How do I collect customer contact details?

13 min readGuide reference date: October 14, 2026.View original in Notion ↗

1. Introduction

Sidetalk can collect customer information during chat, including names, email addresses, and mobile phone numbers.

Use the collected information to identify customers or contact them after a conversation. You can review it in Customer Contacts in the Sidetalk dashboard.

You can collect customer contact details in the Sidetalk chat window. (Example)

2. Configure customer contact collection

Go to the following menu in the Sidetalk dashboard.

Sidetalk Dashboard → AI Chatbot Settings → Customer Contact Collection

Show the form when chat starts

Choose whether to show the contact form when a customer starts chatting.

Do not show
Do not show the customer contact form when chat starts.
Show when chat starts
Show the customer contact form when the customer opens the chat window and starts a conversation.

After changing the settings, click Update at the bottom of the page to save.

3. Show the form when no suitable answer is available

You can configure the customer contact form to appear when the AI cannot find a suitable answer.

Go to the following menu.

Sidetalk Dashboard → AI Chatbot Settings → General

Select the following option under Handling Missing Information.

Show customer contact form

With this option, the contact form can appear when the AI cannot find a suitable answer in the registered knowledge.

This works separately from the Show Form When Chat Starts setting in Customer Contact Collection.

4. Configure collection fields

In Customer Contact Collection, configure the fields customers will fill in.

The following fields are available by default.

Name
Email
Mobile phone number

Each field offers the following settings.

Field name

The name shown in the customer’s form.

Change it to suit your service, such as Full Name, Email Address, or Contact Number.

Visibility

Choose whether to show the field in the customer contact form.

Hidden fields do not appear in the customer’s form.

Required

Require the customer to fill in this field when submitting the form.

Customers can submit the form without filling in fields that are not required.

When configuration is complete, click Update to save.

5. Add custom fields

Add other customer information you need beyond name, email, and mobile phone number.

Click Add Custom Field in Customer Contact Collection.

For example, you can add the following information.

Company name
Department
Inquiry type
Product of interest
Preferred reservation date
Customer tier

Enter the following information for each custom field.

Field name

The field name shown in the customer form.

Example:

Company name
Inquiry type
Product of interest

Field key

A unique value used to store and identify the collected information.

Use lowercase English letters, numbers, and underscores (_).

Example:

company_name
inquiry_type
interested_product

Do not reuse another field’s key. Each field key must be unique.

Field type

Choose a type appropriate for the information you collect.

text: a short, ordinary text entry
email: an email address
tel: a phone number
number: a number
textarea: a long text entry
select: choose one predefined option

For a select field, also enter the options the customer can choose.

Example:

Product inquiry
Billing inquiry
Technical support
Other inquiry

6. Review collected customer contacts

Find contact details entered by customers in the following menu.

Sidetalk Dashboard → Customer Contacts

Customer Contacts shows the following information.

Customer name
Email
Mobile phone number
Additional customer information
Customer notes
Features used
Latest activity and related records

Search or filter customers by the following criteria.

Whether an email or mobile number is available
Chat history
Agent handoff
Reservation history
Forms and tables
Customer information link
External API

Edit customer information or add customer notes as needed.

7. Link WordPress members

With the Sidetalk plugin for WordPress, information about signed-in WordPress members can be linked to Sidetalk customer information.

If signed-in member information is not registered automatically, check the following.

Whether the Sidetalk plugin is active
SITE KEY and SIGN KEY settings
Member information integration settings
Customer contact collection field settings
Compatibility with your WordPress membership plugin

[Reference manual]

How do I install Sidetalk on my website?

8. Notes

Fields with visibility turned off do not appear in the customer form.
Customers cannot submit the form if required fields are empty.
An email address or mobile number must be collected to send email or SMS notifications after a conversation.
SMS notifications may require Solapi integration.
Collect only necessary information, and state the purpose of collection and retention criteria in your privacy policy.