Customer Search Information

The customer lookup window provides the option to search for and select from the existing customer records already stored in your company's customer information file. This is a useful and necessary tool for the operator when he does not know the correct customer number.

Note: If the Customer # or the Alternate Account number for the customer is known, either can be entered in the customer number field to select or assign the customer record without utilizing the search.

Standard Customer Search Utility
This search option is available throughout the software, anywhere that a customer number needs to be entered, in the window on the "Customer Number" field.
The lookup option first prompts for:

DIVISION

This field defaults to the value specified for "Customer Search" for the operator currently signed into Texada SRM as defined in Operators.
This default division value can always be over-typed as required in the search window.

The division selection choices include:

• Accept the operator default search value for customers, as defined in Operators.

• Type ALL to include customers from all divisions in the customer selection list.

• Enter a single division to limit the lookup to include only customers assigned to this specific division, or select the preferred division from the window.

• Type SEL to select multiple customers or customers by A/R region, as outlined in Division Select By Region.

Search Options:

Select either the Alpha Code search by customer name, or the search by Telephone#, or the Alternate Search by keyword, to build the customer selection list as follows:

• ALPHA CODE:
  Enter the first few characters of the Alpha Key for the starting customer in the range to generate a search list.

  The Alpha Key field is a field in the AR Customer Information file that is used to alphabetically sort customer records.
  For example, if the customer's name was Arrow Construction Company, the alpha key would be entered as ARROW.
  If the customer's name was Joe Hardwicke, the alpha key would be entered as HARDWICKE.

  If a list of all customers is required, use the Keyword Search option with no filters.
  This could take a few minutes to return the output because of the quantity if records to be sorted.

• TELEPHONE #:
  To use the telephone number search, down arrow past the Alpha Code field and enter the first few numbers of the starting Telephone number.
  This phone number search checks all the customers' alternate phone numbers as well as main telephone number in Customer Information.

• KEYWORD SEARCH:
  This advanced keyword search mechanism provides the ability to search on Name, Alpha Key, Phone#, Fax#, Address, City, Province/State, and Postal/Zip Code.

  An added advantage of the keyword search method is that it does not just try to match against the starting characters in the field. It searches the entire field. This can be useful if the street name is known but not the complete address for a customer.

  Example: If 'WILLOW' is entered in the address field and the customer's address is 121 WILLOW AVENUE, it will find this customer.

  Another scenario would be if you knew the exchange number but not the area code for a customer, or if the area code had been entered incorrectly into the system.
  By searching for a customer by phone # using the traditional "Telephone#" method, with 208 as the key, the search list will only include those customers whose phone #s start with 208.
  By using the Alternate Search method, any customers with the string of numbers '208' anywhere in the phone number will be listed.

  Note: For efficiency reasons, the phone number search within the Alternate search, only queries on the main customer phone number. It does not read all the customer's alternate phone numbers.

  To minimize the list of customers displayed, multiple search criteria can be specified.
  Example: Entering 'WILLOW' in the address field and ON in the Province/State field will only return customers with the string 'WILLOW' in the address and ON in the Province/State.

  The Division field can be used to limit the search to only those customers assigned to a specific division or region, as explained above.

Search Results:

The matching customer records are listed in a listbox with the numbers, names, phone numbers, On Account status, Contact, Address, Fax number, Account Balance, Alpha Key, Customer Comment, Terms, and Salesman code.

The customer list can be resorted by any column in ascending or descending order, by clicking on the column heading.
Columns can also be dragged and dropped to reposition them as required.

• Click the CHECK LIST button at the bottom of the screen to view the Name Check List for the customer record in focus, with comments as setup in Customer Information.
• Click the ALT PHONE button at the bottom of the screen to view additional phone numbers with extensions and descriptions, for the customer record currently in focus.

To select a customer, double click on the customer record, or click the SELECT button.

Other Customer Search options:

Other options include the ability to Add a new customer from within the search window, and to Scan a driver's license to identify or add a new customer.

• ADD:
  If the customer was not found in the customer search, a new customer record can be added, by clicking the ADD button.
  All On Account customers should have their own customer number.

  A flag in the Company Miscellaneous Parameters, controls whether counter staff has permission to add new customers on-the-fly during contract and invoice entry.
  If this is activated, to add a new customer to the Customer Information file when invoicing, press <F4> when prompted for CUSTOMER #. Then press <F5> ADD Key at the prompt for ALPHA CODE, or click on the ADD button in the dialogue search window.

  In the abbreviated customer data window, enter the name, alpha sort key, address, city, province/state, postal/zip, phone and fax number can be entered.
  Other customer flags will default from the customer number assigned in the Divisional Contract Parameters, as the default Customer # To Clone.
  For information about adding a new customer record in full detail, refer to Customer Information.

