Search your records in Business Contact Manager
Searching your business records is a quick way to find one or more records with the information that you want to see. Use search to identify high-value or high-priority projects, for example, or to locate all of the Accounts, Business Contacts, Business Projects, and Opportunities that have been assigned to you to manage.
This article describes how to use the search features to find Business Contact Manager for Outlook records.
What do you want to do?
Search business records
You can search every type of record in Business Contact Manager for Outlook, as well as other information, such as the results of marketing activities.
When you start a search, all text in key fields in the selected record type are checked for the information that you want to find, including all of your user-defined, or custom, fields. You can search nearly every field of a record type if you want to.
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In the Navigation Pane, under Business Contact Manager, click one of the following folders to display the workspace:
Contact Management.
Sales.
Marketing.
Project Management.
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In the workspace, click the tab that contains the type of record that you want to search for.
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On the tab, in the Search in '(name of list)' box, type a term that you think is in the records that you want to find, such as a city, area code, or even a partial name. If you type multiple search terms, such as Jesper 555, your search results will include the records that contain both of those terms.
How do I search communication history items?
You can search the communication history items of individual records, or you can search the entire Communication History folder.
To search history items for a record Double-click the record to open it, and then, on the Ribbon, click the History button.
To search the Communication History folder In the Navigation Pane, under Business Contact Manager, click Communication History.
Tip: Search operators, such as AND and OR indicate the relationship between your search terms. The default operator is AND. If you don't include an operator with multiple search terms, for example Jesper OR 555, the search will return only those records containing every search term you typed.
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Click the Search button
. The search results are displayed on the tab. The name of the tab changes to include the words (Search Results).
Note: The search feature in Business Contact Manager for Outlook does not search within search results.
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When you're done, click the Close Search button
.Tip: You can also filter the list of records on a tab. Right-click the tab, and then click Modify. Click the Filter button, and then enter the criteria that you want. For more information about filters, see Filter records in Business Contact Manager.
Repeat a recent search
If you need to see a set of search results again after you have closed the search results, you can quickly repeat the search without re-entering the search criteria. Your 10 most recent searches are automatically saved for each tab.
Note: Recent searches can't be applied to other tabs.
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In a workspace, on any tab, click the Search box.
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On the Ribbon, if necessary, click the Search tab.
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In the Options group, click Recent Searches
. Searches are identified by their criteria, with the most recent search at the top of the list. -
Click the search that you want to repeat. The records that match the search criteria are displayed in the search results pane.
If you want to create a reusable list, we recommend that you create a new tab in the workspace, and apply a filter. In the workspace, click the Create New Tab button, and then enter the information. For more information about how to create a new tab, see the information on tabs in the Master your Business Contact Manager workspaces article.
Tip: You can launch a marketing activity from a set of search results by selecting all the records in the results, right-clicking, and then clicking Create and the type of marketing activity you want to start. For more information about launching marketing activities, see Market your products and services in Business Contact Manager.
Suggestions for searching
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If you are not sure about the spelling of a search term, such as a name, type just a few letters of it.
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The Search feature scans all of the text entered in the essential fields of each record that you are searching, so your search results may be broader than you expect. For example, if you typed Chicago as a search term, you would see contacts with Chicago addresses as well as those with Chicago in their company names in the search results.
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You can enter more than one search term, such as a name or city, in the Search box.
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The default search operator is AND. If you don't use other operators, only the records that match all of your search criteria are displayed.
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Use operators (= < > OR) singly or in combination between search terms to narrow your results.
Type the operators AND and OR in all uppercase letters.
Advanced search options
Go beyond your basic search of business records to broaden or narrow the scope of your search.
Use the Scope options to broaden your search field. For example, if you are searching Business Contact records, but want to include Leads in your results, you can include other records of the same type in your search.
Use the Refine options to narrow your search to specific fields, including any of your user-defined fields. Click any of the fields in the group to add that type of information to your search criteria.
Broaden the scope of a search
After you launch a search, you can change its scope to include additional records of the same type, or all Business Contact Manager for Outlook records and items. Try this procedure if you don't find a record where you expected to see it.
