Yes. Typing a phone number that already belongs to a contact stops the save and shows you that contact. You can then cancel or go on and create a second one.
Contact management for claims contractors: every adjuster, homeowner and crew entered once
A claims office deals with the same people over and over: the field adjuster who covers your area, the loss draft clerk at a mortgage company, the crew lead you send out every week. Each person is entered once in the contact directory and then picked on the projects and company records they belong to.
example contact
Dana Whitfield
Insurance Field Adjuster
One record. Her direct line, the carrier's main number with her extension, two e-mail addresses.
Used In, as the contact shows it
Projects (3)#1182 Example Street hail claim, #1190 Lakeview siding, #1204 Oak Court roof
Insurance Companies (1)Example Mutual
Mortgage Companies (0)not listed
What one contact record carries
Claim work needs more than a name and a cell number. Adjusters sit behind switchboards, older homeowners may prefer another language, and some contacts are companies with no person attached.
Who it is
First, middle and last name with suffix and title, or a business entity instead of a person.
How to reach them
A main phone with an extension and up to five more numbers, several e-mail addresses, fax.
Where they are
Street address with autocomplete, or a PO box.
What they speak
Preferred language is required, and you tick every language the person speaks.
Whose contact it is
One or more people in your office can be set as the Contact Owner.
What you hold on them
Files are kept on the contact in folders, and uploading needs its own permission.
A contact holds a main phone with an extension and up to five more numbers, each with its own extension. Several e-mail addresses fit on one contact. A contact can be marked as a business entity instead of a person. The address can be a PO box. Contact files sit apart from the claim's own folders, which are covered under claim document management.
The phone number that is already in the system
Duplicates start when two people in the office add the same adjuster a week apart. Typing a phone number that already belongs to a contact stops the save and shows you that contact.
1
A rep adds a new contact
Name, type of contact, phone.
Phone Number: the adjuster's direct line
2
The save is stopped
The existing contact comes up with its details.
Contact with this phone number already exists!
Dana Whitfield, Insurance Field Adjuster
Create another contact?
3
The rep decides
Cancel, or go on when it really is a second person on the same number.
Below it the CRM asks "Create another contact?", so a second person on a shared number is still possible.
For field and inside adjusters the extension is compared as well, because adjusters of one carrier often share its main line.
Who sees which contact
A canvasser's homeowner list and the adjusters the office has built up over years are not the same kind of information. Visibility goes down a short ladder, checked for each contact.
- Created it, or is a Contact Owner
The person who created a contact and its owners can always open it.
opens - Has View all contacts
Someone with the View all contacts permission sees every contact.
opens - Has the permission for that type
Everyone else sees contacts made by other people only for the types their permissions name: customers, insurance field adjusters, insurance inside adjusters, mortgage company contacts, installer account contacts and the rest each have a permission of their own.
opens for that type - None of the above
Without one of the three, the contact is not shown to them.
hidden
Creating a contact needs its own permission too. How these permissions sit next to access levels, and how they are given to a person, is explained on roles and permissions.
Where a contact is used, before you change it
The Used In tab of a contact lists the projects and the company records the person is attached to. Those company records are insurance companies, mortgage companies, installer, supplier and manufacturer accounts, and vendors. A contact attached to nothing says "This Contact is not used anywhere yet!"
A project in that list opens on its tasks page when you have open tasks on it, and on its files otherwise. That matters when an adjuster calls about one house and you need the other two claims she is on. The carrier and adjusters as they sit on a single claim are shown on insurance claim tracking, and the lender side, with its own contacts, on loss draft tracking.
Finding someone in the contact list
The Contacts list shows full name, phone, e-mail and address, with a search box over it. A Type Of Contact filter narrows it, and Business Entity is one of the choices. Under the list, a Logs panel records changes to contacts and has its own search.
- Filter to field adjusters before a storm season review of who covers which area.
- Filter to mortgage company contacts when a loss draft check is late.
- Search the logs when a phone number changed and nobody remembers who changed it.
| Full Name | Type filter | Shows up when |
|---|---|---|
| Dana Whitfield | Insurance Field Adjuster | you filter to adjusters |
| Example Roofing Crew | Business Entity | you filter to business entities |
| Marta Kowal | Mortgage Company Contact | you filter to mortgage contacts |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about who we serve, what we automate, and how to get started.
For field and inside adjusters the extension is compared as well, because adjusters of one carrier often share its main line.
The person who created a contact and its owners can always open it. Other people see it only with the View all contacts permission or the permission for that contact type.
Open the contact and go to Used In. The Used In tab of a contact lists the projects and the company records the person is attached to.
Yes. A contact can be marked as a business entity instead of a person.