Contacts

What Is a Contact?

A Contact is one of MaiAgent's core features, functioning like an enterprise's "customer card file." It allows businesses to create a dedicated identity profile for each customer, ensuring a personalized service experience in every conversation.

Simple explanation:

A contact is like a "customer data card" that records the customer's identity and permissions. When a customer visits, the AI Assistant uses this data card to determine what services and content to provide.

Identity recognition example

Imagine when a customer interacts with you through a website chatroom, the system can immediately identify "This is Mr. Zhang, he is a VIP member" or "This is a new visitor, only partial documents should be accessible," and provide the corresponding service content and permissions accordingly.

Why Do You Need the Contact Feature?

Personalized Service Experience

Every customer has unique needs and backgrounds. The contact feature enables the AI Assistant to:

• Remember conversation history with the customer

• Provide appropriate information based on the customer's identity

• Avoid repeatedly asking for already known information

Precise Permission Management

Different customers should see different content:

• VIP members can view exclusive offers

• Regular members see standard service content

• Visitors can only access public information

Data Security Protection

• Ensure customers can only access their own data, preventing information leaks.

How Do Contacts Work?

When a user opens a conversation, the conversation request is sent to the enterprise's internal system for processing, which determines whether existing member information is available. Based on this determination, the system finds or creates a contact (anonymous or non-anonymous). Regardless of the path taken, a personalized conversation is ultimately initiated, ensuring every user receives an appropriate personalized experience.

Contact workflow diagram

Contact workflow diagram

Contact Type Descriptions

MaiAgent's contact system is divided into two types based on user identity recognition methods:

Simple explanation:

• Anonymous contact = A visitor who has not logged in; the system does not know who they are

• Non-anonymous contact = A logged-in member; the system knows their identity and data

Contact Type Comparison Table

Item	Anonymous Contact	Non-Anonymous Contact
Applicable Scenario	A visitor entering directly from the web who has not logged into the enterprise's member system, so there is no account to retrieve user data from	A logged-in member or a user entering through another platform account (such as Facebook, LINE, etc.), where the system can obtain the user's name and account information
Identity Recognition	Unable to obtain specific personal information	Has clear identity information (e.g., name, profile picture, etc.)
System Setting	Set as "Anonymous" within the MaiAgent system	The original member account ID is converted into a Source ID
Permission Management	Knowledge base document permissions, conversation platform management	Same as anonymous
Data Mapping	No Source ID, cannot be mapped to enterprise member data	Uses the Source ID to ensure the contact maps to the correct user each time
Creation Method	If a visitor (without member identity) enters, a new anonymous contact is automatically created for each conversation	The system automatically creates or updates contacts based on member login information via the MaiAgent API For detailed integration instructions, see: Technical Manual — Contact Introduction and Integration
Record Mechanism	The system records the user's conversation history based on cache	Maintains conversation continuity through Source ID and contact mapping

Importance of Source ID

The Source ID is the key bridge connecting MaiAgent contacts with the enterprise's member system. When users interact with the enterprise through different channels (website, app, social platforms), the system can correctly identify the user's identity through the Source ID, ensuring conversation continuity and a personalized experience.

Simple explanation: The Source ID is like a "membership number" that lets the system recognize the same customer across different platforms.

Setting Up Contacts

Anonymous Users

When a user creates a new conversation, the system automatically creates a new anonymous user in the backend (each conversation creates one anonymous user) ⬇️

This includes information such as Contact ID, conversation platform records, creation time, etc.

You can click edit to manually edit anonymous contact information:

Through editing, you can:

• Link member information: Enter a Source ID to link an anonymous contact to member data

• Update permission levels: Expand or restrict the scope of document access

• Add basic information such as customer name and contact details

Non-Anonymous Users

If both the login feature and data collection form are enabled for Web Chat, the information entered by logged-in users is associated with their login accounts, so they do not need to complete the form again on another device. See Web Chat Overview: Data Collection (Pre-chat Form) for details.

When a user enters through another conversation platform (e.g., LINE, FB Messenger, Telegram):

The backend automatically creates a corresponding non-anonymous user based on the FB user information (including Source ID, contact name, profile picture, etc.):

You can still click the edit button to edit non-anonymous contact information.

Through editing, you can:

Complete and correct data

• Correct incorrect query metadata settings (update access scope based on permissions)

• Modify the internal Source ID to link the correct contact information with member information

Contacts rely on Source IDs for mapping. When editing, ensure the Source ID is synchronized with the enterprise's internal system; otherwise, it may cause data mapping errors during subsequent synchronization with internal enterprise information.

