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Getting Started with Contacts in Telerivet

Think of your Telerivet Contacts tab as your address book. It is where you manage everyone you communicate with, add details, organize people into groups (segments), and build audiences for campaigns and automations.

This guide introduces how contacts work in Telerivet, how they are organized, and how you can use custom fields, filters, and groups to keep your contact list clean and powerful.

Why contacts matter

Your contact list is the foundation of every message, campaign, and workflow. Instead of managing separate spreadsheets or lists, Telerivet gives you one organized contact database so you can:

  • Store more than phone numbers: add names, locations, preferences, or any custom field you define

  • Organize easily: group contacts, apply filters, and label them for quick targeting

  • Send smarter: reach specific audiences based on shared attributes

  • Keep information current: update contacts automatically with dynamic groups and services

  • Protect your lists: block or exclude numbers that should not receive messages

With Telerivet, your contact management grows with you whether you have a few hundred or a few million contacts.

How contacts work in Telerivet

Each contact represents a person or organization you communicate with. Contacts can be created automatically when you receive messages, imported from files, or added manually.

Telerivet stores information for each contact in fields that you can view, search, and customize.

Field Type Description Example
Name The person or organization’s name “Sara N.”
Phone number The unique number or ID used for messaging “(917) 555-0143”
Groups Tags that organize contacts for easy messaging “Customers”, “Volunteers”, “Field Agents”
Custom fields Data you define for segmentation or personalization “City: Nairobi”, “Signup Date: January 2025"
Labels and Notes Quick tags or internal notes for team context “VIP Donor”, “Follow-up needed”

Learn more in the Introduction to Contacts guide.

Growing your contact list

You do not need to add every contact manually. Telerivet helps you grow your list automatically as people interact with your number or services.

Here are a few common ways organizations build contact lists in Telerivet:

Use Case How it works Example
Text-to-Join Campaigns People can send a keyword to your number to subscribe. Their details are automatically added as new contacts. Someone texts JOIN HEALTH and instantly becomes part of your “Health Tips” group.
Welcome Workflows Automated replies welcome new subscribers or collect additional information through short forms or polls. After joining, contacts receive a message: “Welcome! Reply with your city to get local updates.”
Inbound Campaigns When someone messages your number for the first time, Telerivet automatically creates a new contact. A person texts REGISTER to sign up for an event and is automatically saved as a new contact.
Imports and Sign-up Sources Contacts can also be imported from spreadsheets, CRMs, or registration forms. Upload a CSV file of new volunteers and donors collected from a fundraiser.

These features allow your contact list to grow naturally as people engage with your organization.

Learn more about campaigns in the Creating Messaging Campaigns guide.

Organizing your contacts

Telerivet provides several ways to organize and segment your contacts.

Method What it does Example
Groups Manually or automatically organize contacts by category Add customers to a “Newsletter” group
Dynamic Groups Automatically include contacts that match filters or field values Contacts with “City = Manila”
Filters Narrow your view using multiple conditions Filter by “Joined after 2025-01-01” and “Not in Group: Inactive”
Custom Fields Add your own fields to store data unique to your organization “Region”, “Program”, “Language Preference”

Groups and filters make it simple to target the right audience every time you send a message or start a campaign.

Learn more in:

Managing your contact list

Keep your contact list up to date and ready for messaging.

Best practice tip

Keep your contact data clean and organized.
Review your groups regularly, remove duplicates, and make use of custom fields to personalize your messages. Good contact hygiene helps every campaign perform better.

Your Telerivet Contacts tab helps you manage people, not just numbers. With groups, filters, and custom fields, you can build accurate, organized contact lists that make every message more personal and effective.