Contacts

Contacts are the owners, residents, letting agents and any other individuals or organisations the OMC deals with. The Entity Type field records whether a contact is a real person or an organisation such as a company or housing body. Units, service requests and actions can all be linked to contacts, and every email sent to or received from a contact is tracked in the system.

Contacts Are Users

Most contacts are also users of the system, by creating a contact and linking it to a unit as an Owner, Owner Occupier or Resident, you are granting them access to the system. Additional rights, such a director or accountant privileges can also be granted to contacts.

The Contacts List

Built-in views filter the list by each contact’s relationship with the OMC — current members, directors, suppliers, past participants and more.

View	Shows
All Contacts	All contacts within the OMC
Current Members	Contacts who are currently members of the OMC
OMC Participant	Current and future owners and residents of the OMC
Past Participant	Contacts previously involved with the OMC, but no longer active
Director	Contacts who serve as directors of the OMC
Accountant	Accounting professionals working with the OMC
Interested party	Neighbours and other people with a non professional interest in the business of the OMC
Solicitor	Solicitors and other legal professionals engaged in a professional capacity with the OMC
Regulatory Professional	Inspectors from Council, Fire Brigade, Loss Adjusters, Risk Assessors etc.
Supplier	People and companies who supply goods or services to the OMC
Unknown	Contacts not yet classified, e.g. created automatically from an unknown email address

table_rows Show Columns

Column	Type	Description
Title	picklist	Salutation title for this contact (e.g. Mr, Ms, Dr).
First Name	text	The contact's first or given name.
Last Name	text	The contact's last name or family name.
Telephone	phone	Primary telephone number for this contact. Numbers must begin with a 0, contain only digits and spaces, and be at least 8 characters long.
Email	email	Email address used for login and correspondence. The address must be unique across the contacts in the OMC; the system checks the format and verifies the domain name is real before saving. Once the contact has logged in, the address can only be changed with the Edit Email Address action.
Mail Status	picklist	Whether the system will send email to this contact — only OK allows mail to be sent. The status updates automatically when a mail bounces, the address proves invalid, or a spam complaint is received; a contact can also be marked as opted out. After correcting a bad address, set the status back to OK manually.
Entity Type	picklist	Whether this contact is an individual person or an organisation such as a company or housing body. For an organisation, the name field holds the organisation name.
Contact Type	picklist	The relationship of this contact to the OMC — for example OMC Participant, Director or Supplier. This is informational only: setting Director here does not grant director access.
Primary Contact	link	For an associated contact, the organisation or contact they belong to. Click through to open the primary contact's record.
Mailing Address	longText	Postal address used on service charges and correspondence. Only enter this for contacts who are not owner occupiers — owners are assumed non-resident and need a mailing address for service charges; for an owner occupier leave it blank and the unit's own address is used.
User Name	text	The login account this contact connects with, shown once they have logged in. While the link exists the email address cannot be edited — use the Edit Email Address action to set a new address and break the link.
Notes	longText	Internal notes about this contact, visible only to management team members.
Units	grid	Units associated with this contact, including their role and start/end dates.
statusField	icon	Current ownership or membership status indicator.
Unit	link	The unit this contact is associated with.
Role	link	The role this contact holds for this unit (e.g. Owner, Resident).
From	date	The date this person's association with the unit began.
Until	date	The date this person's association with the unit ended.
Notes	longText	Notes about this unit relationship.
Associated Contacts	grid	Contacts who belong to this contact, typically the employees of an organisation. Each associated contact can log in and has access to all of the units this contact is linked to.
Person Name	link	Name of the associated contact.
Telephone	phone	Phone number of the associated contact.
Email	email	Email of the associated contact.
Notes	longText	Notes about this association.

