Contacts Documentation
Comprehensive guide to managing people and companies in your portfolio
Overview
The Contacts module is your centralized system for managing all relationships in your portfolio. It includes both individual contacts (people) and organizations (companies), all organized by your organization to ensure data privacy and security.
Important: Organization Scoping
Every organization manages their own contacts independently. Contacts cannot be shared across organizations and can only be used on properties within the organization they belong to. This ensures complete data privacy and separation between different teams.
Main Sections
- People: Individual contacts with their email addresses, phone numbers, company affiliation, notes, and message history
- Companies: Organizations with company details, a mailing address, associated people, leases, notes, and message history
Getting Started
Access the Contacts module from your main navigation menu. The interface is divided into two main tabs:
- People Tab: Manage individual contacts with their email addresses, phone numbers, and company affiliation
- Companies Tab: Manage company contacts with organizational details and associated people
Both tabs have a search bar with filters above the table, and an Add button for creating new contacts. Click any row to open that contact's page.
Looking for mailing lists? They now live in the Inbox under Manage → Mailing Lists.
People Management
Viewing People
The People page displays a comprehensive table with all contacts in your organization:
- First name and Last name
- Email: The contact's primary email address
- Company: Associated company
- Property: Properties leased by the contact's company
- Added on: When the contact was created
Sort by first name, last name, email, or company by clicking the column header. The Property column is filled in from the leases of the contact's company, so a person with no company — or whose company has no leases — shows it blank. Phone numbers aren't a column — a contact can have several — but they are searchable from the bar above the table and shown in full on the contact's own page.
Search and Filter
Use the search bar to instantly find contacts across multiple fields:
- First or last name
- Any of the contact's email addresses
- Any of the contact's phone numbers — including partial numbers
The search is real-time and updates as you type, making it easy to find specific contacts quickly.
Phone search matches any run of four or more digits against every number on a contact, so you can find someone from the last four digits on a missed call or a fragment from the middle of the number — punctuation and spacing are ignored. A bare three-digit entry is read as an area code, and an extension can be searched on its own as x204 or ext 204. Global search (⌘K) additionally shows which of the contact's numbers matched, with the matching digits highlighted.
Filters
Narrow the list with the filter buttons beside the search bar. Active filters appear as chips you can remove one at a time, or clear all at once.
- Organization: Shown when you belong to more than one organization
- Company: Contacts at one or more companies
- Property: Contacts whose company leases at the selected properties
Adding New People
Create new person contacts with comprehensive information:
- Click the "Add" button above the People table
- Fill in the "Add a Contact" form:
- First name (required)
- Last name (required)
- Email address (required) — add more than one if the person uses several
- Phone numbers — add as many as you need, each with a label and an optional extension
- Company (optional) — search for an existing company
- Choose the organization under "For organization" (defaults to your home organization)
- Click "Create" — Cardinal opens the new contact's page
Person Detail Page
Click on any contact in the list to open their page. It has two tabs — Details and Messages — and a chip showing which organization the contact belongs to. The Details tab holds:
Contact Details
- First and last name (both required)
- Email addresses, with one marked as primary
- Phone numbers, each with its label and extension
Edit any field and click "Update" to save.
Company
When the contact has no company, search for an existing one to link it, or click "Add Company" to create a new company and link it in one step. A linked company shows as a clickable link with its type as a badge; use the × button to remove the company from the contact. A contact belongs to one company at a time.
Notes
Free-form notes about the contact, saved on their page.
Email Addresses
A contact can hold several email addresses — a work address, a personal one, an old address they still send from — so every message from that person lands on the same contact.
Adding and Choosing a Primary
Use the add-email button to add a row. Select the Primary button on the address you want shown in the People list and used when you start a new message. Every contact needs at least one address, and there is always exactly one primary — remove the primary and the next address takes its place.
Changing an Address
If you type over an existing address and click "Update", Cardinal asks whether the person's address changed or the old one was a typo. Choose keep the old one too to save it as an extra address — mail from it will still land on this contact — or remove it to discard it. Removing a row with its trash button deletes it without asking.
When an Address Belongs to Someone Else
An email address can only belong to one contact in an organization. If you save an address that is already on another contact, Cardinal opens an Address already in use dialog naming that contact and offers:
- Same person — merge: Combines this contact into the other one and takes you to it. Any unsaved edits on this page are discarded.
- Move the address here instead: Takes the address off the other contact and saves it on this one. Available only when the other contact has another address to keep.
- Keep separate: Leaves the address where it is and flags the row so you can change or remove it before saving.
