Contacts in Orcatec: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Reading time: ~9 min

The Contacts tab is the address book behind every job Orcatec tracks. Every homeowner, property manager, tenant, or company your team has ever talked to lives here as one record — with their phones, emails, linked properties, appointments, projects, messages, and call recordings all in one place instead of scattered across sticky notes and old texts.

A contact is not just a name and a phone number. Each record keeps a history: which properties it's tied to, which appointments were booked for it, which projects it has been quoted or invoiced on, whether it's linked to a company, and every text message and phone call that has ever gone back and forth.

This guide walks a brand-new user through everything the Contacts tab can do: browsing and searching the contact list, adding a new contact, understanding the difference between an Individual and an Organization, and working through every tab inside the Edit Client window — Personal Info, Properties, Appointments, Projects, Organizations, Associations, Messaging, and Calls.

The Contacts list: columns, search, filters, and sorting

Open the Contacts tab from the top navigation and you land on the full list of every contact your company has ever saved. Each row is one person or company, laid out across eight columns:

Screenshot: the Contacts list, with the Name, Rating, Type, Properties, Emails, Phones, Notes, and Tags columns visible across the top.

Name	A clickable link. Click any name to open that contact's Edit Client window.
Rating	A 5-star rating you can set on the contact, useful for flagging your best repeat customers at a glance.
Type	A small icon showing whether the record is an Individual (a person) or an Organization (a company).
Properties	The address (or addresses) linked to this contact. Shows “-” when no property has been linked yet.
Emails	The contact's saved email address(es).
Phones	The contact's saved phone number(s).
Notes	A preview of any notes saved on the contact or on a linked property (for example, tenant notes automatically show the unit address).
Tags	Any labels you've applied to the contact for your own organization (for example, “VIP” or “Do not service”).

Every column header can be clicked to sort the list ascending or descending, and most have their own small filter icon for narrowing the list down — for example, filtering the Type column to show only Organizations. The Search box in the top-right corner searches across the whole list as you type, and the list is paginated at the bottom (500 contacts per page by default, with a page-size dropdown and page numbers), so a company with thousands of contacts still loads quickly.

A checkbox in front of each row (and one in the header to select every row on the page at once) lets you select multiple contacts at a time for bulk actions such as exporting.

The toolbar icons

Four small icons sit in the top-right corner of the Contacts list, next to the Search box:

Fullscreen	Expands the table to fill the whole browser window — handy on a laptop screen when several columns are showing.
Export table	Downloads the current contact list (respecting any filters and sorting you've applied) as a spreadsheet file, after a “Do you want to export table?” confirmation.
Filters	Opens a side panel of saved filter groups (for example, “Decline Service”) with Select all / Reset controls, so you can narrow the list to a specific segment of contacts in one click.
Columns settings	Opens a side panel with a checkbox for every column (Name, Rating, Type, Properties, Emails, Phones, Notes, Tags) so you can hide the ones you don't need and keep the table focused on what matters to you.

Screenshot: the Filters side panel, opened from the toolbar's filter icon.

Screenshot: the Columns settings side panel — every column has its own checkbox to show or hide it.

Adding a new contact

Click the blue Add Contact button above the list to open the “Add new client” window. Fill in a name, and add as many phone numbers and email addresses as you need with the + icon next to each section — every phone or email you add gets its own delete (trash can) icon so you can remove it again later.

Screenshot: the “Add new client” window for an Individual contact, with Phones and Emails sections and the Send Promo / Send system service reminders checkboxes.

Two checkboxes sit below the Emails section:

• Send Promo — opts this contact in to receive marketing/promotional emails.
• Send system service reminders — opts this contact in to automated reminders (for example, seasonal maintenance reminders) that Orcatec can send on your behalf.

Once the required fields are filled in, click Create Contact to save the record and add it to your list.

Individual vs. Organization

Every contact has a Type, set with a dropdown at the top of the Personal Info tab (and on the Add new client window): Individual or Organization. This single setting changes what the form asks for:

Screenshot: the Type dropdown, showing Organization and Individual as the two options.

Individual	Asks for a Full Name. Use this for a homeowner, tenant, or any single person you deal with directly.
Organization	Asks for a Company Name, plus optional Website and Industry fields. Use this for a property management company, HOA, or any business your company works with as an entity rather than one person.

Screenshot: the same Add new client window switched to Organization — Company Name, Website, and Industry replace the individual's Full Name field.

Individuals and Organizations can be linked together through the Organizations tab covered below — for example, an individual property manager can be tied to the management company they work for.

The Edit Client window: eight tabs, one contact

Click any contact's name in the list to open the Edit client window. Across the top you'll find eight tabs, and most of them show a small counter next to a + icon — for example, “Properties +1” or “Projects +0” — so you can tell at a glance how much history a contact has without opening each tab. Don't worry if several tabs show +0 on a brand-new contact; that's expected, and they fill in naturally as you link properties, book appointments, and create projects for that person.

Personal Info

This is the tab you land on first. It holds:

Screenshot: the Personal Info tab — name, star rating, phones with type and Voice/Text Preference, emails with Email Preference, and the Add Note button.

• Full Name / Company Name and the Type dropdown (Individual/Organization).
• A 5-star rating widget directly below the name.
• Phones — each phone has its own field, a type dropdown (such as Cell), and two small radio buttons: Voice Preference and Text Preference, which mark which number should be used for calls versus texts when a contact has more than one.
• Emails — each email has its own Email Preference radio button for the same reason: pick which address is the primary one when there's more than one on file.
• Send Promo and Send system service reminders checkboxes, matching the ones on the Add Contact form.
• A Select tags dropdown for applying your own labels.
• An Add Note button for logging a quick note against the contact.
• A red Delete Contact button at the bottom — permanently removes the record, so use it carefully.

