I can see times when it would be nice to have this ability but I think it would be detrimental to maintaining a clean database in the long run.
Say user adds a second 'home' phone. How do we know which one is correct? Preferred?
We have the option to add a phone type with similar name when needed. Ex: cell, work cell
I think this is part of the overall problem with phone numbers/email addresses. The way people communicate with each other has changed. 15 years ago if someone gave me a number I assumed it was home, maybe work. But now it could also be a cell. Or a work cell. We're not always in a position to immediately ask for clarification and it would be near impossible to reach everyone to ask later.
I set up a phone type for the following Preferred PHone - Home, Preferred Phone - Business, Preferred Phone - Cell and Preferred Email. In our forms we ask for this informaton and explain that Preferred is where you choose to receive the majority of your calls, receipts, acknowldgments, newsletters, etc. If they have the cell phone as their preferred contact phone type, we can still list their home phone and their business phone. This also is very helpful in outputting this information in query, export and crystal reports. They should only have 2 preferred phone types 1) for the phone and 1) for their email address.
You'd have no way of knowing which is the preferred number and if you're trying to create lists with phone numbers, you wouldn't be able to differentiate between the two numbers using the same field name. This really would be a nightmare.
Guest
I can see times when it would be nice to have this ability but I think it would be detrimental to maintaining a clean database in the long run.
Say user adds a second 'home' phone. How do we know which one is correct? Preferred?
We have the option to add a phone type with similar name when needed. Ex: cell, work cell
I think this is part of the overall problem with phone numbers/email addresses. The way people communicate with each other has changed. 15 years ago if someone gave me a number I assumed it was home, maybe work. But now it could also be a cell. Or a work cell. We're not always in a position to immediately ask for clarification and it would be near impossible to reach everyone to ask later.
This would honestly be a nightmare for me. JoAnn is correct, we would not know which to pull. It would be even more messy than it is curently.
I set up a phone type for the following Preferred PHone - Home, Preferred Phone - Business, Preferred Phone - Cell and Preferred Email. In our forms we ask for this informaton and explain that Preferred is where you choose to receive the majority of your calls, receipts, acknowldgments, newsletters, etc. If they have the cell phone as their preferred contact phone type, we can still list their home phone and their business phone. This also is very helpful in outputting this information in query, export and crystal reports. They should only have 2 preferred phone types 1) for the phone and 1) for their email address.
You'd have no way of knowing which is the preferred number and if you're trying to create lists with phone numbers, you wouldn't be able to differentiate between the two numbers using the same field name. This really would be a nightmare.