> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.ringtonic.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.ringtonic.app/guides/contacts.md). # Contacts Contacts is Ring Tonic's lightweight CRM. Every phone call and form submission your tracking generates can be matched to a contact, moved through a pipeline of stages, and tracked from first touch to closed-won revenue — without leaving the platform. {% hint style="info" %} The Kanban view, contact detail page, custom fields, and stage drag-and-drop are **Agency plan** features. The basic table view and individual contact details remain available on every plan. {% endhint %} *** ### The Pipeline Every contact has a **stage** showing where they are in your funnel. Stages are forward-only by default — a contact advances automatically (from phone calls, form submissions, or events sent from other tools), but only owners and admins can move one backward. | Order | Stage | Meaning | | ----- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 0 | **New** | A contact exists but no event has been recorded | | 10 | **Contacted** | An outbound or inbound interaction has happened | | 20 | **Form Submitted** | The contact submitted a tracked form (via [Form Submissions](/guides/form-submissions.md)) | | 30 | **Qualified** | AI auto-qualification or manual review marked the lead worth pursuing | | 40 | **Appointment Booked** | A calendar event was created (typically from an outside tool) | | 50 | **Proposal Sent** | A quote or proposal has been delivered | | 100 | **Won** / **Customer** | Closed-won — revenue recognized | | 200 | **Lost** | Closed-lost | | 300 | **Unqualified** | Excluded from the funnel (spam, wrong fit, etc.) | The terminal stages (Won, Customer, Lost, Unqualified) are **mutually exclusive** — once a contact lands in one, it stops advancing automatically. (Won and Customer are both "won" outcomes and share the same place in the funnel order.) To move a contact out of a terminal stage you have to drag it there yourself, which only owners and admins can do. {% hint style="info" %} **Why fixed stages?** Ring Tonic intentionally ships an opinionated stage set matching the call-tracking industry norm (CallRail, WhatConverts). This keeps funnel analytics consistent across workspaces. Workspace-customizable stages are a planned future enhancement. {% endhint %} *** ### Kanban View The default view at **Contacts** is a horizontally-scrolling Kanban board with one column per pipeline stage.

Contacts Kanban board — one column per pipeline stage, with counts and deal value

**What each column shows:** * **Stage label** (e.g. "Form Submitted") with a colored badge * **Count** of contacts currently in that stage * **Total deal value** — the combined value of all contacts in the column * **Up to 50 cards**, most-recently-changed first * **Load more** at the bottom if more cards exist **Each card shows:** * Contact name (or phone number if the name is blank) * Phone number, formatted for your workspace * Email, if known * "About X hours ago" — when the contact last moved into this stage **Click a card** to open the [Contact Detail](#contact-detail) page. #### Moving cards between stages Drag any card onto a different column to change its stage. Three behaviors: * **Forward move** (e.g. Contacted → Qualified) — instant, no confirmation. Any logged-in user can do this. * **Backward move** (e.g. Won → Qualified) — owners and admins only, with an **Undo** toast. Other users get a permission error. * **Same column** — nothing happens. {% hint style="info" %} Moving a contact **backward** is recorded in its timeline as a manual change, and moving it out of Won or Lost automatically updates the matching won/lost close date. {% endhint %}
Backward moves — for developers Forward and backward moves fire the `contact.stage_changed` webhook. Backward moves use the `force_stage=true` path and are logged with `source: manual`. See the [API guide](/guides/crm-api.md) and [Webhooks](/guides/webhooks.md).
*** ### Table View Click the **Table** toggle (top-right of the Kanban) to switch to a flat, sortable, filterable table — handy for bulk operations or richer filtering.

Contacts table view — sortable and filterable, with multi-select bulk actions

* Sort by name, phone, last stage change, deal value, and more * Filter by stage, campaign, source, or date range * Multi-select for bulk actions (assign owner, archive, export CSV) Ring Tonic remembers which view you used last. *** ### Contact Detail Click any card or row to open the full contact detail page.

Contact detail page — header, stage, deal value, and the timeline / tabs

#### Header * Contact name as the page title * Current **Stage** badge * **Value** — the contact's deal value * Phone, email, and company (whichever are known) #### Tabs * **Timeline** — a chronological feed of everything tied to this contact: * Stage changes (showing where each one came from — a manual edit, a call, a form, or an outside tool) * Form submissions * Calls (with a link to the call detail page) * Notes * Repeat events that didn't change anything (marked **(ignored)** — see below) * **Custom fields** — your workspace's custom fields (see [Custom Fields](#custom-fields)) * **Notes** — free-form team notes * **Calls** — call history for this contact only * **Forms** — form submissions for this contact, showing everything that was submitted #### Why some events say "(ignored)" When the same event happens twice (for example, the same visitor submits a form more than once), the first one moves the contact to the new stage. Later repeats still appear in the timeline but are marked **(ignored)**, because the contact is already at that stage. This keeps a complete history without throwing off your pipeline counts. *** ### Custom Fields Custom fields are your own typed fields that attach to every contact. They accept values from form submissions, the API, and manual edits.

