# Existing answers in Virtual Assistant tasks

Choose whether a task asks again, confirms a known answer or continues using information already available.

*Release 3.3 · admin, operator, visitor*

**Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Steps** · **Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Data Fields**

## What it is

A task can use an answer already available to INSIDE instead of asking the visitor to enter it again. You can choose to ask again, show the answer for confirmation or skip the question. Storage, expiry and identity checks determine which answers are available.

## Who uses it and why

- Administrators with **Bot Trainer** access decide when a known answer is suitable for reuse.
- Operators understand why a task asked again or omitted a question and review identity conflicts where needed.
- Visitors confirm or replace information presented by the task.

## Where to find it

With the **Bot Trainer** role, set **If All Data Already Exists** in **Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Steps**. Set storage and expiry in **Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Data Fields**.

## How it works

For a step with known answers, **If All Data Already Exists** offers:

- **Skip** continues along the completion branch without asking for those answers again.
- **Ask again for New Data** presents the question for a new answer. This is the initial choice for a new step.
- **Display existing Data for Confirmation** presents the existing answer and lets the visitor confirm or change it.

Conversation fields use the current conversation's data. Visitor/contact fields use eligible contact data, with current visitor-session values available as a fallback. INSIDE does not reveal a web contact's stored answer to an unverified visitor. A linked messaging-platform identity can allow contact answers on supported social channels even when the visitor is not otherwise verified.

Automatic reuse takes the completion route but does not repeat ordinary completion side effects such as sending an email or updating tags. Design essential actions so they do not depend on the visitor re-entering an already known answer.

During a pre-chat task, a collected name remains available to the task without immediately overwriting the name on the currently linked contact. Email is processed when submitted, so it can change identity matching or raise a conflict. The collected name can accompany a new identity and is applied at pre-chat completion as appropriate.

## Configure it

1. Choose the field's **Data Storage** and **Data Expiry**.
2. Open the step and choose **If All Data Already Exists**.
3. For confirmation, write **Message (Existing Data)** as well as **Message (No Existing Data)**.
4. Review the completion branch. Confirm that required actions still occur when the answer is reused.
5. Check the journey with a new visitor, a returning verified visitor and an unverified visitor.

### Fields

| Field | Where | Required | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| If All Data Already Exists | Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Steps | No | Chooses Skip, Ask again for New Data or Display existing Data for Confirmation. A new step initially asks again. |
| Message (Existing Data) | Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Steps | No | Supplies the question used when presenting an existing answer for confirmation. |
| Message (No Existing Data) | Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Steps | No | Supplies the question when a new answer is needed. |
| Data Storage | Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Data Fields | Yes | Determines whether reusable answers are stored with the conversation or visitor/contact, or not stored as field values. |
| Data Expiry | Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Data Fields | Yes | Offers Conversation End, Session End or Never. New fields initially use Never. |
| This field contains PII | Settings › Bots › Virtual Assistant › Data Fields | No | Includes the field in personal-information cleanup and display handling. |

### Permissions

| Permission | Lets you |
|---|---|
| Bot Trainer | Configure existing-answer behaviour on Steps and expiry on Data Fields. |

## Limits and good to know

- A recognised browser and a verified contact are different. Recognition alone does not authorise showing web contact answers.
- Expired or cleared answers cannot be reused from that storage location. Other permitted current-session values may still be available.
- **Conversation End** and **Session End** are different expiry boundaries. **Never** is the initial field expiry choice.
- Personal-information cleanup and transcript retention can apply separately from field expiry.
- A custom field containing an email address does not automatically become the system email used for identity matching.
- Picklist choices may be hidden for a task or unavailable for the current channel or conditions.

## Depends on and works with

### This feature uses

- **Requires** [Virtual Assistant task setup](ENG-009.md): Answer reuse needs an authored task step linked to the relevant fields.
- **Requires** [Virtual Assistant task data fields](ENG-012.md): Reuse and expiry apply to defined data fields.
- **Requires** [Virtual Assistant task steps and branches](ENG-011.md): Existing answers are reused when a running task evaluates its current step.
- **Configured in** [Virtual Assistant task messages and identity](ENG-014.md): Step messages supply the wording shown when an existing answer needs confirmation.
- **Configured in** [Captured data expiry and message sanitisation](SEC-022.md): Field expiry and personal-information cleanup control retained values.
- **Configured in** [Personal data retention and automatic deletion](SEC-021.md): Website retention rules separately control related message masking.
- **Works better with** [Customer contact details](CRM-001.md): Visitor/contact fields can read stored contact answers when identity rules allow.
- **Works better with** [Contact matching](CRM-003.md): Contact matching can make saved answers available through the matched identity.
- **Works better with** [Contact merge preview and assignment](CRM-004.md): An email submitted during pre-chat can produce an identity conflict for review.
- **Related** [Virtual Assistant task actions](ENG-016.md): Automatic answer reuse skips ordinary business and outbound completion actions.

### Used by

- **Configures** [Virtual Assistant task setup](ENG-009.md): Existing-answer rules decide whether a task asks again, confirms an answer or skips a question.
- **Configures** [Virtual Assistant task steps and branches](ENG-011.md): Existing-answer choices can advance a step without asking again.
- **Configures** [Virtual Assistant task data fields](ENG-012.md): Storage, expiry and existing-answer choices control whether a captured value can be reused.
- **Configures** [Virtual Assistant task messages and identity](ENG-014.md): Existing-answer settings choose between new-answer and confirmation wording.
- **Configures** [Virtual Assistant task actions](ENG-016.md): Automatic existing-answer completion skips ordinary side effects.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

**Why is a returning visitor asked for the same detail?**

Check the step's choice, field storage, expiry and identity verification. The stored answer may not be available to this visitor or conversation.

**Why did a skipped question not send its configured email?**

Automatic reuse follows the completion route without replaying ordinary completion side effects. Review where the email action sits in the task.

**Why did entering an email produce an identity conflict before pre-chat ended?**

Email is processed on submission for identity matching. The deferral of the contact-name update does not defer the email check.

**Does clearing an expired field remove its transcript text?**

Not necessarily. Related message masking follows separate retention settings. Ask Powerfront to review those settings if you need a particular retention outcome.