# Contacts
| Item | Content |
|—|—|
| Suitable for | Agents, Administrators |
| Menu location | Left **Contacts** |
| Plan-dependent | Total number of contacts is subject to quota limits; import and company features may require separate activation |
Contacts are customer profiles in Chatips. Whether they get in touch via the website, email, or WhatsApp, they are grouped under the same contact wherever possible, making it easy to view their history.
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## 1. Lists and Filtering
| Entry point | Description |
|—|—|
| All contacts | All workspace files (subject to your permissions and quota list) |
| Active | Contacts with recent interactions |
| Segments | Saved contact filters, similar to conversation ‘folders’ |
| By tag | Contacts with a specific tag |
Filter by email, phone number, name, custom attributes, and tags. The list supports sorting and pagination.
Each contact entry typically displays: Name, Email, Phone, Channel Identity, Last Active Time.
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## 2. How contacts are created
| Source | Description |
|—|—|
| Customer sends a message | Automatically created upon inbound contact via website widgets, instant messaging, email, etc. |
| Manually created by agent | “Create” on Contacts page |
| Import | “Settings → Data” or the import entry point on the Contacts page, see [Data Import](./30-data-import) |
| API / Integration | Push from your business system |
Within the workspace, **email, phone number, and external identifier** must be unique to prevent two records from competing for the same email address.
In terms of type, these may be categorised as Visitors / Leads / Customers (subject to the interface fields), used for operational segmentation.
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## 3. Contact Details
After opening Contacts, you will see:
– **Basic details**: Name, email, phone, company (if [Company](.6-companies) is enabled), avatar
– **Social profiles**: Facebook, Twitter/X, GitHub, etc. (manually entered or channel-synced)
– **Custom attributes**: Membership number, plan name, etc., with fields defined in [Custom Attributes](.17-custom-attributes)
– **Tags**
– **Notes**: Internal memo, not visible to customers
– **Conversation list**: Past conversations across all channels, which can be clicked to open
– **Merge**: Combine duplicate files into one
Clicking the contact’s name on the right-hand side of the conversation will also take you to the same details (or a compact sidebar version).
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## 4. Identifying Website Visitors (HMAC)
By default, the website widget treats logged-out visitors as anonymous guests. If you want **logged-in users to automatically match the same person in your CRM**, you need to set up identity verification (HMAC) on your website according to the Chatips documentation: signed by your backend and passed to the widget. Once configured correctly, this contact will be displayed as verified.
Without HMAC, the same person clearing their cookies may become a new visitor. This is a common occurrence on website channels, not a fault.
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## 5. Merge contacts
When the same person has two profiles (for example, chatting anonymously first, then leaving an email address later):
1. Open the primary contact you want to keep.
2. Use **Merge**.
3. Search for and select another record.
4. Once confirmed, conversations and identities will be assigned to the primary contact, and merged profiles will no longer be used separately.
Before merging, please confirm that the email / phone number has not been mixed up. Merging usually cannot easily be undone.
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## 6. Blocking and Muting
**Muting** a contact in a conversation resolves the current conversation and blocks the contact: subsequent inbound messages **will not automatically reopen** it. Used for harassment and abuse.
Unblock: Go to the contact’s profile to unblock them (if available in the interface), or contact an administrator to handle it according to your process.
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## 7. Import / Export
– **Export**: You can export the current filter results under More Actions in Contacts (fields are subject to those provided by the system).
– **Import**: Administrators use [Data Import](./30-data-import). Please note the contact quota; exceeding it will result in failure.
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## 8. Paragraphing
Once you have configured your filters (e.g. Tag = VIP and attribute ‘Plan’ = Annual), save them as a segment to appear in the sidebar. Ideal for routine follow-up lists for operations. Segments are dynamic views, so if tags change, the list updates automatically.
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## 9. Frequently Asked Questions
**Why are there two entries for the same customer?**
Different email addresses / phone numbers were used across different channels, or the website did not recognise user identities. Use the merge feature to combine them.
**Creation failed?**
The email address or phone number conflicts with an existing contact, or the contact limit has been reached. Go to [Billing and Usage](./26-billing-and-usage) to view.
**No IP location?**
This feature is disabled by default and requires the corresponding function to be turned on in the workspace. As this involves privacy, please decide whether to enable it in accordance with your compliance requirements.
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## Related documents
– [Session Workbench](./3-conversation-workbench)
– [Company](./6-companies)
– [Custom Properties](./117-custom-attributes)
– [Data Import](./30-data-import)