How to Manage Contacts

Contacts are the phone numbers and email addresses attached to your clients. Learn how to create, search, update, opt out, archive, restore, and message contacts in eCourtDate.

### Overview

Every message your agency sends goes to a contact, not directly to a client. Each contact holds one phone number or email address and carries its own opt-in status, notification setting, and validity status.

A contact only receives automated messages when all of these are true: the contact is valid, notifications are on, the contact is opted in, and the contact is neither archived nor trashed. The contact screen shows this state with the **VALID**, **INVALID**, **NOTIFY OFF**, **OPTED-IN**, and **OPTED-OUT** badges.

This article covers creating, searching, updating, attaching, opting out and in, archiving, trashing, restoring, and messaging contacts.

### Prerequisites

Before managing contacts, make sure you have the following:

- A role with the `create_contacts` permission (without it, the **Create Contact** card on the **Contacts** tab is hidden)
- At least one client already created (see [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients))
- The phone number or email address you want to add

### How-To Steps

#### Create a Contact from a Client

1. Click **Clients** in the navigation.
2. Click the **Edit** button next to the client you want.
3. Find the **Manage Contacts** card on the client screen.
4. Enter the phone number or email address in the **Add phone or email** field.
5. Click **Create Contact**.

The new contact appears in the list below the field with its badges.

#### Create a Contact from the Contacts Tab

1. Click **Clients** in the navigation.
2. Click the **Contacts** tab.
3. Enter the client name or reference in the **Search clients...** field and select the client (this attaches the new contact to that client).
4. Enter an optional **Name** in the **Create Contact** card.
5. Enter the phone number or email address in the **Phone or Email** field.
6. Click **Create**.

#### Search for a Contact

Use quick search when the contact belongs to an active client:

1. Click the search icon in the navigation.
2. Enter the phone number or email address.
3. Click a result to open the client screen.
4. Click the contact in the **Manage Contacts** card to open the contact screen.

Use the **Contacts** tab when quick search returns nothing, which happens when the contact is archived, trashed, or not attached to a client:

1. Click **Clients** in the navigation.
2. Click the **Contacts** tab.
3. Enter the phone or email in the **Search** field.
4. Apply any of the **Name**, **Channel** (Text, Email, or Voice), **Creator**, **Opted in**, **Opted out**, **Valid**, **Invalid**, **Archived**, or **Trashed** filters.
5. Click **Search**.

#### Update a Contact

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Enter a **Name** if the contact name differs from the client name (optional).
3. Edit the phone number or email address in the **Contact** field.
4. Select a **Type** (mobile, home, work, school, fax, or other).
5. Select a **Channel**.
6. Click **Save**.

A "Contact updated" alert confirms the save.

#### Attach a Contact to a Client

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Enter the client name or reference in the **Search Clients...** field on the client card.
3. Click **Search**.
4. Click **Attach** next to the correct client.

To move a contact to a different client, click **Change** and search again. To remove the link, click **Detach**.

#### Turn Notifications Off or On

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Click **Tools**.
3. Click **Turn Off Notifications** or **Turn On Notifications**.

A **NOTIFY OFF** badge appears while notifications are off.

#### Opt Out a Contact

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Click **Tools**.
3. Click **Opt Out**.

#### Opt In a Contact

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Click **Opt In** in the button group at the top of the screen.

The **Opt In** button appears only while the contact is opted out.

#### Archive, Trash, or Restore a Contact

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Click **Tools**.
3. Click **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore**.

**Restore** appears only for a contact that is already archived or trashed. To find one, select the **Archived** or **Trashed** checkbox on the **Contacts** tab before searching.

#### Opt In or Opt Out Contacts in Bulk

1. Click **Clients** in the navigation.
2. Click the **Contacts** tab.
3. Search for the contacts you want to change.
4. Click **Select** in the table header to select every contact on the page, or select the checkbox next to each contact you want.
5. Click **Opt In**, **Opt Out**, **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore**.
6. Click **Confirm**.

#### Send a Message to a Contact

The **Send a Message** card appears only on a contact that is valid and opted in.

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Select an address in the **From Phone** field (labeled **From Email** on an email contact).
3. Enter a **Subject** for an email contact.
4. Enter your text in the **Message** field.
5. Set a **Send Date** and **Send Time** to schedule the message for later (optional).
6. Select the **Simulate** checkbox to test without delivering (optional).
7. Click **Send Message**.

To translate what you typed, click **Auto Translate** and choose a target language before sending.

