# Lead alerts, contact capture and CSV export

> Save contact details visitors type in the chat, get an email for each new lead, send a test email, and filter and export your leads as CSV from the Leads tab.

Besides the lead form, your agent can save an email address or phone number that a visitor simply writes in a message. This page covers that capture, the email alerts for new leads and the list of leads on the **Leads** tab.

## Save contact details written in the chat

The switch **Save contact details written in the chat** is on by default. When a visitor writes something like "my email is ana@example.com", the address is added to your leads and the agent confirms it. This works with or without the [lead form](/en/docs/lead-collection), and these leads carry a **From chat** badge.

What is recognized:

- Any email address.
- A phone number in international format, starting with `+` or `00`.
- A local number only when a phone word is in the same message, so prices and dates are not saved. Phone words are recognized in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish, for example "call", "phone", "number", "Telefon", "Handy", "téléphone", "portable", "telefono", "cellulare", "teléfono" or "móvil".
- A local number without a leading 0, such as an Italian or Spanish mobile number, only when a phone word comes right before it, as in "cellulare" or "móvil" followed by the number.
- Order, tracking, invoice, customer, account, reference, booking and VAT numbers are ignored, in the same languages. A number counts as one of these when such a word sits right beside it, for example "order number", "Bestellnummer", "numéro de commande" or "partita IVA".
- Your business's own email address or phone number, found in your instructions, the agent's earlier replies or your knowledge, is never saved as the visitor's.

## Email alerts for new leads

1. On the **Leads** tab, switch on **Email when a new lead arrives**.
2. Keep **Send to me** ticked to get the alert at your account email.
3. Under **Also send to**, add up to 5 more addresses, such as a teammate or a shared inbox. Type an address and press Enter or click **Add**.
4. Click **Send test email**. A sample goes to the recipients in the form right now, even before you save. Its subject starts with `Test:`.
5. Click **Save lead settings**.

At least one recipient is required: either **Send to me** or one address.

Each alert has the subject `New lead from` followed by the agent name and the contact, and contains the email address or phone number, up to the visitor's last 3 messages and a **See the conversation** button. Every recipient gets a separate email, and replying goes straight to the lead's email address.

Only a new contact sends an alert. A returning visitor who submits the same details again does not. To stop a flood of fake submissions from becoming a flood of email, each agent sends at most 30 alerts per hour; leads beyond that are still saved and listed.

For a count of new leads per agent instead of one email per lead, turn on the daily summary email; see [Conversations and stats](/en/docs/conversations-and-dashboard).

> If both the lead form and **Save contact details written in the chat** are off, no leads can arrive. The Leads tab shows a warning when alerts are on in that state.

## The leads list

**Collected Leads** shows 10 leads per page with these columns:

- **Contact**: email and phone, with the **From chat** badge where it applies.
- **Conversation**: the visitor's first message. Click **View chat** to read the whole conversation. If it was deleted, the lead stays and shows "Conversation deleted".
- **Captured**: when the lead was first saved.
- **Last seen**: the latest visit, with a "came back" count when the same person submitted again.

Each contact appears once. If a visitor gives an email address or phone number that is already in the list, the existing row is updated.

Filter the list with **Field** (All, Email only, Phone only), **Start date** and **End date**. Use **Refresh** to load new leads, and tick rows to remove them with **Delete selected**.

## Export to CSV

**Export CSV** downloads every lead that matches the current filters, across all pages. The file has these columns: Email, Phone, Session ID, Conversation ID, Collected At, Last Seen At, Submissions and Source (Form or Chat). Dates are in UTC. Values that start with `+`, `=`, `-` or `@` get a leading apostrophe, so spreadsheet apps show a phone number as text instead of reading it as a formula.