FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

Hi FSM team,

I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement.

I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services.

The are often sub contracted by building management companies to perform maintenance services for residents.

When creating a Work Order, the Building Management company is the "Company" and the "Billing Address". The "Contact" and "Service Address" belongs to the resident.

My client will only be provided with the service address, but they will build up the database of residential contacts over time as they perform services.

The challenge is that my client is only given a list of properties which require servicing, and not the contact information. So when creating a Work Order, they will not know which Contact to select (or if that contact is missing from the system)

I also have other clients who I was not able to recommend FSM to partially for this reason. Both of those companies provide medical devices and the hospital trusts would be the customer, but the hospitals themselves would be the service address and each service address would have a specific contact... but the person creating the Work Order would not know who the contact is, as the assumption is that a service address will have a contact person.

In an ideal scenario, when selecting the Service Address, there would be an option to auto populate or at least pick Contacts who are associated with that service address.

A couple of ways this could be addressed.
  1. If Service Addresses could have a Lookup field for primary contact, and once service address is selected the Service Address Primary Contact would appear in the dropdown for Contact.
  2. If Address fields could be customised to include contact information like primary contact Name, Phone, Email
As a workaround we're going to need to put the property reference in the First Name of the Contacts and the full name in the Last Name field, but this is a bit messy and still a workaround.

I'm happy to provide more information if it would help you address this sub contractor scenario.

Regards,

Ashley


UPDATE

Every property my customer services has a unique reference, so by adding that reference to the First Name field of the contact it was searchable by property reference and you wouldn't need to know the name of the customer (just the property ref). This also seems to populate the correct service address as the contact has their own addresses related list.

This is still a workaround and not every business will have a property reference. They may just know the service address. This is also still problematic for my client as they will be building the list of residential contacts as they go, so they will need to have all the properties listed in the Service Address field under a dummy contact and then create a new contact and address each time they make contact with a resident who is due a service. Because each Service Address record is unique, when the contact is changed the Service Address field is cleared and the engineer will need to re-enter the address again. This is frustrating and also creating a duplicate Service Address.

Another improvement which would be beneficial would be if the Contact records had a Reference No. field (like customer number in Zoho Books) and this would be included in the query when entering text into the Contact lookup field.
 
This is just not a slick process at all and things like this make FSM really hard to recommend, which is disappointing as I really want to be able to promote the too.

    • Recent Topics

    • In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."}

      In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."} this is button Function used in the Creator map Inventory.Create_Credit_note(int CRE_ID) { return_value

    • Zia should track how customer relationships evolve over time

      Here's a feature idea that I've been thinking about The Problem Zia is great at analyzing individual interactions email sentiment, call transcription, best time to contact. But here's what it can't do: tell you how a relationship has evolved over time.

    • FSM integration with Books

      Hi, I have spent a few months working with FSM and have come across a critical gap in the functionality, which I find almost shocking....either that, or I am an idiot. The lack of bi-directional sync between Books and FSM on Sales Orders/ Work Orders

    • How to Track Inventory Usage from Zoho FSM to Zoho Inventory?

      Hi everyone, We’re currently working on integrating Zoho FSM with Zoho Inventory, and we’ve encountered a challenge we’re hoping the community can help us understand better. Here’s the context: When we create a Work Order in Zoho FSM that involves parts

    • Set Field Mandatory by Client Script ZOHO CRM

      #Tips of the day We can set the field as mandatory by the client script var field_obj = ZDK.Page.getField('Custom_Field1'); field_obj.setMandatory(true); Custom_Field1 = Field API Name Apart from is if you have required any kind of Zoho work please do

    • associating products with accounts

      I have all my accounts and products in zoho now. I need to generate a sales order for an account. The product lookup feature on the sales order shows no products...how can I get them to appear.

    • Can we rely on order of returned ids when inserting multiple records?