Detail View

table_rows Show Fields

Field	Type	Description
Title	picklist	Salutation title for this contact (e.g. Mr, Ms, Dr).
First Name	text	The contact's first or given name.
Last Name	text	The contact's last name or family name.
Telephone	phone	Primary telephone number for this contact. Numbers must begin with a 0, contain only digits and spaces, and be at least 8 characters long.
Email	email	Email address used for login and correspondence. The address must be unique across the contacts in the OMC; the system checks the format and verifies the domain name is real before saving. Once the contact has logged in, the address can only be changed with the Edit Email Address action.
Mail Status	picklist	Whether the system will send email to this contact — only OK allows mail to be sent. The status updates automatically when a mail bounces, the address proves invalid, or a spam complaint is received; a contact can also be marked as opted out. After correcting a bad address, set the status back to OK manually.
Entity Type	picklist	Whether this contact is an individual person or an organisation such as a company or housing body. For an organisation, the name field holds the organisation name.
Contact Type	picklist	The relationship of this contact to the OMC — for example OMC Participant, Director or Supplier. This is informational only: setting Director here does not grant director access.
Primary Contact	link	For an associated contact, the organisation or contact they belong to. Click through to open the primary contact's record.
Mailing Address	longText	Postal address used on service charges and correspondence. Only enter this for contacts who are not owner occupiers — owners are assumed non-resident and need a mailing address for service charges; for an owner occupier leave it blank and the unit's own address is used.
User Name	text	The login account this contact connects with, shown once they have logged in. While the link exists the email address cannot be edited — use the Edit Email Address action to set a new address and break the link.
Notes	longText	Internal notes about this contact, visible only to management team members.
Open Requests	link	Number of currently open service requests linked to this contact.
Total Requests	link	Total number of service requests ever linked to this contact.
Units	grid	Units associated with this contact, including their role and start/end dates.
statusField	icon	Current ownership or membership status indicator.
Unit	link	The unit this contact is associated with.
Role	link	The role this contact holds for this unit (e.g. Owner, Resident).
From	date	The date this person's association with the unit began.
Until	date	The date this person's association with the unit ended.
Notes	longText	Notes about this unit relationship.
Roles	grid	Standalone roles granted to this contact, such as Director or Accountant. A role holder can log in to the system with the privileges of the role, and licensing fees might apply.
Role	picklist	The role assigned to this contact.
delete	icon	Click to remove item from list
Associated Contacts	grid	Contacts who belong to this contact, typically the employees of an organisation. Each associated contact can log in and has access to all of the units this contact is linked to.
Person Name	link	Name of the associated contact.
Telephone	phone	Phone number of the associated contact.
Email	email	Email of the associated contact.
Notes	longText	Notes about this association.

Actions

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add

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send

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Action	Description
edit_square Edit Email Address	Update the email address for this contact
add Associate Contact	Create a new contact associated to this contact
add_circle Create Request
send Send Email
arrow_and_edge Merge	Merge this contact record and all related data into another person record

Tabs

home

lists

news

mail

attach_file

home	Main	Shows the main form fields as described above
lists	Actions	Scheduled to-do actions related to this contact.
news	Notes	Notes and discussion threads about this contact.
mail	Mailings	Every email sent to this contact from the system. Click the subject to view a copy of the mail exactly as it was sent.
attach_file	Attached Files	Files stored on this contact's record. Once attached here, a file can be included in any email sent to the contact.

Actions

Scheduled to-do actions related to this contact.

Notes

Notes and discussion threads about this contact.

Mailings

Every email sent to this contact from the system. Click the subject to view a copy of the mail exactly as it was sent.

table_rows Show Fields

Field	Type	Description
From	text	The sender email address.
To	text	The recipient email address.
Class	text	The type or class of this email.
Subject	link	The subject line of the email.
Sent	dateTime	The date and time this email was sent.
Size	text	The size of the email message.
Status	number	The HTTP response code from the mail server.
Attached	number	Number of files attached to this email.
Status Text	picklist	The delivery status of this email.

