The Chat Widget can require visitors to share their contact details before a live chat begins. When you turn on the contact form, patients submit their name and either an email or phone number before the message box unlocks, so your practice always knows who it is talking to and can follow up after the conversation ends. Capturing this information upfront improves the quality of your contact data, reduces anonymous chats, and lets you trigger automated follow-ups.
The contact form is a pre-chat prompt that appears inside the Live Chat widget. When it is enabled, visitors must submit the form and provide their contact details before they can send a message. Every conversation is then tied to a contact record in your account.
Key benefits include:
Guaranteed lead capture: Every conversation is associated with a contact record, so there are no more anonymous chats.
Streamlined follow-up: Contact details collected upfront let your team (or your automations) follow up without delay.
Smart re-entry for return visitors: Returning visitors with an active chat skip the form and resume instantly. If the prior chat was deleted or ended, the form reappears.
Reliable session continuity: Auto-reconnect preserves message history even after a page refresh.
Cleaner data: Standardized intake reduces incomplete threads and improves reporting integrity.
Setting up the contact form is quick and gives you full control over what information is collected before a chat begins.
Navigate to Web Tools > Chat Widget in your account, then select the Chat Widget you want to configure.
Go to the Chat Window tab and open the Live Chat Assigned drop-down. Toggle on the Enable Contact Form option.
Click Save to publish the changes.
Note: To disable the form, simply toggle off Enable Contact Form. When the contact form is disabled, the Chat Widget will not ask for these details upfront and will start the chat directly.
You can customize the "Please share your contact details" prompt shown in the Chat Widget. There are two editable message fields, giving you full control over how and when contact details are requested. This customization applies only to Live and All-in-One (Live) chats.
When Enable Contact Form is on, this message appears automatically just before the contact form. The default copy is "Please share your contact details." If you leave the field blank, the widget skips the prompt and shows the form immediately.
To edit this message, go to the Chat Window tab and update the copy in the Contact Form Intro Message field.
Note: This field is only visible in the builder when the Enable Contact Form toggle is on.
When a team member clicks Request Contact Details in the Inbox, this message displays. Your team can trigger it even if the intro message has already appeared.
To edit this message, go to the Chat Window tab and update the copy in the Contact Form System Message field. The default copy is "Please share your contact details." If you leave the field blank, the widget skips the prompt and opens the form directly.
Note: This field is visible in the builder whether the Enable Contact Form toggle is on or off.
Note: If Notification Sound is enabled for the widget, visitors may hear a sound when the contact details request message appears.
Which fields can I mark as required in the contact form?
Name is mandatory, and either a phone number or an email is required to create a contact (at least one of the two). You can also add supported custom contact fields within the five-field total. If you mark any custom contact fields as required in the widget builder, visitors must complete them before they can submit the form.
What exactly counts as an "active chat" for smart re-entry?
An active chat is a session that has not been manually ended and has not expired due to inactivity. If it is still active, visitors resume without filling out the form again.
What happens if a patient refreshes the page during a chat?
The widget auto-reconnects and preserves the conversation, so no messages are lost.
Does the contact form requirement apply to all widgets or just one?
It applies to the specific widget you configure. Be sure you have selected the correct widget before enabling the toggle.
How does this interact with business office hours?
During off hours, the widget sends the contact details form. After the visitor submits it, the chat is automatically closed.
Can I trigger workflows based on contact form submissions?
Yes. You can use triggers like "Customer Replied" to start automated follow-ups or task assignments once a patient submits the form.
Do I need to add a privacy policy link when collecting personal data?
It is recommended. You can link your privacy policy from the chat window text or description for compliance transparency.
I have multiple chat widgets on my site. Will each follow its own form rules?
Yes. Each widget has its own configuration, so you can enforce the form on some widgets or pages and not on others.
