Address Book

Overview

The Address Book module serves for managing contact details of individuals, whether they are internal employees, external partners, or customers. It allows you to record complete contact information, including photos, and provides advanced functions for importing and exporting contacts in vCard (.vcf) format, which is compatible with common email clients and mobile phones.

Key Functions

• Records of contacts with photos and complete contact details
• Import and export of contacts in vCard (.vcf) format
• Sending contacts via email or SMS message
• Advanced filtering and searching
• Export to Excel and printing lists
• Management of deleted contacts with the option to restore

Access and Settings

How to access the module

Navigation path: Tools → Address Book

Module Settings

Settings path: Settings → Address Book

In the settings, you can adjust the access levels of individual users to the module. Correct permission settings ensure that each user has access only to the functions they need.

User Rights

Permission	Description
No access	The user cannot see the Address Book module
Read	Viewing contacts only, without the possibility of editing
Read and write	Viewing, adding, and editing contacts
Read, write, delete, and restore	Full access including deleting and restoring contacts

User Interface

Main Screen

After opening the module, a table with all contacts in your address book is displayed. Each row represents one contact with their basic information including photo, name, contact details, and company affiliation.

At the top of the screen, you will find buttons for basic operations:

• Add record: Opens a dialog for creating a new contact
• Download VCF: Downloads selected contacts as vCard files
• Send VCF via email: Sends selected contacts as an email attachment
• Import VCF: Starts the wizard for importing contacts from vCard files
• Deleted: Displays the trash bin with deleted contacts

Table Columns

The contact table contains the following information:

• Company: Name of the organization the contact belongs to
• Photo: Profile photo of the contact
• Surname/First Name: Full name including title
• Email: Email address (clicking opens the email client)
• Address: Physical address of the contact
• Tel.(ext.): Landline telephone number
• Mobile: Mobile phone
• Url: Website (clicking opens in a new window)
• Position: Job position or function
• Contact type: Category or type of contact
• Note: Optional note for the record
• Actions: Buttons for editing, deleting, and sending SMS

Filters and Search

Above the table, there are filters for quick searching:

• Company: Filtering by company name
• Position: Selecting contacts by job position
• Contact type: Filtering by contact category

In addition to filters, you can use the search field in the top right corner of the table for full-text search across all columns.

Export and Print

In the top right corner of the table, you will find buttons for data export:

• Excel: Export of currently displayed contacts to Excel format
• Print: Printing the contact list
• Colvis: Selection of visible columns in the table

Basic Operations

Creating a New Contact

1. Click the Add record button at the top of the screen
2. A dialog box with the form for a new contact will open
3. Fill in at least one of the mandatory fields:
   • First Name: The contact's first name
   • Surname: The contact's surname
4. Complete other details as needed:
   • Title: Academic or other title
   • Email: Email address
   • Mobile: Mobile phone number
   • Phone/ext.: Landline number
   • Url: Contact's website
   • Position: Job position (you can select existing or type a new one)
   • Contact type: Contact category (you can select existing or create a new one)
   • Company: Company name (you can select existing or type a new one)
   • Address: Physical address (you can select existing or type a new one)
   • Note: Any note or additional information
5. Optionally add a contact photo (see the Photo Management section)
6. Click the Save button

Note: Fields labeled with Select2 (Position, Contact type, Company, Address) support the "tags" function - you can select an existing value or type a new one. The new value will be automatically added to the list of options.

Editing an Existing Contact

1. Find the desired contact in the table using filters or search
2. Click the pencil icon in the Actions column
3. A dialog box with pre-filled data will open
4. Make the desired changes
5. Click Save

Deleting a Contact

1. Find the contact you want to delete
2. Click the X (cross) icon in the Actions column
3. Confirm the deletion in the dialog box

Warning: A deleted contact is not permanently removed but moved to the trash. You can restore it later using the Deleted button.

Restoring a Deleted Contact

1. Click the Deleted button at the top of the screen
2. A list of deleted contacts with information about the date and time of deletion will be displayed
3. Find the contact you want to restore
4. Click the restore button next to the corresponding record
5. The contact will return to the regular list

Advanced Functions

Photo Management

Each contact can have a profile photo assigned, which is displayed in the contact list and during vCard export.

Uploading a Photo

1. Open the dialog for adding or editing a contact
2. In the Photo section, click in the upload area or drag and drop a file
3. Select a photo from your computer
4. The photo cropping tool will automatically open
5. Move and zoom the photo so it is in the correct position within the circular cutout
6. Click the Save photo crop button
7. A preview of the cropped photo will appear in the form
8. Save the entire contact by clicking Save

Tip: The photo is automatically cropped into a circular shape of 100x100 pixels for a consistent look throughout the system.

Exporting Contacts to vCard Format

The vCard (.vcf) format is a universal standard for exchanging contact information between different applications like Microsoft Outlook, Apple Contacts, Google Contacts, and mobile phones.

Export Procedure

1. Check the checkboxes in the contact table for the contacts you want to export
2. Click the Download VCF button at the top of the screen
3. The system automatically generates a file:
   • For one contact: a .vcf file with the contact's name
   • For multiple contacts: a .zip file containing individual .vcf files
4. The file will download to your computer

Technical Information: Exported files use the vCard 2.1 format with Windows-1250 encoding for correct display of Czech characters in Microsoft Outlook.

