 The Addresses Tab and most of the remaining Tabs, are usually displayed for both Organisations and People. The Addresses Tab enables you to hold an unlimited number of addresses for anyone in the system, and keep track of who else shares the same address by recognising an Address from its Phone Number. This is extremely useful in preventing duplicate entries in your database, as the system automatically shows you everyone with the same telephone number every time you add someone new to the system. In GEM Organisations and People do not have their own address. They share Addresses with each other – as that’s what happens in the ‘Real- World’. This is why changing any details of an Address record automatically affects everyone who has that Address. This is perhaps the hardest concept to get used to - because we are all so used to thinking about someone having a Name an Address and a Phone Number. In the real-world however an Address can be shared by many Organisations and/or People, and it is the Address that has a Phone Number and perhaps Postal Address details. So this is the way GEM models the situation. (What happens if someone leaves home? You remove them from their old Address and into their new Address!) You can also have several Address records in the same building, with the same physical address – but with different phone numbers and postal address details. Similarly you can have several Organisations, each with their own physical address and local phone number, sharing the same nation-wide 0800 or other country-wide dialling number. |