Properties

Every address linked to this contact shows up here as its own row: the street address (a clickable link to the property record), whether it's Residential or Commercial, a Relation field you can fill in (such as “Owner” or “Tenant”), and running counts of how many contacts, appointments, projects, and notes are tied to that same property. An × icon at the end of the row unlinks the property from this contact without deleting the property itself.

Screenshot: the Properties tab, showing one linked address with its Type, Relation, Contacts, Appointments, Projects, and Notes counts.

Appointments

Every appointment ever booked for this contact is listed here, newest first, with its Date, Type (such as Repair), the Tech assigned, the lead Source (such as Google or Yelp), and any Notes taken at booking time. This is the fastest way to see a contact's full service history without digging through the Schedule.

Screenshot: the Appointments tab, showing a booked repair appointment with its tech and lead source.

Projects

This tab lists every project (estimate, contract, or completed job) this contact is attached to. On a brand-new contact with no history yet, you'll see an empty state instead — a simple “No projects yet” message with an Add Project button that takes you straight into creating one for this contact, which saves you from re-typing their name and contact details on the new project form.

Screenshot: the Projects tab's empty state, with the “No projects yet” message and the Add Project button.

Organizations

This is where an Individual contact gets tied to the company they belong to — for example, linking a property manager to the management company that employs them, so your team can see the relationship from either record. Click Add organization to search for and attach an existing Organization-type contact (or create a new one on the spot).

Screenshot: the Organizations tab's empty state, with the “No organizations yet” message and the Add organization button.

Associations

Associations let you connect two contact records that are related in some other way — a tenant and their landlord, a spouse, or a referral relationship, for instance — without merging them into one record. Click Add association to search for the other contact and describe how the two are related.

Screenshot: the Associations tab's empty state, with the “No associations yet” message and the Add association button.

Messaging

Every automated or manual text message sent to this contact shows up here: an ID you can click to open the full conversation, which user or system sent it, the contact it went to, a preview of the Last Message, its delivery Status (such as Delivered), and the Date it was sent. A Show all history toggle expands the list beyond the most recent messages when you need the full record.

Screenshot: the Messaging tab, showing an automated appointment-confirmation text with a Delivered status.

Calls

If your company uses Orcatec's call tracking, every phone call to or from this contact is logged here with the From and To numbers, Date, the tracking Source (such as Google My Business), the call Time, and — when a call was recorded — an inline audio player under Record so you can play the call back without leaving the contact's page.

Screenshot: the Calls tab, with a logged call from Google My Business and a playable recording.

Why do Voice Preference and Text Preference matter? Advanced

Some contacts give you more than one phone number — a cell and a landline, say. Voice Preference and Text Preference let you tell Orcatec which number to actually use for calls versus texts, so automated appointment reminders and confirmations go to the number the contact actually checks, instead of guessing from whichever phone was entered first.

What's the difference between Properties, Organizations, and Associations? Advanced

All three connect a contact to something else, but they connect to different kinds of records:

Properties links a contact to a physical address — where the work actually happens.

Organizations links an Individual contact to a company (an Organization-type contact) they belong to.

Associations links any two contacts to each other for any other reason — a tenant/landlord pair, a referral, a spouse — without needing a property or a company in between.

Can I bulk-export just some of my contacts, not the whole list? Optional

Yes. Use the search box, column filters, or the Filters side panel to narrow the list down to the contacts you want first, then click the export icon — it exports whatever is currently showing in the table, not the entire database. You can also check the boxes next to specific rows if you only need a handful of contacts.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a tab show “+0” on a new contact?

That's expected. The number next to each tab is simply a count of how many properties, appointments, projects, organizations, or associations are linked so far. A brand-new contact starts at zero everywhere and the counts grow as you link properties, book appointments, and create projects for that person.

I deleted a contact by mistake — can I get it back?

Delete Contact is permanent, so it's worth double-checking you have the right record before confirming. If you're not sure whether a contact still has active projects or appointments attached, check those tabs first — deleting a contact does not automatically delete its linked projects or properties, but you'll lose the ability to find them through that contact's record.

Do I have to pick Individual or Organization right away?

Yes, you'll choose a Type as soon as you start adding the contact, since it decides whether the form asks for a Full Name or a Company Name. If you picked the wrong one, you can change the Type dropdown later from the Personal Info tab, but double-check the name field afterward since switching types changes what that field represents.

Where do the calls in the Calls tab come from?

They come from your company's call tracking setup (for example, a tracking number shown on your Google Business Profile). If your company hasn't set up call tracking, this tab will simply stay empty since there's no recorded call data to show.

Checklist for your first contact

• Click Add Contact and choose Individual or Organization.
• Enter the name, then add at least one phone and one email.
• Set Voice Preference / Text Preference if the contact has more than one phone number.
• Decide whether this contact should receive Send Promo and/or Send system service reminders.
• Click Create Contact to save it.
• Open the new contact and check the Properties tab — link the job address if you have one.
• If this person works for a company you also track, connect the two under Organizations.
• Use Add Note or Select tags to capture anything your team should know at a glance.

Once a contact exists, everything else in Orcatec builds on it — every appointment, every project, every text and call gets tied back to this one record, so the next person on your team who opens it sees the whole history instead of starting from scratch.