Accessing Customer Management Records - Customer Search

Use any one of these methods to find and open a customer account in the IDI Desktop Client:

• Applications > Customer Management Menu - This menu provides basic search and enhanced search options. Detail on both methods are provided below.

  

• Main Toolbar - For this functionality to be available in the Client, the search tool must be added to your toolbar. See Managing Client Toolbars and Toolbar Profiles.

  You can search based on customer information or service information.

  

  

  From the search results you can open the Customer form.

Enhanced Customer Search

With applicable permissions, you can perform an Enhanced Customer Search: Applications > Customer Management > Enhanced Customer Search.

Use the upper pane to search for an existing customer with minimal information; use the lower pane to search using full customer information.

Note

Refer to the Enhanced Customer Search Fields for details. NoteAuthorized users can modify search options. See Configuring Enhanced Customer Search Options.

Searching for an Existing Customer - General Notes

• When all fields are cleared, every field is enabled.

• Once information is entered into a field in the Search for Existing Customer pane, all of the other fields on the page (both sections) are automatically disabled.

• Only if the field is cleared (either by the user deleting the value or by pressing the ‘Clear’ button), will the other fields become enabled again.

• As a rule, all entered values are trimmed of white space at their beginning and end.

• Only some fields allow wildcards; if you try to enter a wildcard where it is not allowed, an error message is displayed.

• The Clear Fields button clears all fields and all search fields can be accessed.

Matching Rules for Enhanced Customer Search

When searching on full name and address, by default the system returns the following as matches (with #1 being the closest match):

• #1 First & Last Name and Full Address

• #2 First & Last Name, City, State & Zip

• #3 Street 1, City State & Zip

• #4 First & Last Name

  Example

  

Basic Search

The Customer Search form lets you search customer records based on a selected customer type, or you can search all customer types. Once you have a list of customers you can open the customer form for a specific customer by double-clicking the corresponding row in the list. To retrieve a list of customers and open the Customer form for a specific customer:

• Select the customer type from the drop down menu in the upper right corner. Select Any to search all customer types.

• Click the Magnifying Glass icon.

  • Click the down arrow on the right side to display and select the search criteria.

    • To find a specific customer, select Account Number or Customer Name as the Search Field, then enter the exact number or name for Search value.

    • For fields that require text entries, if you don't know the exact name or number, you can use the * wildcard character to narrow the search. For example:

    • If Customer Name is selected, entering Uni* as the Search Value retrieves United, Unitec, Universal, and University.

    • When Service Number is selected, entering 800203* as the Search Value retrieves all 800 numbers in the 203 exchange.

    • If Customer Account is selected, entering *555* as the Search Value retrieves accounts 555, 10555, 555013, and 1055506.

    • If you enter a wildcard character (*) and your database is very large, you may not be able to display the entire list. If so, a system message is displayed that suggests you refine your search criteria.

  • Use the edit box (or drop-down menu on the left side to enter (select) a search value.

    

    If only one record matches the criteria, the customer form for that record is opened.

    If multiple customer records meet your search criteria, those records are listed in the in the search results.

    Note

    You will only be able to view customers based on your User Limit-To profile.

See also:

Working with Customer Search Results

Other Search Options

• The Contact Search form lets you search using contact information such as contact name, contact type (billing, customer, or service), and so on. This method is described in Using the Contact Search form.

• POS make Sale - Use the Find Customer tool in the upper left part of this form to select the customer account.