Attached Files

Files stored on this contact's record. Once attached here, a file can be included in any email sent to the contact.

Working With Contacts

Creating Contacts

Contacts are rarely created directly on this page. Almost all contacts arrive in one of four ways:

1. The initial set of owner contacts is imported when the OMC is first set up — see Creating OMCs
2. New contacts are created by the Add Contact and Transfer Unit Ownership actions on the Units page.
3. If an email is received from an unknown email address, a contact is created automatically with contact type Unknown.
4. People can register online and ask to be added to a unit, which creates a contact record.

Creating a contact directly is still useful for professionals — e.g. solicitors, accountants or regulatory professionals — organisation and people who are not linked to any unit.

format_list_numberedSteps(10)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Click on the new button
3. 3Choose a salutation title for the contact
4. 4Enter the contact's first name
5. 5Enter the contact's last name
6. 6Enter the telephone number — numbers should begin with a 0
7. 7Enter the email address — it must be unique within the OMC, and the domain name is verified before saving
8. 8Select Individual — choose Organisation for companies such as housing bodies
9. 9Select the contact type that best describes the relationship with the OMC
10. 10Click on the save button

Updating details

format_list_numberedSteps(5)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the contact to update their details
3. 3Update the telephone number
4. 4Record anything useful about the contact — notes are visible to the management team only
5. 5Click on the save button

Raising a service request

When a contact telephones the office to report a problem, raise the request directly from their record so it is logged against them from the start.

No walkthrough available for contact-create-request.

Attaching files to a contact

Files stored on a contact’s record can be included in any email sent to them.

format_list_numberedSteps(4)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the contact to store a file on their record
3. 3Open the Attached Files tab
4. 4Attach the photo of the broken sign to the contact record

Logins and Access

A contact linked to a unit can log in to the system with the privileges of the role they hold on that unit. A contact can also be granted a standalone role — such as System Admin, Director, Agent or Accountant — on the Roles grid of their record. See the roles guide for what each role allows.

Caution

Granting a role means the contact will be able to log in to the system with those privileges, and licensing fees might apply.

Changing a contact’s email address

Once a contact has logged in, their record is tied to their login account and the email field on the form is locked. The Edit Email Address action sets the new address and breaks the link to the previous login — when someone registers with the new address, they are matched to the contact again.

format_list_numberedSteps(5)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the contact whose email address needs to change
3. 3Click Edit Email Address to set the new address
4. 4Enter the new email address
5. 5Click Update to change the address

Directors & Accountants

Recording a director (or an accountant) involves two separate settings. Setting the Contact Type to Director or Accountant records the appointment for your own information — the contact appears in the Director view of the contacts list, but gains no access. To give access to the system, grant the appropriate role on the Roles grid. To remove system access, remove the role from the contact.

When a director steps down

Remove the Director role when a director resigns or their term ends. Transferring their unit to a new owner is not enough — the director login remains active until the role is explicitly removed from their contact record.

format_list_numberedSteps(6)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the contact who is being appointed as a director
3. 3Set the Contact Type to Director — this records the appointment but grants no access by itself
4. 4Click the new button to add a role to the contact
5. 5Choose the Director role — this is what grants login privileges to the contact
6. 6Click on the save button

Organisations and Associated Contacts

Some of the OMC’s contacts are companies rather than people — most commonly an approved housing body that owns multiple units in the development. Create one contact with Entity Type Organisation and link it to every unit the organisation owns.

format_list_numberedSteps(7)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Click on the new button
3. 3Select Organisation — this contact is a company, not an individual
4. 4Enter the organisation name in the name field
5. 5Enter the organisation's main telephone number
6. 6Enter the organisation's email address
7. 7Click on the save button

You rarely deal with an organisation — you deal with the people who work there. Use the Associate Contact action on the organisation’s record to create a contact for each employee you work with. Associated contacts show the organisation as their Primary Contact, and:

• each associated contact can log in to the system with their own email address
• they are granted access to all of the units the organisation is linked to
• they can see all of the requests the organisation has raised with the OMC

This means a housing body’s whole team can follow service charges, requests and correspondence for their units, without sharing a mailbox or a login.

