Why is it important to set up contacts correctly

Wy are well constructed contacts important on iPhone and iPad?

Siri needs a little help from you when you ask it to make calls, send messages and ask for directions to people's homes. All you need to do is to use each of the fields that the Contacts apps offers for their intended purpose and maybe even tell Siri how to pronounce a difficult name. Well constructed contacts will also be sorted well and make it easier for you to locate them. A little thought when setting up a contact can also be of great value when you search your contacts. You might have forgotten the name of that plumber who did a job for you two years ago and a well constructed contact should ensure you find them when you need them.

What's the correct way to enter contacts?

It's very simple. Put everything you know about an individual in a single contact; put the first name, and only the first name in the first name field and similarly for the last name field. If the individual works for a company  then put the company name in the company field. If the contact is for a company and not for an individual, don't use first name or last name and add the company name in the company field.

When you add phone numbers or email addresses, make sure you choose sensible labels to distinguish multiple numbers. There might be home, mobile and work phone numbers, for example. If you ask Siri to make a phone call, you can say something like "call Rita Smith mobile". Alternatively if you just cay "call Rita Smith" then Siri will ask which number to use.

Add address lets you add a postal address. It's helpful to have all of this information together in one place and Siri will also be able to offer directions to a contact's address.

If you add a birthday, it will appear automatically in your calendar and notifications can be set up to alert you of impending birthdays.

Add date lets you add an anniversary or other significant date.

I'll skip over a few fields and land on Notes.  This is an invaluable place to lodge additional information about the contact. For example, "the plumber who did a great job on our new bathroom in 2022". A contact search for plumber will find this contact.

The add field button reveals an additional set of fields which includes fields to specify the correct pronunciation for names for Siri and VoiceOver to use.

Back to FAQ