Adding a Contact

The add contact feature is primarily used to proactively create customer profiles with preset permissions. If you have not specified a permission scope in Web Chat, you can create contacts in advance to complete permission configuration and service preparation before customers actually initiate a conversation.

To specify a permission scope using a JavaScript script during Web Chat initialization, see: Technical Manual: Getting Started — Using JSON Format

Core Feature Description

By manually creating a contact, system administrators can pre-create user profiles with specific identities in the customer service system and configure corresponding Query Metadata permissions. When these pre-created contacts later interact through a designated conversation platform, the system uses the Source ID automatic matching mechanism to immediately apply the preset permission level, ensuring they can access data content appropriate for their identity.

Simple explanation:

Think of it as "preparing customer permission settings in advance." When this customer visits for the first time, the system already knows what data they can and cannot access.

You can click Add Contact to enter the editing page and add information:

On the page, you can add contact name, specify conversation platform, and other information:

Bulk Import Contacts

When you need to create or update a large number of contacts at once, you can preview the estimated counts and inbox assignments before confirming the import. The preview does not write any data; the import runs only after you click Confirm Import.

Use Case

A customer service manager needs to import a campaign contact list. Some existing contacts are already assigned to the after-sales service conversation platform. She selects Merge, uploads the completed template, reviews the estimated numbers of contacts to be created and updated, and then confirms the import. Existing after-sales service assignments are preserved, while the campaign conversation platform selected for this import is added, preventing existing associations from being overwritten in bulk.

Prepare the Import File

Use the Excel template (.xlsx) downloaded from the window. The file must be smaller than 10 MB and contain no more than 10,000 rows. Name, Email, and Source ID are required; Phone Number is optional.

The system matches contacts using Source ID and Email; email matching is case-insensitive. If an existing contact is found, the name and phone number are updated. If the same matching data appears more than once in a file, only the first entry is used.

Import and Preview

1

Go to Contacts, click Bulk Import, and download the template from the Bulk Import Contacts window.

2

Select at least one Conversation Platform and set the Inbox Assignment mode:

• Replace (default): The platforms selected for this import become the complete conversation platform list for these contacts. Existing associations that are not selected are removed.

• Merge: Existing associations are preserved, and the conversation platforms selected for this import are added.

3

Upload the completed .xlsx file and click Preview Import.

4

In Import Preview, review the estimated numbers under "To Be Created" and "To Be Updated," along with the file name, conversation platforms, and assignment mode. To make changes, click Back to Edit. When everything is correct, click Confirm Import.

Before selecting Replace, make sure you have selected every conversation platform you want to keep. If you only want to add conversation platforms to existing contacts, select Merge instead.

If the preview shows no data that can be created or updated, go back and check the template contents. If the import fails, the system retains the settings screen and displays an error. Correct the file and preview it again.

Permission Management

Based on enterprise needs, you can use query metadata to restrict the scope of documents available to different contacts. For example:

Restrict by Membership Tier

• VIP members: Can query all knowledge bases, advanced FAQ, and product technical documents

• Regular members: Can only query basic FAQ and product user manuals

• Guest users: Can only query public FAQ and basic product introductions

Restrict by Department

• Internal employees: Can query internal operation manuals, system maintenance documents, and complete product data

• Distributors: Can query product specifications, price lists, and sales data

• General customers: Limited to querying user guides, FAQ, and warranty information

Restrict by Product Tags

• Enterprise edition users: Can query documents tagged with "Enterprise Features" and "Advanced Settings"

• Personal edition users: Can only query documents tagged with "Basic Features" and "Personal Use"

• Trial users: Can only query content tagged with "Trial Instructions" and "Getting Started Guide"

To learn more about query metadata, see: Knowledge Management Permissions: Query Metadata

When setting query metadata for a contact, the system only authorizes you to configure settings based on the knowledge base of your specified conversation platform. If you attempt to configure settings for another conversation platform's knowledge base, the following warning message appears:

Automation Integration

For technical teams, MaiAgent also provides API endpoints for seamless integration with existing enterprise systems.

For details, see: Technical Manual — Contact Introduction and Integration

Regardless of enterprise size, the contact feature helps you deliver a better customer service experience while ensuring data security and operational efficiency. Through the classified management of anonymous and non-anonymous contacts, the precise mapping mechanism of Source IDs, and flexible creation methods, enterprises can provide the most suitable service experience for different types of users and be fully prepared before customer interactions begin.