Contacts and Users serve separate functions in Fleetio. It is essential to define your needs so that you can make the appropriate choice between new contacts or new users and then add these records as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Contacts
A Contact is a record to store information for any individual whom you either employ or do business with. A contact does NOT have access to the Fleetio account but can be given that access by becoming a User at any point.
A Contact allows you to:
- Store various data about the individual, including the option to upload attachments and photos
- Create a Vehicle Assignment, designating a contact with the Operator type
- Create a labor entry on a Work Order, designating a contact with the Technician type
TIP: Learn how to add and manage contacts in the Contacts Overview. If you want to use a spreadsheet to import contacts, check out the Contact Import Guide.
Users
A User is enabled with the ability to log in and "use" the Fleetio account. These records include all of the same basic information as Contacts, but they are much more powerful.
Some functionality is ONLY available for Users. With a User, you can:
- Provide access to log in to the Fleetio account
- Define the User's Roles & Permissions, controlling various modules and features, such as restricting the ability to view other Users or delete certain data records
- Define the User's Record Sets, giving them access to specific Vehicles, Contacts, and Parts
- Set up the User to receive Email Notifications for watched Vehicles, Inspections, Parts Inventory, and Purchase Orders
- Configure the User for Service Reminders, Vehicle Renewal Reminders, and Contact Renewal Reminders
- Subscribe the User as an email recipient for automatically scheduled Custom Reports
- Enable the user to Submit Inspections
TIP: Learn how to add and manage users in the User Management Overview article.
