Managing contact profiles

Open a profile

• Click Contacts and then a contact. Search contacts... finds contacts by name, email or phone.
• In a conversation, click the icon next to the contact's name (Open contact in new tab).
• In the iPhone and Android app, open the Contacts tab (see below).

What the profile shows

• Contact details: name, email, phone, city, country, bio, company and social links. If your role may manage contacts, the box is called Edit contact details, and you save changes with Update contact.
• Attributes: the custom attributes of the contact. See Custom attributes for contacts.
• Chat History: the contact's 20 most recent conversations on every channel, email, live chat, WhatsApp and the rest, as far as you are allowed to see them. Click one to open the full thread with its private notes, so nobody has to ask the customer to repeat themselves.
• Orders: shows when the contact has orders from a connected store.
• Notes: internal notes about the customer, for example preferences the next agent should know. Type in Add a note... and click Save note. Customers never see them. See Contact notes and history.
• Merge: combine this contact with a duplicate (see below).

Add a contact yourself

1. Go to Contacts and click Add contact.
2. Fill in what you know. At least a name or an email is required, everything else is optional.
3. Click Create contact. If a contact with that email already exists, Deskwoot says "A contact with this email already exists." and offers Open the contact.

Add contact only shows if your role has Manage contacts (create, edit). When this person later emails you from that address, the email lands on this contact.

Merge duplicate contacts

The same person can end up as two contacts, for example when they email you and later write on WhatsApp. Merging moves the other contact's conversations, notes, segments, addresses and orders to the contact you keep and then deletes the other contact. The contact you keep keeps its own details: only empty fields such as email, phone, name or company are filled in from the other contact, and a second email address is kept as an extra address. Custom attributes are not copied over, so write down any values you still need from the other contact first. Merging can't be undone, so check first that both profiles really belong to the same person.

• From a profile: open Merge, find the duplicate with Search for contact to merge and select it, click Merge contact and confirm with Merge. The profile you are on is the Primary contact and is kept (To be saved), the other one is marked To be deleted.
• From the list: tick 2 or more contacts in Contacts, click Merge Contacts and pick the contact to keep.

Merging needs Manage contacts (create, edit), which the standard Agent role has.

Block a contact

Click Block contact on the profile. New messages from them are dropped on every channel without a reply, and their live chat closes. Their conversations stay as they are. Unblock undoes it. Blocking needs Manage contacts (create, edit) as well.

Delete a contact

Delete contact at the bottom of the profile deletes the contact and all linked conversations for good. This can't be undone. Only administrators and roles with Delete contacts see the button, the standard Agent role does not. If you only want to clean up a duplicate, merge instead.

Custom attributes, segments and import

• On the Business and Enterprise plans, administrators add their own fields in Settings > Custom Attributes. They show on the Attributes tab of every profile, where anyone with Manage contacts (create, edit) can fill them in.
• Segments group contacts in the list. Tick contacts and click Add to Segment. Creating new segments needs the Business or Enterprise plan. See Creating smart segments.
• To bring in many contacts at once, an administrator uses Settings > Import & Migration. See Importing contacts.

Contacts in the iPhone and Android app

The Contacts tab lists every contact from A to Z. Search by name, email or phone with Search contacts..., and pull down to refresh. Tap a contact to see:

• Contact Info: phone (tap to call), job title, company, website, LinkedIn, address, notes and when the contact was created
• Details: the custom attributes, read only
• Notes: the contact's notes. Write in Add a note... and tap Add.
• Recent Conversations: the last 5 conversations of the contact, whatever their status. Tap one to open it.

To create a contact, tap + at the top right. New contact has the sections Basics (name, email, phone), Work (job title, company, website, LinkedIn), Address and Notes. Add more addresses with + Add another email and + Add another phone. A name or an email is required. Tap Create contact.

To change a contact, tap Edit on the profile. Edit contact has the same fields, and Change photo picks a picture from your photo library. Tap Save changes. The Notes field in the form is a short text shown under Contact Info. The notes you add on the profile are a separate list with a date.

Creating, editing and adding notes need Manage contacts (create, edit). Without it, +, Edit and the note field don't show. To block a contact in the app, open one of their conversations, go to the Details tab and tap Block.

Web only: deleting and merging contacts, editing custom attributes, starting a conversation from the profile (Send message), segments and import.

Tips

• Fill in missing details early. A contact created automatically often has only an email or a phone number.
• Use one format for phone numbers and company names, so search finds what you look for.
• Store only what support needs, and remove data when a customer asks for it.

Frequently asked questions

How are contacts created?

Automatically, when someone new writes to you. An email from an address Deskwoot already knows lands on the existing contact. You can also create contacts yourself with Add contact on the web or + in the app, for example for leads before they reach out.

What if the same person writes from two channels?

They can end up as two contacts, because an email address, a chat visitor and a phone number are different identifiers. Merge the two profiles, and all conversations are under one contact.

Are contacts shared across inboxes?

Yes. Contacts belong to the workspace, so everyone sees and updates the same profile, whichever inbox the conversation came through.

Can I add my own fields beyond name, email and phone?

Yes, on the Business and Enterprise plans. An administrator adds them in Settings > Custom Attributes, and they show on the Attributes tab. See Custom attributes for contacts.

How do I delete a contact?

Open the profile on the web and click Delete contact at the bottom. This also deletes all linked conversations and can't be undone. You need to be an administrator or have Delete contacts in your role. The iPhone and Android app can't delete contacts.

Can customers view their own profile?

No. The profile is only for your team. If a customer asks for a copy of their data or for its deletion, an administrator handles it in Settings > Data Subject Requests.

What happens to contacts when an agent leaves?

Nothing changes on the contact. When you remove an agent, their conversations stay with the contacts and become unassigned.

Can I manage contacts in the iPhone and Android app?

Yes. You can search, create and edit contacts, change their photo and add notes. Deleting, merging and editing custom attributes are only on the web.