> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.openiam.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.openiam.com/end-user-guide-for-selfservice/directory-lookup.md).

# Directory lookup

Find colleagues and see their contact details and place in the organization.

**Directory Lookup** is the company directory: search for a colleague and see their contact details and where they sit in the organization.

Open it from **Main → Directory Lookup**. The page is headed **Directory Lookup**, with *Search the organisation directory to find colleagues and their contact information* beneath it.

## Finding someone

<figure><img src="https://2965242200-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F0uHWHRgcad6P03ehqgmX%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-094ed789068dff13561918eac3e4f45a0888f025%2Fselfservice-directory-lookup-01-search.png?alt=media" alt="The Directory Lookup search form with its default fields, several added fields, and the row of chips for adding more"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Four search boxes are shown by default:

* **Last Name**
* **Email Address**
* **Principal** — their login name
* **Employee ID**

Fill in one and choose **Search**. Partial input is usually enough — part of a surname will do. **Reset** clears everything and starts again.

## Narrowing a wide search

Below the boxes is a row of chips, each adding another field to search on:

**First Name · Maiden Name · Nickname · User Status · Account Status · Employee Type · User Type · Job Code · Extended attributes · Application · Role · Group · Organization**

Click one and it becomes another box you can fill in. Add two or three when a common surname returns too many people.

The last four are more powerful than they look. Searching by **Application**, **Role**, **Group**, or **Organization** finds *everyone who has that thing* — so you can answer "who else is in this group?" or "who else holds this role?" without going near an administrator.

{% hint style="info" %}
That makes the directory useful for more than contact details. Before requesting unusual access, searching by role tells you who already has it — and that person is usually the right one to ask whether you need it at all.
{% endhint %}

## What you see

Your organization chooses which columns appear, so directories differ between companies. Typically you get name, job title, department, email, and phone.

Opening a person shows their fuller profile — their manager, their team, and the people who report to them. That makes the directory useful for more than contact details: it is how you work out who to ask about something, or who approves a request in a department you don't work in.

Some organizations disable the detail view and show only search results. If clicking a person does nothing, that is a deliberate configuration choice.

## Reading a profile

The profile is headed **User:** followed by the person's name, and is laid out in sections you open and close by clicking their headings. **User Information** is open when the page loads; the rest open when you click them, and each loads its details the first time you do. Your organization chooses which sections appear, so you may see only some of these:

* **User Information** and **Organization Information** — name, job title, employee type, cost center, and similar details.
* **Organizations** — the departments and other organizations the person belongs to.
* **Emails**, **Addresses**, and **Phones** — their contact details. Your organization may limit these to the entries the person has chosen to publish.
* **Out-of-Office Delegate** — shown only when the person has named someone to cover for them, with that person's phones and emails.
* **Supervisors** — the people they report to. Click the eye icon on a supervisor's row to see that supervisor's phones and emails, then **Switch View** to return to the list.
* **Subordinates** — everyone below them in the reporting line. **Switch View** turns the list into a reporting tree that starts with this person; click the arrow beside anyone in the tree to show the people who report directly to them.

**Back to Search** returns you to the directory search.

If the page says no user was found, the person either doesn't exist or is outside the part of the directory you are allowed to see.

## What you can't see

The directory shows business contact information, not everything OpenIAM holds. You won't see other people's access, their security questions, their devices, or their personal details.

Your organization may also narrow the directory so you can only see part of it — your own division, for example. If someone you know exists isn't found, this may be why rather than an error.

## Keeping your own entry right

Everything shown about you comes from your profile. If your entry is wrong or out of date, correct it in [Your profile](/end-user-guide-for-selfservice/your-profile.md) — or, for fields you can't edit yourself, ask HR to correct the source.

{% hint style="info" %}
Your photo appears here too. Adding one makes you easier to recognise for colleagues who have only ever met you on a call — see [Your profile picture](/end-user-guide-for-selfservice/your-profile/profile-picture.md).
{% endhint %}

## Browsing organizations, roles, and resources

Alongside the people directory, your portal may offer **Directory → Organizations**, **Roles**, and **Resources**. These let you browse the structures themselves rather than the people in them: which departments exist, which roles are defined, which applications are registered.

Most people never need these. They're useful when you're trying to work out the right name for something before requesting it.


---

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