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.
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 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
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
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:
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.
Last updated
Was this helpful?