Contact Management

Contact Management #

Support Unicorn's Contact Management system helps you organize customer information, track conversation history, and provide personalized support by linking contacts to conversations across all channels.

What Are Contacts? #

Contacts are customer records that store:
- Identity: Name, email, phone number
- Metadata: Custom attributes and tags
- History: All conversations with this customer
- Context: Account type, subscription status, preferences

Contacts enable your team to:
- See complete customer history at a glance
- Provide personalized, context-aware support
- Track returning customers across channels
- Segment customers for targeted communication

Creating Contacts #

Contacts can be created in several ways:

Automatic Creation #

When a customer initiates a conversation and provides identifying information:

Live Chat:
- Customer uses the widget SDK to set user identity
- Automatic creation with email, name, and avatar
javascript
$supportUnicorn('setUser', 'customer@example.com', {
name: 'Jane Doe',
email: 'customer@example.com',
avatar_url: 'https://example.com/avatar.jpg'
});

SMS:
- Phone number automatically becomes the contact identifier
- Created on first message received
- Name added if customer provides it in conversation

WhatsApp:
- WhatsApp profile information used
- Phone number as primary identifier
- Name and avatar from WhatsApp profile

Manual Creation #

Create contacts manually through the dashboard:

  1. Navigate to Contacts in the sidebar
  2. Click "Add Contact"
  3. Fill in contact details:
    • Email (recommended)
    • Phone Number (for SMS/WhatsApp)
    • Name
    • Custom Attributes (optional)
  4. Click "Save Contact"

Bulk Import #

Import existing customer data from CSV:

CSV Format:
csv
email,name,phone,plan,signup_date
john@example.com,John Smith,+15551234567,pro,2024-01-15
jane@example.com,Jane Doe,+15559876543,free,2024-02-20

Import Steps:
1. Go to Contacts → "Import"
2. Upload CSV file
3. Map columns to contact fields
4. Review and confirm import
5. Contacts created in background

Import Validations:
- Email format validation
- Phone number format (E.164)
- Duplicate detection (by email)
- Required fields check

Contact Fields #

Standard Fields #

Required:
- Email or Phone Number (at least one)

Optional:
- Name: Full name or display name
- Phone: E.164 format (+15551234567)
- Avatar URL: Profile picture URL
- Tags: Labels for segmentation
- Notes: Internal team notes

Custom Attributes #

Add any additional data your team needs:

Examples:
- Account ID
- Subscription plan
- Company name
- Signup date
- Customer lifetime value
- Preferred language
- Account manager
- VIP status

Adding Custom Attributes:
javascript
// Via SDK
$supportUnicorn('setCustomAttributes', {
plan: 'enterprise',
account_id: 'acc_123456',
mrr: 999,
account_manager: 'Sarah Johnson'
});

Or manually in the contact details page.

Custom Attribute Types:
- Text strings
- Numbers
- Dates
- Booleans (true/false)
- Arrays (tags, categories)

Linking Contacts to Conversations #

Automatic Linking #

Conversations are automatically linked to contacts when:

By Email:
- Customer provides email in live chat
- Email matches existing contact
- All future conversations auto-linked

By Phone:
- SMS or WhatsApp message received
- Phone number matches contact
- Immediate association

By Session:
- Browser session persists identification
- Return visitor recognized automatically
- Conversation history maintained

Manual Linking #

Link a conversation to a contact after the fact:

  1. Open the conversation details
  2. Click "Link Contact"
  3. Search for contact by email, phone, or name
  4. Select the correct contact
  5. Conversation history merged

Use Cases:
- Customer didn't identify themselves initially
- Multiple contacts matched (disambiguation)
- Conversation created before contact existed

Unlinking Contacts #

Remove the association between a conversation and contact:

  1. Open conversation details
  2. Click "Unlink Contact"
  3. Confirm unlinking

Why Unlink:
- Conversation was linked to wrong contact
- Privacy request (anonymize conversation)
- Testing or spam conversation

Note: Unlinking doesn't delete the conversation or contact, just removes the association.

Contact Details Page #

View comprehensive information about any contact:

Overview Tab #

Identity Section:
- Name and avatar
- Email address
- Phone number(s)
- Tags

Metrics:
- Total conversations
- Active conversations
- Last contact date
- First contact date
- Average response time
- Customer satisfaction score

Conversations Tab #

Complete conversation history:

Filters:
- All channels
- Specific channel (Chat, SMS, WhatsApp)
- Active vs Closed
- Date range

Conversation List:
- Chronological timeline
- Channel indicator
- First message preview
- Duration
- Resolution status
- Link to full conversation

Custom Attributes Tab #

View and edit all custom attributes:

  • Edit existing attributes
  • Add new attributes
  • Delete attributes
  • View attribute history (who changed, when)

Activity Timeline #

Unified timeline of all interactions:

  • Conversations started
  • Messages sent/received
  • Attribute changes
  • Tags added/removed
  • Notes added by team
  • Custom events (integrations)

Notes Tab #

Internal team notes about this contact:

Adding Notes:
- Click "Add Note"
- Write note in rich text editor
- Notes visible to all team members
- Not visible to customer

Use Cases:
- Important context for next interaction
- Customer preferences
- Escalation history
- Special instructions

Find contacts quickly using powerful search:

Search Methods #

Quick Search:
Type in the search bar - searches across:
- Name (fuzzy matching)
- Email (exact and partial)
- Phone number (formatted or unformatted)

Advanced Search:
Filter by multiple criteria:
- Tags
- Custom attributes
- Date range (created, last contact)
- Conversation count
- Channel preference
- Customer satisfaction score

Saved Searches #

Create and save frequently-used searches:

Examples:
- "VIP Customers" (plan = enterprise)
- "Active This Week" (last_contact = last 7 days)
- "Needs Follow-up" (tag = follow_up)
- "High-Value" (ltv > 5000)

Save searches for one-click access.