#### Run a Lookup on a Contact

1. Open the contact screen.
2. Click **Run Lookup** in the **Run Lookup** card.
3. Click **View Lookup** to open the full lookup record.

#### Run a Social Media Lookup

1. Go to **Dashboard** > **Lookups**.
2. Enter the phone number or email address in the **Lookup** field.
3. Select the **Social Media** checkbox.
4. Click **Create**.
5. Open the lookup to review the **Lookup Data** card, which links to **LinkedIn**, **X (Twitter)**, and **Facebook** profiles when it finds them.

See [How to Run Reverse Lookups](/how-to-run-reverse-lookups) for more on lookups.

### What to Expect

New contacts start opted in with notifications on. eCourtDate sets the channel to email when the value is an email address and to text otherwise, and it checks a phone value before saving, so a number that is not a valid phone number is stored with an **INVALID** badge.

Opting out sets both the opt-in and notification flags off and immediately deletes scheduled messages queued for that contact. Archiving also deletes scheduled messages for the value. Opting a contact back in turns notifications back on and re-syncs automated messages for the attached client.

Restoring an archived or trashed contact only clears the archived and trashed state, so it does not re-create the messages that were deleted. To rebuild them, open the client, click **Tools**, and click **Sync Messages**.

Archived contacts follow the **Auto Trash Archived Data** setting in **Admin** > **Settings**, which is measured in days since the record was archived and defaults to never. Trashed contacts follow **Auto Delete Trashed Data**, measured in days since the record was trashed and defaulting to 30.

### Best Practices

- Confirm each client has at least one contact showing **VALID** and **OPTED-IN** before you rely on automated messaging.
- Create contacts from the client screen so they attach to the right client automatically.
- Use **Turn Off Notifications** when you want to pause messages without recording an opt out, and reserve **Opt Out** for a client who asks to stop.
- Archive rather than trash a contact you may need later, because trashed contacts are purged on the **Auto Delete Trashed Data** schedule.
- Run **Sync Messages** on the client after restoring a contact so automated messages are rebuilt.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I change a contact's phone number or email address?**

A: Yes. Open the contact, edit the **Contact** field, and click **Save**. There is no need to create a replacement contact.

**Q: What decides whether a contact receives automated messages?**

A: eCourtDate only builds messages for contacts that are valid, have notifications on, are opted in, and are neither archived nor trashed.

**Q: Why is the Send a Message card missing on a contact?**

A: That card renders only for a contact that is valid and opted in. Fix the value or opt the contact back in, and the card appears.

**Q: Can I add the same number to a client twice?**

A: No. A contact with the same value and channel on the same client is rejected with an "already exists" message. Archived and trashed contacts are excluded from that check.

**Q: Does opting a contact back in also turn notifications back on?**

A: Yes. Opting in sets the opt-in and notification flags together, so the **NOTIFY OFF** badge clears at the same time.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** A new contact shows an **INVALID** badge.

**Symptoms:** The contact appears in the list with the **INVALID** badge and receives no automated messages.

**Solution:**

1. Open the contact and check the **Contact** field for typos.
2. Correct the phone number or email address and click **Save**.
3. Add the corrected value as a new contact from the client's **Manage Contacts** card if the badge still reads **INVALID**, because saving an existing contact does not recheck the value.
4. Archive the incorrect contact so it stops appearing on the client.

**Issue:** A contact does not appear in quick search.

**Symptoms:** Quick search returns no results even though the phone number or email exists.

**Solution:**

1. Search from the **Contacts** tab instead, because quick search skips archived and trashed contacts and contacts with no client.
2. Select the **Archived** or **Trashed** checkbox and search again.
3. Attach the contact to a client from the contact screen if the client card shows that no client is attached.

**Issue:** Messages to a contact are simulated instead of delivered.

**Symptoms:** Messages appear in the feed with a simulated status.

**Solution:**

1. Go to **Admin** > **Settings** and check **Send Mode** in the **Sending** section.
2. Select **Send Live** and save the setting.
3. Clear the **Simulate** checkbox before clicking **Send Message** on the contact screen.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate, click the help button in the bottom right corner of the screen, and click **New support ticket**.

### Related Articles

- [How to Add Contact Information for a Client](/how-to-add-contact-information-for-a-client)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)
- [How to Configure Opt-in and Opt-out Compliance](/how-to-configure-opt-in-and-opt-out-compliance)
- [How to Run Reverse Lookups](/how-to-run-reverse-lookups)
- [How to Send a One-off Message](/how-to-send-a-one-off-message)
- [Glossary of Terms](/glossary-of-terms)