Managing Contacts

Every person who calls or chats with your AI agent becomes a contact. The Contacts page helps you manage your customer database, track conversation history, and organize your leads.

Accessing Contacts

1. Click Contacts in the left menu
2. You'll see your list of all contacts

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Understanding Your Contact List

Each contact card shows:

Field	Description
Name	First and last name (or "Anonymous" if unknown)
Email	Email address if captured
Phone	Phone number if captured
Created	When the contact was first added

How Contacts Are Created

Contacts are automatically created when someone:

• Chats with your website widget
• Calls your AI phone number
• Sends an SMS to your AI phone number
• Is manually added by you or your team
• Is imported from a CSV file

Anonymous Contacts

When someone starts a chat without providing their information, they appear as "Anonymous." During the conversation, your agent may capture their details through the Lead Capture skill — the contact record updates automatically.

For voice calls and SMS messages, contacts are created with the caller's phone number. If the number matches an existing contact, the conversation is linked to that contact.

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Viewing Contact Details

Click any contact to open the detail panel showing:

Basic Information

• Full name
• Phone number
• Email address
• Any custom fields you've configured

Activity Timeline

A chronological record of all interactions with this contact:

• Chat conversations
• Phone calls
• SMS conversations
• Appointments booked
• Notes added

Quick Navigation

Click on any conversation in the timeline to view the full transcript.

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Adding Contacts Manually

You can add contacts before they reach out to you:

1. Click Add Contact button (top right)
2. Fill in their information:
   • First name
   • Last name
   • Phone number
   • Email address
   • Any custom fields
3. Click Add Contact

Duplicate Prevention

If you try to add a contact with a phone number or email that already exists, you'll be prompted to view the existing contact instead.

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Editing Contact Information

To update a contact:

1. Click on the contact to open details
2. Click the Edit button
3. Update any fields
4. Click Save Changes

Common reasons to edit

• Correcting a misspelled name
• Adding an email address captured later
• Updating a changed phone number
• Adding notes about the customer
• Filling in custom field data

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Searching Contacts

Use the search bar to find contacts by:

• First or last name
• Phone number
• Email address

Search Tips

• Phone searches work with or without formatting (e.g., "5551234567" or "(555) 123-4567")
• Partial matches work for names and email addresses
• Search is case-insensitive

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Filtering Contacts

Click the Filters button to narrow your list:

Date Filter

Filter by when the contact was created:

Quick Presets:

• Last 7 days
• Last 30 days
• Last 90 days

Custom Range:

1. Click "Custom"
2. Select start and end dates

Sort Order

Choose how to sort your contacts:

• Newest First — Most recently created at top
• Oldest First — Oldest contacts at top

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Selecting Multiple Contacts

You can select multiple contacts for bulk actions:

1. Click the checkbox next to any contact
2. Or use "Select all" to select everyone on the current page
3. A purple bar appears showing your selection count

Bulk Actions

Action	Description
Delete	Permanently remove selected contacts
Merge	Combine two contacts into one (only when exactly 2 selected)

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Merging Duplicate Contacts

Sometimes the same person creates multiple contacts (e.g., called from different numbers, chatted anonymously then provided info later).

To merge duplicates:

1. Select exactly 2 contacts you want to merge
2. Click the Merge button
3. Choose which information to keep for each field
4. Confirm the merge

After Merging

• All conversation history from both contacts is combined
• The merged contact appears with the data you selected
• The duplicate contact is automatically deleted

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Importing Contacts

Have an existing customer list? Import it via CSV:

1. Click Import button (top right)
2. Upload a CSV file
3. Map your CSV columns to contact fields:
   • First Name
   • Last Name
   • Email
   • Phone
   • Any custom fields
4. Review the preview
5. Click Import

CSV Format Tips

Recommended columns:

first_name,last_name,email,phone
John,Smith,john@example.com,+15551234567
Jane,Doe,jane@example.com,+15559876543

Phone number formats:

• Include country code when possible (+1 for US/Canada)
• Various formats accepted: +15551234567, (555) 123-4567, 555-123-4567

Handling duplicates:

• Contacts with matching email or phone are skipped by default
• You can choose to update existing contacts instead

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Deleting Contacts

To remove contacts:

1. Select one or more contacts using the checkboxes
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm the deletion

Permanent Action

Deleting a contact removes their profile information. Conversation history may be retained separately for compliance purposes.

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Custom Fields

Custom fields let you track additional information about contacts beyond the standard name, email, and phone fields.

Setting Up Custom Fields

1. Go to Settings → Custom Fields
2. Click Add Field
3. Configure the field:

Setting	Description
Name	Display name for the field
Type	Data type (see options below)
Required	Whether the field must have a value
Options	For dropdown/multiselect types

Available Field Types

Type	Use Case
Text	Short text, names, notes
Number	Quantities, scores, IDs
Email	Additional email addresses
Phone	Additional phone numbers
Date	Birthdays, signup dates
Yes/No	Boolean flags (VIP, verified, etc.)
URL	Website links, social profiles
Dropdown	Single selection from options
Multiselect	Multiple selections from options

Example Custom Fields

Field Name	Type	Example Use
Service Interested In	Dropdown	Track which service they inquired about
Preferred Contact Time	Text	"Morning", "After 5pm", etc.
Lead Source	Dropdown	"Website", "Referral", "Google Ads"
Notes	Text	Special requests or information
VIP Customer	Yes/No	Flag for special treatment
Budget	Number	Estimated project budget

Using Custom Fields in Lead Capture

Your AI agents can capture custom field data during conversations. When configuring the Lead Capture skill:

1. Select which custom fields to collect
2. Add prompts for how the agent should ask for the information
3. The data automatically populates the contact record

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Privacy and Data

Your Responsibilities

When collecting customer information:

• Only collect what you need for your business
• Keep data secure and up to date
• Honor deletion requests promptly
• Follow applicable privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)

Data from Conversations

Information captured by your AI agents goes directly into contact records. You can:

• Edit any data as needed
• Delete contacts upon request
• Export data for customers who request it (contact support)

Right to Deletion

If a customer requests their data be deleted, remove their contact and any associated conversations. Keep a record that you fulfilled the request.

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Common Questions

How do I export my contacts?

Currently, contacts are viewed in the dashboard. For bulk export needs, contact support@needtheo.com.

What if someone calls from a blocked number?

The contact is created without a phone number. If the agent captures their name during the call, that information is saved. Otherwise, the contact may appear as "Anonymous" with no identifier.

Can I organize contacts into groups?

Use custom fields with dropdown options to categorize contacts. For example:

• Create a "Status" field with options: "Lead", "Customer", "Former Customer"
• Create a "Category" field with your service types
• Use filters to find contacts by these values

How many contacts can I have?

There's no limit to the number of contacts in your account.

What happens to a contact's data when I delete them?

Deleting a contact removes their profile information (name, email, phone, custom fields). Conversation transcripts may be retained separately for compliance and analytics purposes, but they will no longer be linked to an identifiable person.

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Need Help?

• Check our Troubleshooting Guide
• Email support@needtheo.com