Add and edit contacts

Civic Platform divides contacts into two categories:

Reference contacts that serve as the reference database
Daily contacts that users add to records.

Before creating contacts, configure contact identity settings. See Manage contact identifier settings for more information.

Tip: Best practice is to manage contact types by defining only generic reference contact types, such as Individual and Organization. Record each individual or organization as one reference contact. Then link reference contacts to records in various roles, such as Applicant, License Holder, etc. This enables you to easily track all the transactional and reference information about every individual and organization.

Note: Before users add new reference contacts or associate contacts with records, you must set a number of standard choices to define the ways of managing contacts in Civic Platform, such as CONTACT TYPE, AUTO_SYNC_PEOPLE, and INDIVIDUAL_CONTACT_MATCH_CRITERIA. For information on configuring these standard choices, select the link for each standard choice name above.

By default, users have full access to all contact types from within all modules and the reference Contact page. If a contact type is available for a few modules, then you can limit the use of the contact type by module through specifying the applicable module in the Contact type setting page. For more information, seeSecurity policies.

Add a contact

To enable users to search for a contact, you must add the contact to your reference database. Your reference database acts like a library that lets users search for certain types of stored information. For example, users might need to search for an existing contact when creating a new application.

Note: Depending on how you set up this contact type, you might see additional attributes and fields. You can add or edit attributes using the people template.

To add a contact

From the user account menu, select Classic admin.
Select People > Contact.
Select Add.
Use the Contact Type list to choose the appropriate contact type.

Complete these fields:

Field	Action
Address	Enter up to three lines of the contact’s address information.
City	Enter the city name or select the Get city button to choose from a standard list of cities.
Comment	Enter any comments regarding the contact.
Contact relationship	Select the appropriate relationship between the contact and the application.
Contact type	Select the appropriate contact type.
Country	Enter the country.
Email	Enter the contact’s email address.
Fax	Enter the contact’s fax number.
FEIN	Enter the Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) associated with the contact. Note: You can leverage this field when performing searches for a record or eliminating duplicate contact entries in your database.
Flag	Enter the status of the hold. Example: If the hold is still active, enter Y for Yes.
Hold code	If your agency places holds on certain contacts, enter the code that identifies the hold. Example: If a contact has bad credit, enter “Bad Credit.”
Hold description	If you entered a hold code, enter a description to help identify the code. Example: Enter “Contact has repeatedly failed to pay bills.”
ID	Enter any other form of ID to help you identify the contact. Example: Enter a driver license number or a social security number.
Name	Enter the First, Middle, and/or Last name of the contact.
Organization name	Enter the name of the organization to which the contact belongs.
Phone	Enter up to three phone numbers for the contact.
SSN	Enter the contact's Social Security Number. Notes: After saving, only the last 4 digits of the SSN display (such as: *--1234). You can leverage this field when performing searches for a record or eliminating duplicate contact entries in your database.
State	Select the state.
Status	Select Enable to allow users search for the contact.
Title	Enter the contact’s title. A title indicates an official position or professional/academic qualification, such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Officer, Doctor, Professor, Judge, Notary, etc. The Title field is a text field.
Zip	Enter the contact’s ZIP code.

Select Save.

Edit a contact

After you add a contact to your reference database, you might need to change certain information about the contact.

Note: Depending on how you set up this contact type, you might see additional attributes or fields in addition to the standard attributes listed here.

To edit a contact

From the user account menu, select Classic admin.
Select People > Contact.
Search for the contact that you want to edit.

Note: Select Submit with no search criteria to display all available contacts.
Select the red dot next to the contact you want to edit.

Update these fields as required:

Field	Action
Address	Enter up to three lines of the contact’s address information.
City	Enter the city name or select the Get city button to choose from a standard list of cities.
Comment	Enter any comments regarding the contact.
Contact relationship	Select the appropriate relationship between the contact and the application.
Contact type	Select the appropriate contact type.
Country	Enter the country.
Email	Enter the contact’s email address.
Fax	Enter the contact’s fax number.
FEIN	Enter the Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) associated with the contact. Note: You can leverage this field when performing searches for a record or eliminating duplicate contact entries in your database.
Flag	Enter the status of the hold. Example: If the hold is still active, enter Y for Yes.
Hold code	If your agency places holds on certain contacts, enter the code that identifies the hold. Example: If a contact has bad credit, enter “Bad Credit.”
Hold description	If you entered a hold code, enter a description to help identify the code. Example: Enter “Contact has repeatedly failed to pay bills.”
ID	Enter any other form of ID to help you identify the contact. Example: Enter a driver license number or a social security number.
Name	Enter the First, Middle, and/or Last name of the contact.
Organization name	Enter the name of the organization to which the contact belongs.
Phone	Enter up to three phone numbers for the contact.
SSN	Enter the contact's Social Security Number. Notes: After saving, only the last 4 digits of the SSN display (such as: *--1234). You can leverage this field when performing searches for a record or eliminating duplicate contact entries in your database.
State	Select the state.
Status	Select Enable to allow users search for the contact.
Title	Enter the contact’s title. A title indicates an official position or professional/academic qualification, such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Officer, Doctor, Professor, Judge, Notary, etc. The Title field is a text field.
Zip	Enter the contact’s ZIP code.

Select Save.