Find and select the contact’s firm. See Looking up firms. If the firm does not exist in your database, click New in the Lookup Firm window. (See Adding firms to RB.)

   • From an existing contact

     In a View Contact/Edit Contact window, click More > Copy & New. Contact will automatically include firm information.

   • From another application

     If you have an existing database of contacts in another application, you can import the data into RB via an Excel spreadsheet. See Importing entities from other systems.

   • Within a firm

     Contact will automatically include firm information.

     1. In a View Firm/Edit Firm window, click Contacts > All Contacts.
     2. All active contacts for the firm are listed in the Contacts panel by default.
        • Click Show Inactive to see all contacts for the firm that have been entered into RB. This way you can check that the contact has not been entered before.
        • Click New to add a contact.

   • Within a case

     Contact will automatically include firm information.

     1. In an Edit Case window’s Parties pane, click:
     • A hyperlinked contact — To change the contact to a new contact at an existing party.
     • — To add another party. See Looking up firms, Adding firms to RB.
     2. In the Edit Party/New Party panel, click *Contact > New Contact (required).

   • Within a job

     In an Edit Job window’s Ordering Client pane, click *Ordering Contact > New Contact (required) or Scheduled By .

   • Within an invoice

     • In a New Invoice window’s General pane, click *Sold To Contact (required) or Bill To Contact .
     • In an Edit Invoice window’s General pane, click *Sold To Contact > New Contact (required) or Bill To Contact .

2. Enter required information

   In the New Contact window’s General pane, you can enter the contact’s full name 3 ways:

   • Automatically

     Set up preferences for Autofill in System Preferences > Entities > Contacts first.

     1. Enter contact’s given name (First Name), middle name or initial (Mi.), family name (Last Name), and title (Salutation).
     2. Depending on what options you included in System Preferences, the *Full Name field will automatically populate with the contact’s name. You can edit the full name if desired.

   • With options

     By entering parts of the contact’s name in the name fields, RB creates a drop-down of naming options for the *Full Name field.

     1. Enter the contact’s given name in First Name, middle name or initial in Mi., family name in Last Name, and title in Salutation.
     2. Click next to *Full Name field and select one of the variations of the contact’s name in the drop-down (required).

   • Without options

     Type the contact’s name exactly as you want it to appear in RB in *Full Name (required).

   TIP: Use the separate name fields for more search options

   If you enter contact names in the separate name fields instead of only as a full name, you can use the First Name or Last Name filters to limit results when searching for contacts. See Searching contacts.

3. Enter optional information

   You can enter information now or at any time after saving:

   • Firm

     (If you are unable to edit firm information through the contact, use Entities > Firms instead to find and update the firm. See Searching firms.)

     • To change the firm, click *Firm field’s > Lookup Firm (only available before saving a new contact from scratch or from an existing contact).
     • To update the firm, click Firm field’s > Edit Firm (only available after saving the contact). See Updating firms.

   • General

     To enter basic contact information and important warnings, see Entering general contact information.

   • Additional

     To enter user credentials for online and miscellaneous information, see Entering additional contact information.

   • Marketing

     To enter personal information about the contact, plus marketing and billing information, see Entering contact marketing information.

4. Save contact

   Click Save >

   • Save & Edit: To enter more contact information. The window changes to Edit Contact, adds additional panes, and scrolls to Notification Email and Tags panes. See Updating contacts.
   • Save & Close: If you have no more information to add at this time.

NOTE: Moving contacts to different firms

Once you save a contact, you cannot change which firm the contact belongs to. If the contact moves to another firm, click to select No in the Active slider in the current entry so they no longer appear in the firm’s list of contacts, and enter them as a contact in their new firm. You can preserve some of their historical data by merging the existing contact into the new contact at the new firm.

Reference

• Microsoft Excel
• Bulk Import
• Contacts preferences
• Sold To vs. Bill To

Step-by-step instructions

• Looking up firms
• Adding firms to RB
• Importing entities from other systems
• Searching contacts
• Searching firms
• Updating firms
• Entering general contact information
• Entering additional contact information
• Entering contact marketing information
• Updating contacts
• Merging data