> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.a2v2.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CRM Overview

> Turn the conversations your agent has into a contact list you can follow up on, qualify, and grow.

You run a clinic and your agent answers patient questions all day. Some of those
visitors leave their name and number, ask about booking, or fill out an intake form.
Without somewhere to keep them, every one of those leads disappears the moment the
chat window closes. The **CRM** is that somewhere: a contact list built from the people
who actually talk to your agent, with their details, notes, files, and form
submissions attached.

Open any agent and choose **CRM** in the sidebar. The group has four screens:
**Contacts**, **Forms**, **Automations**, and **Settings**.

## Why the CRM matters

Your agent is often the first conversation a prospect or customer ever has with you.
The CRM makes sure that conversation turns into a record you can act on:

* **Capture leads automatically.** When the agent collects someone's details during a
  chat, that person becomes a contact — no copy-paste required.
* **Keep everything in one place.** Each contact carries their chat history, your
  internal notes, uploaded files, and any forms they submitted.
* **Qualify and assign.** Contacts move through pipeline stages and get assigned to a
  team member, so leads don't fall through the cracks.
* **Power gated agents.** Restricted and paid agents check the CRM to decide who's
  allowed in (see below).

## Where contacts come from

A contact can enter the CRM several ways. Each contact records how it was created:

| Source | Shown as       | When it happens                                               |
| ------ | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Chat   | **via Chat**   | The agent captured the person's details during a conversation |
| Form   | **via Form**   | Someone submitted one of your CRM forms                       |
| Manual | **via Manual** | A team member added the contact by hand                       |
| Import | **via Import** | You uploaded a CSV of contacts                                |
| API    | **via API**    | An external system created the contact through the API        |

<Note>
  For the agent to capture a detail during chat (like a phone number or company name),
  the matching contact field must have **Allow for AI** turned on. See
  [Custom fields](/crm/custom-fields).
</Note>

## The CRM and gated agents

Two of your agent's [visibility](/embed/visibility) modes lean directly on the CRM:

* **Restrict** — "Only users from your CRM can use this chatbot." Your contact list
  becomes the guest list: people sign in, and only those already in your CRM get
  through.
* **Pay for Access** — visitors who buy a subscription become contacts you can see and
  follow up with.

So the CRM isn't just a record of who talked to your agent — for gated agents, it's the
list that decides who's allowed to talk to it at all.

## What's in the CRM

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Contacts" icon="address-book" href="/crm/contacts">
    The contact list, individual contact details, rich-text notes, and files.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom fields" icon="table-list" href="/crm/custom-fields">
    Capture information beyond name and email, and let the agent fill it in.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Forms" icon="clipboard-list" href="/crm/forms">
    Build forms with drag-and-drop, share them, and review submissions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automations" icon="bolt" href="/crm/automations">
    Auto-assign owners and set a starting stage for every new contact.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Tips

<Tip>
  Decide which details matter to your business **before** you start capturing contacts.
  Adding the right [custom fields](/crm/custom-fields) up front — and marking them
  **Allow for AI** — means the agent starts collecting that information from day one,
  instead of you backfilling it later.
</Tip>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Manage contacts" icon="address-book" href="/crm/contacts">
    View, add, and organize the people in your CRM.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Agent visibility" icon="lock" href="/embed/visibility">
    Use your CRM to restrict who can chat with a gated agent.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Conversation history" icon="comments" href="/conversations/history">
    Read the conversations behind your captured contacts.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Paid agents" icon="coins" href="/billing/paid-agents">
    Charge for access and turn subscribers into contacts.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>