Contacts
What you'll learn
- What the Contacts section is and where to find it
- How contacts are created in AutoTalk (manually and automatically)
- How contact records connect to conversations, events, and other features
The Contacts section is your customer database inside AutoTalk. Every person who interacts with your business -- whether they send a WhatsApp message, book an appointment, or are added manually -- is stored as a contact record. Click Contacts in the sidebar to view, organize, and manage your full contact list.
How contacts are created
Contacts enter your database in three ways:
- Automatically from messaging channels — When someone sends a message through a connected channel (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, etc.), AutoTalk automatically creates a contact record using their display name, phone number, or social profile information.
- Manually from the Contacts page — Click the + (Add new) button on the Contacts list page and fill in the contact's details.
- Inline from a conversation — When starting a new conversation, type the contact's name or phone number into the contact picker and choose the "Add" option to create the record on the fly.
What you can do with contacts
- View and edit profiles — Each contact has a detailed profile with contact information, tags, custom attributes, and history
- Organize with tags — Label contacts with tags such as "VIP," "New," or "Follow-up needed" to segment and filter your contact base
- Add custom attributes — Store business-specific data beyond the standard fields, such as membership tier, preferred service, or insurance number
- Track conversation history — See every message exchanged with the contact across all connected channels
- Track appointment history — View past and upcoming events linked to the contact from the calendar
- Update many at once — Use Mass update or Mass delete from the Actions menu to change matching contacts in one operation
- Filter and search — Use the Filter button to find contacts matching specific criteria
- Configure per-contact options — Control settings like whether the AI bot responds to a specific contact
tip
As your contact base grows, use the Filter button to narrow the list -- for example, contacts with a specific tag or contacts who have not been contacted recently.
Next steps
- Adding and editing contacts — Learn how to create and update contact records