# Contact matching Recognise existing contacts using email, mobile and account identities within your website. *Release 3.3 · developer, operator, visitor* **Settings › General Settings › Salesforce** ## What it is Contact matching helps INSIDE recognise an existing customer when identifying information arrives. It checks email addresses, mobile numbers and account identities within the same website. A match can associate a visitor with an existing contact or require an operator to review competing contacts. ## Who uses it and why - Operators see saved contact information when INSIDE recognises a visitor. - Developers supply consistent customer identities through the website integration. - Visitors can provide identifying information through website membership or configured forms. ## Where to find it Matching happens automatically as identifying information is supplied. Operators see the result in **Contact Information** and the **Visitor** tab. Salesforce account matching is configured through **Settings › General Settings › Salesforce** by Powerfront. ## How it works INSIDE compares the supplied identities with saved contact values for the current website. Both primary and alternate identifying values can contribute to a match. A customer's name and ordinary phone field are profile details, not matching identities. Whether INSIDE links automatically depends on the origin of the information, verification and any existing association or conflict. An email matching one contact and a mobile matching another can produce a conflict. A match is therefore not a guarantee that two contacts will merge. With **Merge Visitors with same Salesforce Account** enabled, a supplied account identity takes precedence over email and mobile matching. When no account is supplied in this mode, contacts already identified by an account are excluded from the email or mobile candidates. ## Configure it Keep identifying information consistent in your website integration and pre-chat forms. Ask Powerfront to configure **Merge Visitors with same Salesforce Account** if your Salesforce set-up needs account-based grouping. The standard setting is off. There is no separate operator switch for the trust and verification rules applied to each submission. ### Settings | Setting | Where | Applies to | Default | Who can change it | What it does | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Merge Visitors with same Salesforce Account | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Off | Powerfront, on request | Give a supplied Salesforce account identity precedence when matching visitors to contacts. | ## Limits and good to know - Matching stays within a website; it does not provide an account-wide customer directory across websites. - Contacts recorded as deleted for privacy purposes are excluded. - A shared email address or mobile number can produce competing candidates. Confirm the person before merging contacts. - Changing a customer's identity during a session has additional safeguards to avoid reusing the previous person's details. - Mobile and ordinary phone fields serve different purposes. Put a matching mobile number in the mobile field. ## Depends on and works with ### This feature uses - **Requires** [Customer contact details](CRM-001.md): Matching associates a visitor with a contact profile. - **Configured in** [Salesforce connection and operator setup](CRM-010.md): The Salesforce connection can enable account-based matching. - **Works better with** [Visitor data mapping for customer identity](CRM-002.md): Website member information supplies identities and handles replacement customers. - **Works better with** [Contact merge preview and assignment](CRM-004.md): Conflicting matches can be reviewed and resolved by an operator. - **Works better with** [Pre-chat survey for visitors](VX-008.md): Pre-chat forms can supply identifying information. - **Related** [Customer data deletion and recovery](SEC-019.md): Contacts deleted for privacy purposes are excluded from contact matching. ### Used by - **Required by** [Incoming email and ticket replies](CHN-025.md): Incoming senders are matched to customer contacts by their email identity. - **Enhances** [Visitor search and filters](VIS-013.md): Contact matching lets searches group visitor records associated with the same customer. - **Enhances** [Taking and pinning conversations](CHAT-011.md): Contact matching supports same-contact assignment behaviour. - **Enhances** [Conversation history and search](CHAT-024.md): Linked contact identity can bring together conversations from multiple visitors. - **Enhances** [Pre-chat survey for visitors](VX-008.md): Submitted contact details can help identify or match a contact. - **Enhances** [Existing answers in Virtual Assistant tasks](ENG-013.md): Contact matching can make saved answers available through the matched identity. - **Enhances** [AI resolution and first-contact metrics](AI-030.md): Identified customer records can support looking up earlier conversations. - **Enhances** [Store customer matches and orders](COM-010.md): The visitor's linked contact supplies eligible identity information for panel matching. - **Enhances** [Sales attribution to conversations and operators](COM-021.md): Contact matching can extend candidate conversations to linked visitor identities. - **Enhances** [Customer contact details](CRM-001.md): Identity matching finds an existing contact for supplied details. - **Enhances** [Visitor data mapping for customer identity](CRM-002.md): Supplied identities are checked against existing contacts. - **Enhances** [Contact merge preview and assignment](CRM-004.md): Identity matching identifies contacts that may need review. - **Enhances** [Customer contact identities across channels](CRM-005.md): Contact identities help establish the customer association. - **Enhances** [Salesforce contacts](CRM-011.md): Account-based contact matching can group visitors linked to the same Salesforce account. - **Enhances** [Sales attribution and conversion reports](REP-008.md): Contact identity can contribute to attribution when contact sales attribution is enabled. - **Related** [Visitor identity](VIS-001.md): Contact matching associates customer profiles across visits, separately from recognising a returning browser. ## FAQ and troubleshooting ### Why didn't the customer's name find their saved contact automatically? Names are not identity keys. Supply an email address, mobile number or supported account identity. ### Why did INSIDE show a conflict instead of linking automatically? The information may match several contacts, disagree with the current contact or require review because of how it was supplied. Compare the contacts before taking an action. ### Why did email matching change after Salesforce account grouping was enabled? Account identity takes precedence in that mode. Without an account identity, INSIDE excludes candidates that already have an account value. ### Can matching recover a contact deleted for privacy reasons? No. Those contacts are excluded from identity matching.