When you are adding a new contact, the first choice instead opens the existing contact in a new tab, so nothing you typed is lost.
Phone Numbers
A contact can hold as many phone numbers as you need — a cell, a desk line with an extension, a leasing office, a fax — instead of one number you have to keep overwriting.
Adding and Labeling
Use the add-phone button to create a row, then enter the number and choose a label: mobile, office, home, fax, or other. Each row has its own extension box — keep extensions there rather than typing them into the number itself, so the number stays dialable and searchable.
Formatting Is Handled for You
Type a number however you like — with dashes, parentheses, spaces, or a country code. Cardinal stores it in a single canonical format and displays it consistently everywhere the contact appears: the person page, global search results, and the contact pickers used elsewhere in Cardinal. International numbers are supported.
Contacts Added Before This
Contacts that already had a number were carried over automatically. Each one now appears as a phone row labeled other — relabel it whenever you like. Nothing was lost and there is nothing to migrate by hand.
Contact Actions Menu
Access the actions menu (three dots icon) on any contact to perform the following operations:
Download Contact
Export contact information as a vCard (.vcf) file that can be imported into email clients, phones, and other contact management systems. Includes name, every email address, company, and every phone number — each carrying its label, so a number saved as "office" lands in your phone as a work number, with the extension preserved.
Duplicate Contact
Opens the Add a Contact form pre-filled with the contact's name, company, and organization. The email address is left blank — an address can only belong to one contact, so enter the new person's own address before saving.
Delete Contact
Permanently remove the contact from your organization. The confirmation shows how many message threads they appear in. Warning: This will remove them from all associated messages and records. This action cannot be undone.
Message Thread Integration
Contacts are automatically integrated with your message threads, making it easy to track communication and add new contacts.
Viewing Messages from a Contact
Open any person's page and switch to the Messages tab to see every message thread they appear in — matched on any of their email addresses — without digging through the Inbox. Companies have the same tab, listing threads with any of the company's people.
- Search the threads by sender, subject, or body
- Filter by Read Status, thread Status, Assignment, and the Users on the thread
- Sort by date, newest or oldest first
- Each row shows the subject, latest snippet, assignee, and timestamp, just like the Inbox
- Click a thread to jump straight to the full conversation in the Inbox
- Click New Message to start an email — addressed to the person's primary email address, or on a company's page to the first of its people who has an email address
Thread Participants
When viewing any message thread, the sidebar's Participants section lists everyone on the thread in a single list, each with a name and email address:
Contact
People already in your contacts carry a Contact chip. Click one to open that person's Messages tab.
Cardinal user
Members of your team who are on the thread carry a Cardinal user chip.
Not yet a contact
Anyone else on the thread shows an Add contact button so you can add them to your contacts. Your own mailboxes are left out, and an address that is already one of a contact's extra email addresses is recognized as that contact.
Adding Contacts from Messages
When someone on a thread isn't in your contacts yet:
- Find them in the thread's Participants section
- Click the "Add contact" button next to their name
- The Add a Contact form opens with their email and name pre-filled, in the organization that owns the mailbox
- Add any additional information (phone numbers, company)
- Click "Create" to add them to your contacts
After adding, they'll show with a Contact chip and will be associated with all relevant message threads.
Company Management
Viewing Companies
The Companies page displays a sortable table with organizational information:
- Company: The company's name
- Organization: Which organization owns this company contact
- Type: Company type with visual badge (Tenant, Vendor, Owner, Broker, or Other)
- Created At: Date the company was added
- Updated At: Last modification date
Every column sorts. Search companies by name or legal name, and narrow the list with the Organization (shown when you belong to more than one), Type, and Property filters. Property finds companies that hold a lease at the selected properties.
Adding New Companies
Create a company with just the basics, then fill in the rest on its page:
- Click the "Add" button above the Companies table
- Fill in the "Add a Company" form:
- Company name (required)
- Legal name (if different from company name)
- Company type (required) — Tenant, Vendor, Owner, Broker, or Other
- Select the organization
- Click "Create" — Cardinal opens the new company's page, where you can add its address and people
Company Detail Page
Click on any company to open its page. It has two tabs — Details and Messages — and a chip showing which organization the company belongs to. The Details tab holds these sections:
Company Details
Edit the company name, legal name, phone number, and type, then click "Update" to save changes.
Company Address
Manage the company's mailing address with separate fields for street address (line one and two), city, state, and zip code, then click "Update".
Company People
Lists everyone at the company with their name and email. Use the search box to link a contact who already exists, or click "Add Person" to create a new contact already linked to this company. Click a name to open that person's page, or the × button to remove them from the company — the contact itself is kept.