  The feature to add new customers on-the-fly, can be further controlled by setting up a password and defining Security Roles for the ARCF06B module in Module Passwords.
  Any operator without permission as determined by his roles for ARCF06B, would then have to enter the correct password to proceed entering a new customer record.
  For more information on this security feature refer to System Security Overview.

• SCAN LICENSE:
  Customers can also be identified or added by capturing driver's license information manually or by using a scan device.

  Driver's License/ID information
  There are two types of Driver's License scanners that are compatible with SRM software.

  • Driver's License Data Scanners
    This option reads the magnetic stripe or the barcode on the back of the card and retrieves the information stored on the tracks.
  • Driver's License ID Image Scanners
    This process scans the image on the front of the card, retrieving the picture and address information
  The preferred option and settings can be activated by division from the Divisional Contract Parameters.

  At the CUSTOMER # prompt, press <F4> and then <TAB> key in the customer search window or click on the SCAN LICENSE button, to open the Driver's License window.
  The prompts are:

  PERFORM SCAN

  Select one of the following action options:

  • Check ID Scan Image Capture to utilize the scanning devise to capture the customer's license information.
  • Check Manual Entry to manually type in the province or state and the driver's license number.

  If an existing match to the license number is found, the customer number and address display.

  Note: The accuracy % value of the scanned image and data is displayed at the bottom on the ID scan image. Before accepting the ID scan, verify each data field displayed on the screen against the customer's Driver's License for accuracy, and correct any misreads or re-scan the card.

  If no match is found, the customer information can be entered as follows:

  CUSTOMER NUMBER

  If the Divisional Contract Parameters is set to Add Cash Customers, a new customer number is immediately assigned and displays on the screen. This customer will automatically be added to the Customer Information.
  If your firm does not automatically add cash customers, the customer number remains blank.

  NAME

  Enter the customer's name from the driver's license.

  ALPHA

  Enter the Alpha key, to be used for the sorting of the Customer's Name in alphabetical order.

  Or if this customer is already in your customer information file but the search did not find a match on the driver's license, window to select an existing customer.
  The customer information will display.

  ADDRESS

  If the information is not already displayed, enter the first line of address. This field is mandatory.

  ADDRESS

  Enter the second line of address. This field is optional.

  CITY

  Enter the city. This field is mandatory.

  PROV./STATE

  Enter the province. This field is mandatory.

  POSTAL/ZIP.

  Enter the postal code or zip code.
  A flag in the Required Document Information in the Company Contract Parameters can be set to force the operator to enter a valid Postal or Zip code to match the mask format as setup for the customer's currency in Currency Codes.

  BIRTHDATE

  Enter the birth date. This field is optional.

  TELEPHONE #

  Enter the telephone number. This field is mandatory.

  ALTERNATE LANGUAGE

  Check this field to print documents for this customer is the alternate language.
  Uncheck this field to print documents in the standard language.

  Finished?

  Click ACCEPT to accept and exit, or click CANCEL to abort.

  This license number and name is saved in Customer Information, in the Driver's License window.

Enhanced Search for an Existing Cash Customer:
This search option is only available in documents that are most often utilized by repeat business, including Contracts, Counter Worksheet, Sales Orders, Rental and Sales Quotes, Miscellaneous Invoices, Point Of Sale Invoices, Estimates and Work Orders.
The Enhanced Name Search for Cash Customer can be activated by division in the Divisional Miscellaneous Parameters.

This search method attempts to find a match for a customer name or partial name. It applies at document entry when a blank "Customer Number" is entered in Add mode, where it causes a window to open prompting the operator for a customer name for the search.
It also prompts if the match must be on all words in the name entered, or if the match can be for any single word in the name entered.

The search conditions include:

• only searches for names greater than 2 characters
• the search is limited to the first four words of over 2 characters in the name that the operator enters
• the search only checks the starting characters of each word in the name, and does not check for characters embedded in the name
  i.e. MIC will find MICHAEL SMITH, and JOAN MICHELLE, but will not find JOE MCMICHAEL

In the resulting list of matching records, the customer number, name, phone number and On Account status display.
Press <F9> to expand the records to display the customer mailing address.
If a match is found it can be selected in the "Y" column. If no match is found, exit the window to continue with the standard blank customer processing.

Note: If the Scan Driver's License processing has also been activate in the Divisional Contract Parameters, the enhanced customer search is provided after the scan, if no customer was selected or added.
For detailed information on the scan feature refer to Driver's License Scanners.

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Topic Keyword: AR0007