Note

Notifications are not sent to all organisation contacts, only the main email address specified for the primary contact will be included in the notifications.

format_list_numberedSteps(10)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the organisation to add the people you deal with there
3. 3Click Associate Contact to add an employee of the organisation
4. 4Enter the employee's first name
5. 5Enter the employee's last name
6. 6Enter their direct telephone number
7. 7Enter their email — this is the address they will log in with
8. 8Click Save to create the associated contact
9. 9Open the Associated Contacts tab on the organisation record
10. 10The new contact is listed against the organisation, with access to all of its units and requests

Emailing Contacts

Use the Send Email action to write to a contact directly from their record. Every mail sent is logged on the contact’s Mailings tab, where a copy of the exact mail can be reviewed at any time. If the contact replies, a service request is created automatically — the response is tracked in the system rather than sitting unnoticed in a personal mailbox.

The Mail Status field controls whether mail is sent at all: only OK allows delivery. The status updates automatically when a mail bounces, the address proves invalid, or a spam complaint is received; a contact can also be marked as opted out.

Resetting mail status after an address change

If a contact’s email has been bouncing and you correct it to a new address, you must also manually reset the Mail Status back to OK. Updating the address alone does not reset the status — the contact will still not receive emails until you make both changes and save.

format_list_numberedSteps(12)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the contact you want to email
3. 3Click Send Email to write to the contact
4. 4Enter a subject for the email
5. 5Write the message — saved templates can also be applied
6. 6Include the photo from the contact's attached files
7. 7Click Send — the mail is queued and delivered in the background
8. 8Click [Contacts] on the main menu
9. 9Reopen the contact to review the mail history
10. 10Open the Mailings tab — every email sent to the contact is logged here
11. 11Click the subject to view a copy of the mail exactly as it was sent
12. 12A copy of the sent mail opens, showing the message and its attachments

The Register of Members

Under section 169 of the Companies Act 2014, an OMC is legally required to maintain a register of all past and present members, so contact records must never be deleted. When the ownership of a unit changes, the previous owner’s unit link is closed and they lose automatic access to the system, but their record is retained.

Deleting a contact

Deletion is blocked for any contact that has history in the system — unit links, actions, service requests, transactions, or mail on record. For contacts with no history at all (e.g. an entry created in error before any activity was recorded), deletion is permitted.

format_list_numberedSteps(6)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Click on the new button
3. 3Create a contact in error — it has no history, so it can still be deleted
4. 4Click on the save button
5. 5Click on the delete button
6. 6You would click [Delete] on the confirmation dialog

Merging duplicates

Duplicate contacts happen — the same person entered twice with a spelling variation, or a contact created automatically from an unrecognised email address who turns out to be an existing owner. Because contacts with history cannot be deleted, the Merge action is the way to tidy them up.

Open the duplicate record — the one you want to remove — and click the Merge action, then choose the contact you want to keep. All related data moves to the surviving contact: unit links, service requests, actions, emails, transactions, notes and attached files. Fields that are blank on the surviving contact are filled in from the duplicate; where the surviving contact already has a value, its value takes precedence.

Caution

A merge cannot be undone. Check that you have the records the right way around before confirming — the contact you opened is removed, and the contact you select survives.

format_list_numberedSteps(7)

1. 1Click [Contacts] on the main menu
2. 2Open the duplicate record — the contact that will be removed by the merge
3. 3Click Merge to consolidate this record into another contact
4. 4Choose the contact to keep — all related data will be moved onto this record
5. 5Click Merge to combine the two records
6. 6Confirm the merge — it cannot be undone
7. 7The surviving contact opens — the phone number was blank on this record, so it has been filled in from the duplicate