Managing your Contacts

A question we're often asked when deploying a Business PBX system is how users can manage external contacts.

There are several ways to add and manage contacts in 3CX, so it's important to understand the types of contacts and who manages each. There are two types of contacts:

Personal contacts are only available to a single user, and are managed by each user individually.
Company contacts are available to all users on the system, and are managed by system administrators.

Note

Only company contacts are available on a physical handset. This is the list you see when you press the 3CX PBook soft key, shown below.

The 3CX Phonebook on a Yealink handset display, listing company contacts with Back, Search, Option and Call soft keys

However, as covered below, we recommend adding personal contacts from the web browser. You can then call those contacts directly from your handset.

Personal Contacts

Personal contacts can be added in a number of ways, depending on whether you use a handset, the web browser or the mobile app. This section covers the recommended method, using the web browser interface.

To add contacts via the web interface, log in to the system using your email and password, then choose Contacts from the side bar. You will see a screen similar to the one below.

The 3CX Contacts screen in the web browser, with Add, Import and Delete icons along the top and Personal selected in the dropdown on the right

To add a new personal contact:

Choose Personal from the dropdown menu on the top right.
Click the plus sign (+) and fill out the fields shown.
Click the Save icon on the top right to save the contact.

Tip

Use the Mobile field to store the number you want to use to dial your contact.

Importing Contacts

If you have your contacts saved in a spreadsheet, you can bulk import them by clicking the Import icon. Use the column headings shown below to build your list, or download a template.

A spreadsheet with the import column headings FirstName, LastName, Company, Mobile, Mobile2, Home, Home2, Business, Business2, Email, Other, BusinessFax, HomeFax and Pager

Note

Save the file in CSV format before importing it.

Dialling Personal Contacts

How you dial a personal contact depends on the device you're using.

If you use the web browser or the mobile app, choose the Contacts icon, find the contact, and click or tap the call icon.

Personal contacts aren't available on a handset, but you can use the web browser to dial them from your handset. To set this up, choose the Dialer icon in the web browser, then in the popup panel, choose your handset from the list of devices in the dropdown menu.

The web browser Dialer panel, with the Call using dropdown open and a Yealink handset selected instead of Browser or Smartphone

Once this is configured, click a contact to dial them and the call will be placed from your handset.

Company Contacts

Company contacts are available to everyone in the organisation. This is useful if your organisation has a list of contacts that a number of users need to call frequently.

Company contacts are added by a system administrator, using the same process as for personal contacts. Make sure you choose Company from the dropdown on the top right before adding any contacts.

The 3CX Contacts screen with Company selected in the dropdown on the top right, showing a company contact

Once added, company contacts can be dialled from the web browser, the mobile app, or directly from the handset using the 3CX PBook soft key.

Company contacts can also be integrated from Microsoft 365 or your CRM system. If you'd like to explore these options, please contact us.

Summary

This article covered the types of contacts in the system, how to add and access personal contacts, and how to use company contacts to share contacts across your organisation.

For more information on Business PBX and how you can get the most out of it for your business, don't hesitate to contact us.

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