For example, if you're looking for any records – communication history items, Opportunity records, linked Accounts and so on – that are associated with a specific Business Contact, you can expand the search to automatically include all the records in your search, including any custom record types.
After you have launched a search, use the following procedure to broaden the scope of your search.
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On the Ribbon, on the Search tab, in the Scope group, click one of the following:
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All (record name) Types This option expands the search to include all record types that are based on the selected record type.
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All Business Contact Manager Items This option (
) expands the search results to include all Business Contact Manager for Outlook records and items, including communication history items.Note: Outlook items, such as appointments and e-mail messages, are not included in the search results.
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Return to your original search results by clicking Current Tab on the Ribbon.
Refine your search results
At any time during your search, you can add search criteria to further narrow the results you see. Add search values for nearly every field on the selected record type.
After you have launched a search, use the following procedure to narrow the scope of your search.
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On the Ribbon, on the Search tab, in the Refine group, click any of the following options to include the criteria in your search:
| When you click ... | Your search results include ... |
| Name option (Label will vary with the records you search) | Any records with the name, or partial name that you type in the Search box. |
| Assigned To, and then click a name in the list | All of the records that are assigned to the user name that you selected. |
| Campaign (for marketing activity records only) | Marketing activity records that belong to the campaign or campaigns with the name that you type in the Campaign box. |
| Flagged | Records that have been flagged. |
| Sales Stages (for Opportunity records only) | Opportunity records that are in the sales stage (such as prospecting or qualification) that you click in the list. |
| Status (for marketing activity, Business Project, and project task records only) | Records that are marked with the status that you click in the Status list. |
| Categories | The records that have been assigned to the category that you click in the Categories list. |
| Parent option (Label will vary with the records you search) | The records that are linked to an Account or project with the name that you type in the Search box. |
| Form Fields | All records that contain the same value in their fields that you type or click in the Search box for the fields that you click in the Form Fields list. |
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Click the Search button to display your search results.
Tip: Each selection you make from the Refine group is added as a field under the Search box. You can review and change these criteria and run additional searches as long as the Search box is highlighted.
Use Search Folders
Search Folders, like tabs on a workspace, are a useful way to easily display the specific information that you want to see.
The Business Contact Manager for Outlook search folders are displayed in the Navigation Pane when you click Mail. Click a folder to see the records that it contains.
You can create and use Search Folders as needed. They function similarly to a filtered list on a tab. However, Search Folders require significantly more of your computer's processing power than tabs do, to keep their data current. Tabs are kept up-to-date whenever they are visible, but Search Folders are constantly updated, whether or not they are being viewed.
We recommend that you limit the number of Search Folders that you create, and instead use tabs when you need to create a reusable list. You can create up to 20 tabs in each workspace. For information on creating tabs from filtered lists, see the section on tabs in the Master your Business Contact Manager workspaces article.
Create a Search Folder
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In the Navigation Pane, click Mail.
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Under Business Contact Manager, right-click Search Folders, and then click New Search Folder.
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In the New Search Folder dialog box, type a name for the folder.
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Click the record type that you want the search folder to contain.
You can choose records types such as Business Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, Business Projects, and project tasks, or communication history records such as Business Contact History, Account History, Opportunity History, and Business Project History. The history folders will contain the communication history items for the selected record types.
Tip: If you create a folder with Account-based or Business Contact-based records, you can use the Search folder as the Recipient list of a marketing activity. Just select the records, then on the Ribbon in the Communicate group, click Marketing and then click the activity that you want to start.
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Click the Filter button to open the Filter dialog box. Do any of the following:
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On the Simple Filter tab, click the options that you want included in your filter results.
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Click the Advanced Filter tab to create one or more queries to further limit your filter results.
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Click the Review Results tab to see the list of records. Clear the check boxes of additional records that you want to exclude from the results.
For more information about using filters, see Filter records in Business Contact Manager.
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Click OK to save your results as a Search Folder.
The folder appears in the Navigation Pane, under the Business Contact Manager folder.
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