Hi @BUSSI_C,

In IFS both "Customer Contacts" and "Customer Communication Methods" are indeed used to manage customer information, but they serve different purposes and have distinct functionalities. Let's break down the differences and typical use cases for each:

1. Customer Contacts

• Definition: Customer contacts refer to specific individuals (persons) associated with a customer account or organization. These are named contacts who have a defined role or relationship with the customer.
• Link to Persons: As you correctly mentioned, customer contacts are linked to specific "persons" in the IFS database. This means each contact represents a real individual with specific details (such as name, job title, department, phone number, email address, etc.).
• Usage:
  • Used to identify key individuals within a customer organization, such as decision-makers, buyers, account managers, or support contacts.
  • Helpful in sales, service, and support processes where knowing the specific person responsible for a particular function or decision within the customer's organization is essential.
  • Provides a way to assign tasks, send targeted communications, and maintain relationships with specific individuals.
• Example Usage:
  • You have a customer organization named "ABC Corp." and need to keep track of several individuals like "John Doe" (Sales Manager), "Jane Smith" (Procurement Officer), and "Mark Lee" (Technical Support).
  • Each of these individuals would be entered as separate customer contacts in IFS, with specific details and roles assigned to them.

2. Customer Communication Methods

• Definition: Customer communication methods in IFS represent the ways or channels through which the customer can be contacted. This data can be more free-form and is not necessarily tied to a specific individual.
• Free Input Data: Unlike customer contacts, communication methods are flexible and can include multiple forms of contact information, such as general email addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, websites, or physical mailing addresses.
• Usage:
  • Used to record all potential ways to reach a customer, whether it's a general method or something specific.
  • Not tied to a person; rather, it is tied to the customer as an organization. For example, a company may have a general sales email (sales@abccorp.com) or a main phone line (+94-456-7890).
  • Useful for general communications or when it's not necessary to contact a specific individual but rather reach out to a department or use a general contact method.
• Example Usage:
  • "ABC Corp." may have a general email like info@abccorp.com, a main phone line, and a fax number. These would be entered as different communication methods in IFS.
  • You may use these communication methods when sending out a mass email, faxing an announcement, or contacting the company in general rather than reaching out to a specific individual.

When to Use Each?

• Use Customer Contacts when you need to manage relationships with specific individuals within an organization and when individual-level detail is necessary for tasks, roles, and communication.
• Use Customer Communication Methods when you want to keep track of all available ways to contact an organization, especially when communication is not person-specific.

Combining Both in Practice

• Typically, both customer contacts and communication methods would be used together in practice. For example, you could have several customer contacts for specific individuals (e.g., the sales manager, procurement officer) and multiple communication methods (e.g., the general sales email, customer service hotline) available for broader communication purposes.

By understanding these differences, you can more effectively manage customer relationships and communications in IFS.

I'm happy to share my advice on this. If you found the answer helpful, please mark it as the correct answer. This will allow us to close the thread and make it easier for other community users to find and benefit from in the future.

Best regards,

Thakshila

Hi,
A contact is a person who works for the customer company while a communication method is a generic phone number or e-mail to the customer company. For example it can be the phone no to a switchboard or a “info@...” e-mail that is not for a specific person.

Communication methods can also be entered for a person but then it is a phone no or e-mail for that specific contact person. 

Best regards,
Anna

HI @BUSSI_C 

Hi I can comment as follows.
    •    Customer Contacts should be used when you need to interact with specific individuals at the customer organization, such as for sales, support, or business development.
    •    Example: You need to send an invoice to “Jane Smith” from the finance department at “XYZ Ltd.” In this case, you’d use Jane’s contact details stored under customer contacts.
    •    Customer Communication Methods are more appropriate when dealing with the general or primary contact points for an organization, where you’re not specifically addressing a single person.
    •    Example: You want to send a general newsletter to all customers and use a generic email address like “sales@xyzltd.com” from the customer communication methods.

Regard

Chanuka