Custom fields on a contact — edit each typed field and click Save

**Field types you can add:** | Type | What it's for | | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | **Text** | Free-form notes, IDs, statuses | | **Number** | Lead scores, ticket counts, quantities | | **Date** | Appointment dates, deadlines | | **Single Select** | One choice from a fixed list (lead source, region) | | **Multi Select** | Several choices from a list (tags, interests) | | **Boolean** | A simple Yes/No toggle | | **URL** | A link, e.g. a LinkedIn profile | #### Defining a custom field 1. Go to **Settings** → **Custom Fields** 2. Click **Add custom field** 3. Choose a **key** (a lowercase identifier like `lead_score` — it can't be changed after saving), a display **label**, and a **type** 4. For **Single Select** / **Multi Select**, add the allowed options 5. Mark **Required** if the field must be set on every contact (enforced on manual create/edit only; form submissions and API calls may leave it blank) 6. Save {% hint style="danger" %} **The key can't be changed.** Once a custom field is saved, its key is fixed — existing contacts' values are stored under that key. You can rename the **label** any time, and you can archive a whole field (which hides it from forms but keeps the historical values). {% endhint %} #### Editing custom field values on a contact You edit custom fields one at a time, right where you see them. Open a contact — either the quick-view panel (click a card or row) or the full detail page — and go to the **Custom fields** section. 1. Find the field you want to change and click its **Edit** control. 2. An inline editor opens with the right kind of input — a text, number, date, or link box; a dropdown for Single Select; checkboxes for Multi Select; or a Yes/No toggle. 3. Make your change and click **Save**. Each field saves on its own, so editing one never touches the others. Validation runs the moment you save (type, required, allowed options), and anything that needs fixing shows a message right on that field. *** ### How Stages Get Set Automatically Most of the time you won't move contacts by hand — events do it for you. | Event | Sets stage to | Notes | | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Form submission matched by phone or email | **Form Submitted** | First submission only; later ones just add timeline entries | | Phone call auto-qualified by AI | **Qualified** | Driven by your workspace's AI auto-qualification rules | | An event sent via the [Postback API](/guides/crm-api.md) | Whatever stage was sent | Used to connect outside tools (CRM, scheduler, automations) | | Manual drag in the Kanban | Whatever column you dropped on | Owners/admins for backward moves | Stage advancement is **forward-only** by default. If a call or an outside event asks to move a contact *backward*, it's recorded in the timeline but the contact doesn't actually move. Only an owner or admin can move a contact backward (or a developer using the API's force option). *** ### Won and Lost Tracking Ring Tonic tracks Won and Lost separately so your analytics can compute close rates and lost-revenue baselines. * When a contact moves to **Won**, Ring Tonic records the close date and locks in the deal value — keeping your close-rate and revenue reports accurate. * When a contact moves to **Lost**, it records the close date and keeps the deal value, so you can see how much potential revenue slipped away. Funnel analytics in the [Analytics](/guides/analytics.md) section roll these up by source, campaign, and date range. *** ### Plan Gating | Feature | Plan | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Contact detail panel (quick-view) | All plans | | Kanban view, full detail page, timeline, custom fields, stage drag | Agency | | Auto-creating contacts from form submissions | Agency (via [Form Submissions](/guides/form-submissions.md)) | | Creating/updating contacts via the API | Agency (via [API](/guides/crm-api.md)) | If you open **Contacts** on a non-Agency plan, you'll see a pricing prompt. Existing contact records remain accessible via the table view and individual detail panels. *** ### Common Questions
Can I import contacts from a CSV? Yes — **Contacts** → **Add contact** → **Import from CSV**. Required columns are `name` and at least one of `phone` or `email`. Custom field columns are matched automatically by their header to a custom field's key.
What happens to a contact's data if I archive a custom field? The values are kept on the contact. The field just stops appearing in new contact forms and the Custom Fields tab. To bring it back, un-archive it from **Settings** → **Custom Fields**.
Can two workspaces share contacts? No. Contacts are workspace-scoped. The same phone number can exist as a contact in multiple workspaces, but each workspace's funnel is independent.
How do duplicate contacts get merged? Automatic merging isn't available yet. When a new call or form comes in, Ring Tonic matches it to an existing contact by checking, in order: a reference ID from your other tools, then phone number, then email. If a match is ambiguous, it doesn't guess — it flags it so you can decide. A manual merge tool is on the roadmap.
Can I create custom stages? Not yet — the stages are a fixed set. Workspace-customizable stages are planned but not committed.
How are deleted contacts handled? Deleted contacts are moved to the trash — they disappear from the Kanban and table, but their identifiers (reference ID, phone, and email) stay reserved. If the same lead comes in again later, it's restored instead of creating a duplicate.
*** ### Related Guides * [Form Submissions](/guides/form-submissions.md) — capture leads from a website * [API](/guides/crm-api.md) — push contacts and conversions programmatically * [Analytics](/guides/analytics.md) — funnel chart and revenue-by-source reporting * [Webhooks](/guides/webhooks.md) — subscribe to `contact.stage_changed` and `conversion.recorded`