Company Leases
Lists every lease where this company is the tenant, showing the property name and its city, state, and zip code. Click the property name to open the lease.
Notes
Free-form notes about the company, saved on its page.
Deleting a Company
Open the actions menu (three dots icon) on the Company Details card and choose "Delete Company". The confirmation shows how many contacts the company has and how many message threads they appear in.
- Check Also delete the contacts to delete the company's people along with it. Leave it unchecked and the people are kept, just no longer linked to a company.
- A Tenant company that is assigned to any lease can't be deleted. Remove it from its leases first.
- This action cannot be undone.
Company Types
Every company has one of five types, which help organize your contacts and understand relationships:
- Tenant: Companies that lease your properties
- Vendor: Service providers, suppliers, and contractors
- Owner: Property owners and ownership entities
- Broker: Leasing and investment brokers
- Other: Anything that doesn't fit the types above
Company types appear as badges in the Companies table and on linked contacts, and you can filter the Companies table by type.
Key Features
Organization-Based Security
All contacts are strictly scoped to your organization, ensuring complete data privacy and separation. You can only view and manage contacts within your organization.
Powerful Search
Real-time search across names, every email address on a contact, and phone numbers. Phone matching works on any four or more consecutive digits — the last four from a missed call, an area code, or a fragment from the middle — so you can find a caller without recalling the whole number.
Automatic Message Integration
Contacts are automatically linked to message threads by any of their email addresses. Review history on each contact's Messages tab and add unrecognized participants directly from a thread.
vCard Export
Download any contact as a vCard (.vcf) file for easy import into email clients, phones, and other contact management systems. All of the contact's email addresses and phone numbers are included, each phone with its label and extension.
Lease Integration
A company set as a lease's tenant shows that lease on its page, and the properties from those leases appear in the People list and its Property filter.
Multiple Email Addresses
Keep every address a person uses on one contact and mark one as primary. Cardinal stops the same address from landing on two contacts and offers to merge them when it does.
Contact Duplication
Quickly create similar contacts using the duplicate feature. All information is pre-filled and can be modified before saving.
Best Practices
Complete Information
Fill in all available fields including email addresses, phone numbers, and company associations. Add every address and number you have for someone and label each phone — a labeled cell and desk line make it obvious which to try first, and everything becomes searchable.
Add from Messages
When you see unrecognized contacts in message threads, add them immediately. This creates a complete communication history and makes future conversations easier to track.
Regular Updates
Update contact information promptly when you learn about changes. Accurate data ensures smooth communication and prevents delivery issues.
Use Company Types
Assign appropriate company types (Tenant, Vendor, Owner, Broker, Other) to help organize and filter your contacts effectively.
Link to Companies
Associate individual contacts with their companies. This helps track organizational relationships and provides context for communication.
Delete Carefully
Before deleting, remember contacts are removed from all messages and records. If you're cleaning up a duplicate, merge it instead so its addresses and history are kept. Consider downloading the contact first as a backup. Deleting cannot be undone.
Troubleshooting
Can't Find a Contact
Solution: Verify you're viewing the correct organization. Contacts are organization-specific and won't appear if you're viewing a different organization's data. Check the organization selector if available.
Duplicate Contacts Appearing
Solution: Merge them rather than deleting one. On the duplicate's page, add the other contact's email address and click "Update". When Cardinal reports the address is already in use, choose Same person — merge. The two records are combined into the other contact and the duplicate is removed.
Company Won't Delete
Solution: A Tenant company that is assigned to a lease can't be deleted — the dialog says so. Remove the company from each lease listed in its Company Leases section, then try again. People can be deleted at any time.
Missing Company Association
Solution: Open the person's page and search for the company in the Company card. If it doesn't exist yet, click "Add Company" to create it and link the person in one step. You can also link people from the company's page.
Contact Not Showing in Message Thread
Solution: The person may be writing from an address that isn't on their contact yet (e.g., personal vs. work email). Cardinal matches threads against every email address on a contact, so add the missing address to their contact as an extra email address.
Related Features & Integrations
The Contacts module works seamlessly with other parts of the system:
- Messages & Inbox: Contacts are automatically recognized in email threads and displayed in the thread's Participants section. Add unrecognized participants directly from messages. All communication history with a contact or company is on its Messages tab.
- Leases: A company set as a lease's tenant lists that lease on its detail page, providing visibility into tenant relationships.
- Properties: People and companies are connected to properties through their company's leases. Use the Property filter on either list to see everyone tied to a property.
- Mailing Lists: Mailing lists are managed from the Inbox under Manage → Mailing Lists.