Update lets the employee write a new value to a contact record based on what the contact says — see Choose which attributes to expose for how it relates to Read and Share. Update requires Read to already be enabled on that attribute.
Grant update access
- Open the Attributes tab on an employee.
- Add or select an attribute.
- Enable Update (Read is enabled automatically if it was not already).
- Save.
What Update is for
Update is what makes an employee useful for lead qualification and data capture, not just answering questions. It can collect a name, an email, a phone number, or any custom attribute you have defined, and save it straight to the contact record without anyone entering it manually afterward.
This matters most on channels like Live Chat, where a visitor starts out anonymous. Grant Update access to name, email, and phone number, and the employee can turn an anonymous chat into a fully identified contact over the course of a conversation.
Confirm before writing sensitive fields
Pair Update with a Boundaries guideline so the employee confirms a new value back to the contact before saving it — for example:
Before updating a contact’s email or phone number, confirm the new value back to the contact first.
Default to Read only for anything sensitive, and enable Update only for fields this specific employee is expected to capture. Turning on Update anywhere it isn’t needed just increases the odds of an accidental bad write.