      Hello! API https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v8/insert-records.html does not mention that the response array will match the input array*, keeping this important information implicit and someone might have doubts to rely on it. (*the response

    • New UI for Writer - Disappointed

      I've been enjoying Zoho Writer as a new user for about 6 months, and I really like it. One of my favorite things about it is the menu bar, which you can hide or leave out while still seeing most of your page because it is off to the left. I think this

    • Zoho CRM Community Digest - February 2026 | Part 2

      In this edition, we’re highlighting a few more product enhancements, along with some helpful community discussions that explore everyday CRM scenarios from automating reminders and managing lead outreach to making the most of APIs and client scripts.

    • Dont want to list inactive items.

      If an item is made inactive, there is no point in showing it in the item list. Please provide an option to hide all inactive items in 'Preferences'. 

    • Client Script event on any field of a Detail page

      Hi everyone! I'd like to trigger a Client Script when a user modifies a field - any field - from the Account Details page, how can I do this? I don't want to trigger it on a specific field, but on all of them. Thanks in advance!

    • Tip #66 - Exploring Technician Console: Network Statistics - 'Insider Insights'

      Hello Zoho Assist Community! Have you ever wondered why a remote session feels sluggish, or wanted to check whether connectivity issues are on your end or the customer's? That's exactly where the Network Statistics feature in Zoho Assist comes to the

    • REFUND REQUEST FOR PLAN SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLED

      I have cancelled my Zoho Books subscription and would like to request a full refund for the subscription. Kindly process the refund at your earliest convenience.

    • Sales IQ - Bot Builder - Forward to Operator Action Card Improvement

      Hi team, It would be a great improvement to have an additional branch out of the Forward to Operator Action Card. I would like to allow 10 seconds for an operator to pick up the chat, if they don't or if they reject the chat I would like the Bot to continue

    • purchasing a pagkage

      goodmorning i want to pay for my monthly package but your app is sayinng i have insufficient funds yet i loaded money on my account yesterday though in our currency of ugx

    • Edit Receipt, how?

      Do you notice the big blank space in Receipt? I want to remove that. I know there is a template but that blank space, I can't seem to remove it. Please help. Thank you!

    • Can I export a TXF (TurboTax exchange format) file out of Zoho Books?

      Hello, I'm trying to do my US Small Business Taxes using Intuit's Turbo Tax. Can I export my expenses from Zoho Books to a TXF format file, so that it can then be imported into Turbo Tax? Thanks, Rajnesh

    • Tax inclusive and exclusive for Sales invoices

      Hello, where can I set my tax to be inclusive or exclusive for invoices in Zoho Books? There used to be a button for me to do that right above the products table. Can someone help me please? Thank you!

    • Unable to produce monthly P&L reports for previous years

      My company just migrated to Books this year. We have 5+ years financial data and need to generate a monthly P&L for 2019 and a monthly P&L YTD for 2020. The latter is easy, but I'm VERY surprised to learn that default reports in Zoho Books cannot create

    • ZOHO Reports are taking longer time to get refresh

      Hi Team, Since last few days, I'm facing issues in getting updated reports. For eg: right after making an expense entry or even posting a journal, it is taking longer then expected for the updated reports. Refer below: "You are viewing the report that

    • audio and video comments in tasks in zoho projects

      Hi, is it planned to have the ability to post audio and video comments? the whatsapp wechat format of communicating is a reality... tools like zoho project would facilitate a lot teamwork by facilitating the way in which we can give feedback in audio and video rather than only text. thx!

    • Looking for Zoho + Twilio Automation Specialist (Duda Website Integration)

      Hi everyone, I’m looking for an experienced Zoho specialist to help build a mostly automated CRM and booking system for my service business. I already have a live website built on Duda.co and need help integrating my existing forms into Zoho CRM (no rebuild

    • How To Implement an Auto-Check-out Feature for Attendance?

