Contacts are used in many areas of Smokeball to manage clients and other parties relevant to a matter. Learn how to create contacts to save time manually entering information.
Contact information is used in many areas of Smokeball such as precedent and letter automation.
The best practice is to fill in as much detail in contacts that you have available to make the most out of Smokeball features.
- From the Smokeball tab in the Desktop App, select New Contact.
- Select whether the contact is for a Person or a Firm/Business/Organisation. The information you need to fill in changes according to what is selected here. Note that you cannot change the contact type once it has been created.
- Enter information into each field as best you can.
- Select Advanced view to open the contact card, and fill in the Additional details tab (for individuals) and VOI/Execution options tab for this contact.
You can also enter information in the Safe Custody Register tab, if applicable. - Select Save at the bottom of the window.
Additional details is where you can add in all other required information for your contacts including:
- Previous name/ Maiden name
- Date of birth (DOB)
- Date of death
- Licence number
- Citizenship
- Passport information
The VOI/Execution Options tab allows you to enter information about VOI, Execution type and Power of Attorney details.
VOI information
You can enter the individual's VOI details through this tab on the contact card.
The VOI details will remain on the contact card for any future matters you may have for this client.
Execution Party/ Power of Attorney to sign on contacts behalf
If you have a Power of Attorney (POA) executing on behalf of this contact, you can enter this information here.
- Switch the Execution type to "Power of Attorney to execute"
- Enter the POA type and their information
- Click Save
Other Execution Options
Other execution options can be used when you wish to sign on behalf of your clients (e.g., on your transfer) if you require specific wording not catered for above, or if you require a blank space to handwrite the Signing Clause after printing the document.
To sign on your clients' behalf:
- At the bottom of the contact card, tick "Where permitted use execution by a legal representative on behalf of the person"
- By default, representing "Another" will be ticked; however, if you are representing yourself, you can change this here.
- The default signer will be selected as the person responsible for the matter. If this is not the case you can un-tick this box and enter an additional signer.
To create a custom execution:
- At the bottom of the contact card, tick "Where a 'custom' or 'blank' execution option exists in documents, use it" option
- Enter the details in the field that appears below or leave blank.
Create a new contact from a matter
When a new matter is created, the Matter Details section contains many fields for entering contacts. The process then involves adding every required contact to the matter.
- Select the plus icon to add a new contact.
- The New Contact window will now open. Follow the steps above to create the contact.
Enable a required contact field for a matter
You can add and remove contact fields displayed in a matter by selecting the gear icon on the top-right corner of the matter window.
Let us know if the field you wish to add doesn't come up in the matter type you've selected.
Add another person
When you have multiple contacts at the same address, you can add them in:
- Click on "Add another person" from within the advanced contact view.
- Enter the details for this contact.
- Click Save.
Your contacts will then be displayed in the matter details.
If the contacts are at separate addresses:
- Right-click on the first contact from the matter details screen
- Select "Add contact" or "Add existing contact"
- Enter the contact details and click Save.
You can add in as many contacts as required using the above methods.
Enter an address or forwarding address
- Select the Address box on the left panel to enter the contact's address details.
- If you have the forwarding address of a contact, tick specify forwarding address to enter the details.
When you need to update the forwarding address to the current address:
- Un-tick the Forwarding address box.
- Select "Yes" to update this to the current address.
Additional tips
- Phone information for 'other side' contacts can be left blank. Your firm doesn't need that information because communication happens via their solicitor.
- Get in touch if you wish to import contacts in bulk from a .CSV file.
- From the Smokeball Web App, select Contacts from the left menu.
- Select Add Contact.
- Select whether the contact you wish to enter is an individual person, or a business/organisation. Your selection here will change the contact details fields in the rest of the window.
- Enter the contact's details.
- Select Save.