Merge Records
While ContactEase checks for duplicates as contacts are added, it is possible for duplicates to make it into the system. Merging duplicate contact records is an important part of maintaining a good database and clean, usable contact data.
One way to manage duplicates is by using the Duplicate search via the Edit menu or the Find icon on your toolbar (Edit > Find > Contact/Company > Duplicates):
- Check the fields you'd like to compare and click OK to run the search.
- Review the search results, highlight any two records in the list, and merge them using the F2 key.
- Before merging the records, a conflict dialog will appear. Use the checkboxes to indicate the data you want to include in the newly merged record. Checking both boxes will combine the data.
- Click the merge button to complete the process and combine the records into one.
Auto Merge Records
ContactEase features a built-in function that allows you to automatically merge duplicate records. This function should be used for email addresses only. Only duplicates where there are no conflicts will be merged.
Note: if the same email appears in different records it will not merge.
- Run an email duplicate search.
- Select all of the contacts in the list (Ctrl+A)
- Use Edit > Automatically Merge Records
- Click Yes to confirm you would like to automatically merge all duplicate records
All Information Report
It's not always easy to know what information is correct when reviewing duplicates. Using the All Information Report can help.
- To use this report:
- Run the duplicate search
- Select Print (or Print Preview)
- Choose All information from the Report dropdown list
- Choose Selections for Print Range
- Type Duplicate Check Report into the header
- Check the separator line option
- Click Finish
Move Address
You can easily move an address from one type to another using the Move Address Tool.
- Locate and highlight the records you want to update (or use Ctrl+A to select all of them)
- Go to Edit > Move Address
- Complete the dialog
Complete OK to complete the function.
Duplicates Find
You can easily search for duplicates using the Find menu. Go to Find > Contacts/Companies > Duplicates.
You can select the fields to check, including Company, Name (First, Last, Middle), Email, etc. All the fields checked must be duplicates to appear in the search results.
Because it is possible for two (or more) people to have the same name (Robert Smith, anyone?), we recommend including Email in the search. Rarely do two contacts have the same email address though it does happen on occasion.
Searching Email only checks the primary email address, so it is possible for that records containing an duplicate email not to appear in your results should one contact have a duplicate email as their primary email address.
Distinct Companies Report
Standardizing company names is one way to manage your firm's data. ContactEase features a built-in import tool that can help. Located under Menu > Tools > Administrative Reports, the Distinct Companies report displays each unique occurrence of a company name in the database along with the number of contact records using it.
The Distinct Companies report can be copied and pasted into Excel to provide you with a document from which you can edit and make changes.
In the example shown, you can see that the firm's database includes several versions of Allied Manufacturing. Using the Distinct Companies report, you can easily identify different names used for the same company.