Tip #214 - Best Practices for Preventing the Creation of Duplicate Contacts

If you attempt to add a contact (individual or organization) in SmartAdvocate, the system runs an automatic check to see if that contact already exists. If it finds a match, you will get a “pop-up” displaying the matches with identifying information, such as address, phone number, DOB and Social Security Number (for individuals) and what role the contact played in the other matters in which the contact appears (plaintiff, defendant, etc.). Obviously, you should not be adding the same contact again if it already exists.

Many firms struggle with keeping their contacts “clean,” meaning there are no duplicates. Unfortunately, some staff will ignore the aforementioned warning and they will proceed to add the contact again. SmartAdvocate has some controls that you may consider implementing.

Restricting The Ability To Add New Contacts

You can restrict users’ ability to add new contacts by configuring the appropriate User Permission Groups.

Here’s how: 

1. Go to Admin

2. User Permission Groups

3. Locate the Group you want to work with and click the edit button (pencil) to edit the group parameters

4.  Scroll down towards the bottom of the screen

5. Click the drop down for Contact Card Types

6. Uncheck all the categories

Our screenshots are interactive! Just click on each one to see enlarged versions for better viewing.

Alternatively, you may want to allow users to be able to create individual contacts (such as defendants, adjusters, defense attorneys, etc.), but do not want them to be able to create organizations (Insurance Companies, Law Firms, etc.).
In that case you would uncheck the box for “Organization” and check the other categories (Individual, etc.). This is a more reasonable approach, since the problem of duplicate contacts is more common when dealing with organizations.

Our screenshots are interactive! Just click on each one to see enlarged versions for better viewing.
 
Admittedly, restricting the ability to create or edit contact cards may pose some efficiency issues with the staff, so some firms may be reluctant to apply such measures. Rather than implementing restrictions, you may consider making use of some of the standard reports that will allow you to monitor changes made to contact cards. Two such reports include the Contact Rename Report and the Created/Modified Contact Search Report.

Monitoring Changes Made To Contact Cards

The Contact Rename Report will allow you to run a report that will show contacts that were modified over a selected period and display the old name and new name, and will also show the person who made the modification.

The Created/Modified Contact Search Report, will allow you to run a report that will show contacts that were created or modified during a specific date (or days) range.

If you chose not to implement the restrictions mentioned above, the reports will at least allow you to monitor changes made to contacts.

Those firms that have generally restricted the ability of all staff to be able to add contacts usually designate certain staff members that will be allowed to do so.