      If an employee forgets to check out, the system should automatically check out the employee at 6:30 PM

    • Zoho CRM For Everyone UI Rollout Begins for All Users

      Hello Partners, We have started rolling out the new Zoho CRM For Everyone UI as the default experience for all users. This update is being released in three phases based on organization size and account type. We want to keep you informed of the rollout

    • How to retreive the "To be received" value of an Item displayed in Zoho inventory.

      Hi everyone, We have our own Deluge code to generate a PO according to taget quantity and box quantity, pretty usefull and powerful! However, we want to reduce our quantity to order according to "To be received" variable. Seems like this might not even

    • Introducing Explainer Videos for Zoho Desk: Solve everyday challenges with simple configurations

      Dear everyone, We have created a set of short explainer videos that show how common support scenarios can be handled using simple configurations within the product. The solutions often lie in the plain sight, but go unnoticed. Through these videos we

    • Notifications Feeds unread count?

      How do I reset the unread count on feeds notifications?  I've opened every notification in the list.  And the count never goes to zero.

    • Simple reliable solution to convert MSG files for AOL Mail?

      A simple and reliable way to convert MSG files for AOL Mail is by using a professional tool MacGater Mac MSG Converter. This software allows users to quickly convert MSG files into formats compatible with AOL, such as MBOX or direct email migration. It

    • Zoho One Support is non existent...

      I've tried through Email, Chat, this community and finally through Phone. There is no way to receive an answer. Email = over a week and no answer Chat = not available Community = no answer at all Telephone = after clicking myself through the callcenter

    • Disable Zoho Contacts

      We don't want to use this app... How can we disable it?

    • Custom module - change from autonumber to name

      I fear I know the answer to this already, but thought I'd ask the question. I created a custom module and instead of having a name as being the primary field, I changed it to an auto-number. I didn't realise that all searches would only show this reference.

    • Dynamic Questions in Zoho Forms

      Is it possible to add dynamic questions (like displaying a user’s name) in Zoho Forms? I know this is possible in surveys, but can we implement similar functionality in Zoho Forms?

    • Introducing Zoho MCP for Bigin

      Hello Biginners! We're excited to introduce Zoho MCP for Bigin, a completely new way of interacting with Bigin data using AI. With Zoho MCP, you can securely connect your Bigin account with popular AI tools like Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code,

    • [Action Required] : Update Shopify Access Scope to fetch complete order history

      Hello Shopify Users! Shopify has updated the access scope for apps under developer portal. With this change, the read_orders scope now provides access only to the last 60 days of order history. To access older historical orders, Shopify requires a separate

    • Advance Payment Record Removed When Deleting Applied Credit from Bill

      Hello, So while working with vendor advance payments, I noticed that removing the applied credit from a bill also removes the corresponding entry from the Payments Made section. What I did : Recorded an advance payment to a vendor through Payments Made.

    • How to Connect Zoho Books with e-Way Bill Portal (Step-by-Step Guide)

      Integrating Zoho Books with the e-Way Bill portal helps automate your logistics and compliance process. Follow the steps below to set it up easily: 🚀 How to Connect Zoho Books with e-Way Bill Portal (Step-by-Step Guide) Integrating Zoho Books with the

    • Is there a way to update all the start and end dates of tasks of a project after a calendar change?

      Hi! Here's my situation. I've built a complete project planning. All its tasks have start dates and due dates. After completing the planning, I've realized that the project calendar was not the right one. So I changed the project calendar. I now have

    • Lookup fields can't be used for anything important

      Hi It seems the lookup fields are mostly.... informative, you can at most link stuff between modules... You can't use lookup fields in blueprints, you can't use them in layout rules or anything... It that correct?

    • Zoho Writer Frequently not loading

      I've reported this as a problem already but I can't log into my email right now or get onto the main site so you're going to hear about it again here: at least once a week, Zoho Writer will just refuse to load entirely. The main page will load and load

    • Read Thread Details

      Does anyone know how to "read" the complete thread details in a ticket? I figured out how to pull a summary of the threads using a webhook, but it doesn't have all the details I want. I tried to create a loop in flow, which should have worked, but instead

    • Next Page