Contact channels: emails, phones and preferred contact

People have a work address and a personal one, a desk number and a mobile. Storing only one of each means correspondence from the others does not match, and the record quietly stops filling.

Contacts hold multiple channels for exactly that reason.

Who this is for

Anyone maintaining contact records, and admins thinking about data quality.

Before you start

• Permission to update contacts.
• The addresses and numbers you actually have — do not invent completeness.

The primary address is the one that counts
One email is the primary. That is the one used when the system needs a single answer — sending, and matching a person to a record. The others are still stored and still match incoming mail, but if you want a particular address used by default, make it primary rather than assuming.

Manage channels

1. Add every address you know
   Extra addresses cost nothing and mean mail from any of them matches this person rather than creating a new record.
2. Set the primary deliberately
   Make the address you would actually use the primary one. It is the default for sending and the one used when a single answer is needed.
3. Add phone numbers the same way
   Desk, mobile, switchboard. Label them so the next person knows which to ring.
4. Update rather than replace when someone moves
   When a person changes company, keeping the old address means historic mail still matches the record it belongs to.
5. Do not invent data
   A guessed address is worse than a blank one — it fails silently and can send customer mail to a stranger.

What you get

• Mail matching the right person whichever address they use.
• A clear default address for sending.
• Phone numbers labelled so people know which to use.
• History preserved when someone changes role or company.

Frequently asked questions

Which address is used when I send?

The primary one, unless you pick another. That is what marking one primary is for.

Does mail from a secondary address still match the contact?

Yes. All stored addresses match. The primary designation is about which one is used by default, not which ones are recognised.

Should I delete an old address when someone moves company?

Usually not. Keeping it means historic correspondence still matches the right record.

How many addresses can a contact have?

Add the ones you genuinely have. The limit worth respecting is accuracy, not a number.