Contact Segmentation #

Group contacts for targeted actions:

Creating Segments #

Dynamic Segments:
Auto-update based on criteria:
- Plan Upgrades: plan changed to 'pro' in last 30 days
- At Risk: satisfaction < 3 and conversations > 5
- Power Users: conversations > 20

Static Segments:
Manual selection or one-time filter:
- Export contact list
- Bulk tag application
- One-time broadcast

Segment Uses #

Broadcasting:
- Send SMS/WhatsApp to segment
- Announce new features
- Service updates
- Special offers

Team Assignment:
- Route enterprise contacts to senior agents
- Assign accounts by region
- Balance workload

Reporting:
- Satisfaction by segment
- Response time by customer tier
- Conversion rates

Privacy and Data Management #

GDPR Compliance #

Right to Access:
- Customers can request their data
- Export all conversations and attributes
- Provided in JSON or PDF format

Right to Erasure:
- Delete contact and all associated data
- Anonymize conversations (remove PII)
- Cannot be undone

Right to Portability:
- Export customer data
- Machine-readable format
- Includes all conversations and metadata

Data Retention #

Configure retention policies:

Closed Conversations:
- Keep for X days/months/years
- Auto-delete after period
- Legal hold exceptions

Inactive Contacts:
- No conversation in X months
- Auto-archive or delete
- Notification before deletion

Compliance:
- GDPR (EU): Right to erasure
- CCPA (California): Right to deletion
- HIPAA (Healthcare): Special retention rules

Bulk Actions #

Perform actions on multiple contacts:

  1. Search or filter contacts
  2. Select contacts (individual or all)
  3. Choose bulk action:
    • Add tags
    • Remove tags
    • Update custom attribute
    • Export to CSV
    • Delete contacts (with confirmation)

Bulk Action Limits:
- 1,000 contacts per action
- Background processing for large batches
- Email notification when complete

Integrations #

Sync contacts with external systems:

CRM Integration #

Supported CRMs:
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Pipedrive
- Zoho CRM
- Custom via API

Bi-directional Sync:
- Contacts created in Support Unicorn → CRM
- Contacts updated in CRM → Support Unicorn
- Conversation history synced
- Custom fields mapped

Setup:
1. Navigate to Settings → Integrations
2. Select CRM provider
3. Authenticate with CRM
4. Map fields
5. Configure sync direction
6. Test connection

Email Marketing #

Sync contacts with email platforms:

Supported Platforms:
- Mailchimp
- SendGrid
- Customer.io
- Klaviyo

Use Cases:
- Add contacts to mailing lists
- Trigger email sequences based on conversations
- Segment by support interactions
- Unsubscribe management

Customer Data Platforms (CDP) #

Send contact events to CDPs:

Supported CDPs:
- Segment
- RudderStack
- mParticle

Events Sent:
- Contact created
- Conversation started
- Conversation closed
- Satisfaction rating
- Custom events

Best Practices #

Data Quality #

Keep Contacts Clean:
- Merge duplicate contacts
- Standardize phone formats
- Validate email addresses
- Remove test/spam contacts regularly

Regular Audits:
- Monthly: Review top 100 contacts
- Quarterly: Deduplicate entire database
- Annually: Archive inactive contacts

Privacy First #

Collect Minimum Data:
- Only request what you need
- Clear purpose for each field
- Avoid sensitive data (SSN, health, etc.)

Transparent Communication:
- Privacy policy on widget
- Explain data usage
- Easy opt-out/delete process

Team Training #

Teach Team to:
- Check contact history before responding
- Add notes after important conversations
- Update custom attributes when relevant
- Tag contacts appropriately
- Use contact context for personalization

FAQ #

What's the difference between contacts and conversations? #

Contacts are customer records (people). Conversations are individual support interactions. One contact can have many conversations across different channels and time periods.

Can multiple conversations be linked to one contact? #

Yes! This is the power of contact management - you see the complete history of a customer's interactions with your team, regardless of channel or time.

What happens if a customer uses different emails? #

Each email creates a separate contact initially. You can manually merge contacts if you identify they're the same person. Consider asking customers for a unique identifier (account ID) to avoid this.

How do I handle shared emails (info@company.com)? #

Use custom attributes to differentiate:
- Add "company_name" attribute
- Use conversation context to identify specific person
- Consider asking for individual email during conversation

Can I delete a contact without deleting conversations? #

Yes. When you delete a contact, you can choose to:
1. Delete contact and all conversations (permanent)
2. Delete contact but keep conversations (anonymized)
3. Archive contact (soft delete, can restore)

How do I export all contacts? #

Go to Contacts → Click "Export" → Select format (CSV/JSON) → Contacts exported to file. Large exports are processed in background and emailed to you.

Are contacts shared across all AI agents? #

Yes, contacts are organization-level, not agent-specific. All agents and team members see the same contact records and history.