Importing Contacts from vCard Format

Contact import takes place through a four-step wizard that guides you through the entire process, including resolving potential conflicts with existing records.

Step 1: Uploading the File

1. Click the Import VCF button
2. The import wizard dialog box opens
3. Upload the file in one of the following ways:
   • Dragging the file into the marked area
   • Clicking in the area and selecting the file
4. Supported formats: .vcf (single contact or multiple contacts), .zip (archive with multiple .vcf files)
5. Maximum file size: 10 MB
6. Click Next step

Step 2: Contact Preview

1. The system analyzes the uploaded files and displays a preview of all contacts found
2. The table contains columns: First Name, Surname, Email, Mobile, Phone, Address
3. Check if the data is correctly loaded
4. Click Next step

Step 3: Conflict Resolution

This step is displayed only if the system finds contacts with the same first name and surname as existing records in the address book.

1. For each conflicting contact, select an action:
   • Skip: The contact will not be imported, the original record remains unchanged
   • Overwrite: The existing record will be replaced with new data from the imported contact
   • Add as new: A new record will be created even if a contact with the same name exists
2. Once you have decided on all conflicts, click Next step

Recommendation: Before overwriting existing records, carefully check if the imported data is more up-to-date than the current data.

Step 4: Import Results

1. The system performs the contact import according to your choices
2. A summary is displayed with the following information:
   • Number of successfully imported contacts
   • Number of skipped contacts
   • Number of overwritten records
3. Click Finish to close the wizard
4. Imported contacts will automatically appear in the main table

Sending Contacts via Email

The function allows you to send selected contacts as an attachment in vCard format directly from the application.

Sending Procedure

1. In the table, check the contacts you want to send
2. Click the Send VCF via email button
3. A dialog box with a form will open
4. Fill in the following details:
   • Recipient Email: Email address of the person you want to send the contacts to
   • Email Subject: A brief description of the content (e.g., "Contact Details")
   • Message Body: Text accompanying the attachment
5. Below the form, a preview of the selected contacts that will be sent as an attachment is displayed
6. Click the Send button
7. The system will send the email with the attached .vcf files

Tip: The recipient can easily import vCard files into their email client or mobile phone by double-clicking the attachment.

Sending a Contact as an SMS Message

This function allows you to quickly send contact details in text message format to a mobile phone.

Requirements

• The SMS module must be active
• The recipient must have a Czech mobile number with the prefix +420
• The sender must have permission to use the SMS module

Sending Procedure

1. Find the contact whose details you want to send
2. Click the mobile icon in the Actions column
3. The dialog box for sending an SMS opens
4. Enter the recipient's phone number (including the +420 prefix)
5. Check the preview of the message that will be sent
6. Click Send SMS

SMS Content: The message contains the complete contact details of the selected contact, including name, phone, email, and other available information.

Bulk Operations

The checkbox in the Actions column allows you to select multiple contacts at once for the following bulk operations:

• Export to VCF (Download VCF button)
• Sending via email (Send VCF via email button)

Tip: To select all contacts on the current page, use the checkbox in the table header.

Integration with Other Modules

SMS Module

The Address Book is connected to the SMS module for sending contact details as text messages. To use this function, the SMS module must be active, and the user must have appropriate permissions to send SMS messages.

Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why did the import of some contacts from the VCF file fail?

Solution: The most common reasons for failed import are:

• The VCF file is corrupted or has an incorrect format
• The contact does not contain the minimum required data (at least first name or surname)
• The file uses unsupported character encoding

Try exporting contacts from the source application again and ensure you are using a standard vCard format.

Question: Czech characters are displayed incorrectly in exported VCF files.

Solution: The system exports vCard files in Windows-1250 encoding, which is optimized for Microsoft Outlook. If you are using another application that has display issues, contact the system administrator.

Question: I cannot send a contact as an SMS.

Solution: Check the following:

• Is the SMS module active in your system?
• Do you have permission to send SMS messages?
• Are you entering the phone number in the correct format (+420...)?

Question: Many conflicts are displayed during VCF import.

Solution: A conflict occurs when a contact with the same first name and surname already exists in the address book. For each conflict, you have three options:

• Skip - if you do not want to duplicate the record and the existing data is up-to-date
• Overwrite - if the imported data is more up-to-date than the existing record
• Add as new - if these are two different people with the same name

Question: The contact photo is not displayed after uploading.

Solution: Ensure that:

• The file is in JPG, PNG, or GIF format
• After cropping the photo, you clicked the Save photo crop button
• Subsequently, you saved the entire contact with the Save button

If the problem persists, try uploading the photo again or use a different file.

Tips for Efficient Work

• Use the Contact type field to categorize contacts (e.g., "Customer", "Supplier", "Partner") - it will make later filtering easier
• Fill in the Company field consistently - if the company name is already in the system, select it from the list instead of typing a new one
• Regularly export important contacts as a backup using the Download VCF function
• Before a bulk import, export your current address book as a backup
• Use the Colvis function to customize displayed columns according to your needs
• For quick searching, use a combination of filters and full-text search
• Deleted contacts remain in the trash - there is no need to fear accidentally deleted records