Using the InterAction Windows Client to Find Contacts

There are two ways to find contacts using the InterAction Windows Client. Using the Find Bar and the Advanced Find feature, you can enter contact name or other information and quickly find contacts.

If you require more sophisticated searching, InterAction Windows Client offers you the ability to create complex searches and save them for future use.

Using Windows Client you can search all contacts in the firm collection. You cannot, however, search for contacts in users’ collections, nor can you search for contacts in project collections. You can search for contacts in users’ contact lists using InterAction Web Client.

For more information about using the find and search features of the Windows Client, see the following topics:

  • Using the Find Bar
  • Set Find Bar Defaults
  • Using Advanced Find
  • Running a Search

Using the Find Bar

The Find bar is the quickest way to find a contact if you know the contact’s last name or company name.

When you search for a contact using the Find bar, InterAction will search for contacts sourced in the following folders by default:

  • Current folder
  • Firm Contacts - People folder (if searching for people)
  • Firm Contacts - Companies folder (if searching for companies)
  • Our Personnel
  • All folders in your Favorites
  • Any Enterprise folders

NOTE If the Find Bar defaults are set to allow you to do so, you can search all folders to which you have read access rights by choosing Tools > Options. For more information, see Set Find Bar Defaults.

You can configure the InterAction Windows Client to search all folders to which you have read access by default. For more information, see Set Find Bar Defaults.

When you use the Find Bar or Advanced Find, the results appear in a Find Results window that behaves just like an open folder. You can only have one find results window open at a time.

Find a Contact Using the Find Bar

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Enter the last name of the person contact in the Name area.

    • Enter the company name in the Company area.

    • Enter both the last name of the person and the name of the company to search for a person associated with a company.

    TIP You do not have to enter the full last name. For example, you can enter only the first few letters of the last name. Similarly, you can use wild card characters for letters or parts of a name of which you are unsure.

  2. If entering a last name, you can check the Sounds like box to search for names that sound like the name entered.

    For company contacts, “sounds like” searching is available through advanced find.

  3. Choose Find Now.

Set Find Bar Defaults

Since all business contacts are stored in one of the public folders, searching this set of folders is normally sufficient. However, users can configure their InterAction options to search all folders for which they have at least read access if necessary.

Selecting this option slows down the search and adds a burden to the database. To prevent this, you can turn off the “all folders” feature in Administrator. If this feature is turned off, this option is hidden in the Windows Client.

IMPORTANT In a standard InterAction environment in which all business contacts are sourced in the public folders, you should turn off the “all folders” search feature. Allowing users to search all folders adds no value and slows down the system.

In addition to the “all folders” option, you can also set whether the Find search limit is initially turned on. This limit restricts the number of contacts found when defining a relationship. The setting has no effect on the number of contacts returned when using the Find Bar or Advanced Find.

Use InterAction Administrator to configure the Find Contact defaults.

Set the Find Bar Defaults

  1. Log on to InterAction Administrator.

  2. From the main window entity list, double-click Configuration.

  3. Select the Find Contact tab.

  4. To set the “all folders” option, select or clear the Allow users to choose ‘All Folders’ option.

    • If this is selected, users will have the option of searching all folders for which they have read access. This will slow down the system and add a burden to the database.

    • If this is cleared, users will not see the option to search all folders.

  5. Select or clear the Search limit initially turned on option, and enter the default search limit value.

    This value is just a default. The user can change the search limit or turn it off when searching for contacts.

  6. Choose OK.

Using Advanced Find

The Advanced Find button allows you to find a contact based on information other than just company name or last name. You can search on the following:

  • Name information (first, last, and company)
  • Phone number
  • Notes
  • Additional field values
  • Classifications

The advanced find also allows you to chose whether InterAction should look in the current folder or all folders.

IMPORTANT Advanced Find, unlike the Find Bar, looks for contacts that are sourced or linked into the folders you choose to have InterAction search.

  1. On the Find bar, choose Advanced Find.

  2. Choose to look for People, Companies, or Both.

  3. Choose the folders in which you want InterAction to search.

  4. Using the tabs, select the information you wish to use for your search and enter in your criteria.

  5. Choose OK to begin searching for the contact.

As with a regular Find, InterAction returns the results of the search in a Find Results window.

Running a Search

If you need to perform a more complex search that includes specific folders, multiple criteria, or other specifications, you can use InterAction’s search feature. For more information, see Searching Overview.

You can run a search by doing either of the following:

  • Create a search and choose Search Now. For instructions on how to create a search, see Create a Search.
  • Navigate to a saved search in the folder list and double-click the search.

The results of the search display in a search results window that behaves like a folder. You can have multiple search results windows open at the same time. However, there are some restrictions to what you can do from a search results window. If the search included multiple folders, you can only perform the following actions:

  • Add an activity regarding contacts.
  • Set or clear a global additional field.
  • Apply or remove a global classification.
  • Link marked contacts into another folder.

You cannot do the following actions to marked contacts in the results of a search that included multiple folders:

  • Add a folder-level activity, additional field, or classification.
  • Move the marked contacts to another folder.
  • Delete the marked contacts.