# Salesforce contacts

Find, link and edit Salesforce contacts or person accounts from the visitor's contact controls.

*Release 3.3 · developer, operator, visitor*

**Settings › General Settings › Salesforce**

## What it is

Salesforce contact controls let you look up a customer, associate a Salesforce record with a visitor, and create or edit customer details. A website can use ordinary Salesforce contacts or person accounts. Selected details can also update the customer's INSIDE profile.

## Who uses it and why

- Operators find the correct Salesforce customer and keep their details current during service.
- Developers coordinate identity matching and the configured CRM forms with Powerfront.
- Visitors provide details that help associate their conversation with the correct Salesforce record.

## Where to find it

Open the visitor menu and use **Lookup Contact**, **Add Contact**, **Edit Contact**, **Unlink Contact** or **Open in Salesforce**, where available. Powerfront manages the supporting options under **Settings › General Settings › Salesforce**.

## How it works

1. Use **Lookup Contact** to search the available Salesforce customer records.
2. Inspect the result and assign the intended record to the visitor.
3. Use **Edit Contact** to update it, or **Add Contact** when a new record is needed.
4. Complete the fields required by the configured form and save.

When saving customer details, INSIDE first uses an explicit Salesforce record reference where present. Otherwise it can find an existing record by email before creating one. Person-account lookup can report multiple matching accounts instead of selecting one automatically.

Successful operations store the Salesforce association and can reflect name, email, mobile and phone details in INSIDE. Account grouping can also associate the local profile with the Salesforce account. These changes happen during lookup and editing; the feature does not provide a general scheduled copy of every field in both systems.

## Configure it

Ask Powerfront to choose **Use Person Accounts**, the automatic matching field, record type and customer forms. An applicable subsite record type takes precedence over the website choice. Channel-specific matching can use a different configured field.

Powerfront can hide the add, edit, lookup and unlink actions separately. Ask Powerfront to change these options or the Salesforce communication-permission mappings.

### Settings

| Setting | Where | Applies to | Default | Who can change it | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use Person Accounts | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Off | Powerfront, on request | Use Salesforce person accounts instead of ordinary contacts in supported lookup and edit operations. |
| Auto Match Visitor To | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Salesforce record ID | Powerfront, on request | Choose the Salesforce field used for configured automatic visitor matching. A blank choice uses the Salesforce record ID. |
| Account Record Type | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Not set | Powerfront, on request | Choose the website's person-account record type, with an applicable subsite choice taking precedence. When neither is set, INSIDE supplies no record-type override. |
| Hide Add Contact/Account | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Off | Powerfront, on request | Hide the action for adding a Salesforce customer record. |
| Hide Edit Contact/Account | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Off | Powerfront, on request | Hide the action for editing a Salesforce customer record. |
| Hide Lookup Contact/Account | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Off | Powerfront, on request | Hide Salesforce customer lookup from the contact controls. |
| Hide Unlink Contact/Account | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Off | Powerfront, on request | Hide the action for unlinking the Salesforce customer record. |
| Create Contact Config | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Built-in form: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone and Company | Powerfront, on request | Define the form used to create or edit Salesforce contacts. |
| View Contact Config | Settings › General Settings › Salesforce | website | Built-in view: Name, Email and Phone | Powerfront, on request | Define the Salesforce contact details shown to operators. |

## Limits and good to know

- The form and Salesforce record type determine the information you can enter and any required fields.
- A new Salesforce customer created through the checked contact-edit flow starts with local email and mobile permission opted out.
- The edit flow limits phone and mobile values copied into INSIDE to sixteen characters. Check long or unusually formatted numbers after saving.
- Salesforce association changes and local contact merges are different operations.
- Custom integration behaviour can change lookup, creation and field updates.
- In account-grouped set-ups, use the Salesforce controls for names and email rather than assuming an ordinary local edit changes them.

## Depends on and works with

### This feature uses

- **Requires** [Salesforce connection and operator setup](CRM-010.md): Salesforce customer actions need the website's Salesforce connection.
- **Configured in** [Subsites](ADM-003.md): An applicable subsite record type takes precedence over the website's record type.
- **Configured in** [WhatsApp channel setup](CHN-006.md): A WhatsApp account can select its own Salesforce customer-matching field.
- **Configured in** [CRM form field configuration](CRM-020.md): CRM forms determine available fields and their presentation.
- **Configured in** [Customer identity and conversation visibility permissions](SEC-016.md): Personal-data permission affects access to customer details.
- **Works better with** [Customer contact details](CRM-001.md): Selected Salesforce values are reflected in the INSIDE contact.
- **Works better with** [Contact matching](CRM-003.md): Account-based contact matching can group visitors linked to the same Salesforce account.
- **Works better with** [Address book and contact actions](CRM-006.md): Salesforce contacts and person accounts can supply address-book results.
- **Works better with** [Contact opt-in and blocking](CRM-007.md): SMS and WhatsApp permissions can be exchanged through configured Salesforce fields.
- **Works better with** [Custom CRM integration](CRM-022.md): Custom CRM integration behaviour can replace standard lookup or editing.

### Used by

- **Configures** [Subsites](ADM-003.md): Salesforce person-account settings determine whether a subsite can select an account record type.
- **Enhances** [Visitor search and filters](VIS-013.md): Configured Salesforce integration can contribute contact search results and change the mobile search entry point.
- **Enhances** [WhatsApp channel setup](CHN-006.md): Salesforce can match WhatsApp customers to CRM contacts using the account's chosen field.
- **Enhances** [Customer contact details](CRM-001.md): Salesforce integration supplies linked customer details where enabled.
- **Enhances** [Visitor data mapping for customer identity](CRM-002.md): A mapped Salesforce identity can trigger Salesforce matching.
- **Enhances** [Address book and contact actions](CRM-006.md): Salesforce-enabled websites can use Salesforce contact search.
- **Enhances** [Contact opt-in and blocking](CRM-007.md): Configured mappings exchange SMS and WhatsApp permissions with Salesforce.
- **Enhances** [Salesforce connection and operator setup](CRM-010.md): The connection supports Salesforce customer lookup and editing.
- **Enhances** [Salesforce cases and conversation links](CRM-012.md): Cases can use the associated Salesforce contact or person account.
- **Enhances** [Salesforce conversation records and transcripts](CRM-014.md): Linked Salesforce contacts or accounts can be associated with the exported conversation.
- **Enhances** [CRM form field configuration](CRM-020.md): Salesforce customer create and view actions use these forms.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### Why is Add Contact or Edit Contact missing?

Powerfront can hide each Salesforce customer action independently. Personal-data permission can also affect access. Ask Powerfront to check the intended configuration.

### Why did Add Contact update an existing Salesforce record?

INSIDE can find an existing record by email before creating a new one. Use lookup first when you need to confirm which record will be used.

### Why does INSIDE report duplicate person accounts?

More than one Salesforce person account matches the lookup. Confirm the correct record through lookup before proceeding.

### Why didn't a Salesforce change appear immediately in INSIDE?

Updates are tied to the configured lookup and edit operations. Open or refresh the linked customer information, and ask Powerfront to check the mapping if it remains different.
