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

# Inbound Contacts

Inbound contacts are people who have called or messaged your agent.  Any contacts that have shown any interest will be saved to inbound contacts.

## Contact Details

Each inbound contact stores:

* **Phone number** — the caller's phone number (always present)
* **Name** — collected from calls or manually added
* **Email** — collected from forms or manually added
* **Notes** — free-form notes you can add to a contact

## Preferred Number

The **preferred number** is the default "from" number used when creating new SMS threads with a contact or call with a contact.

We automatically link one number to one contact so the contact associate the number and trust it more.

A perferred number is automatically linked when the contact calls / texts a number for the first time.

## Message Threads

You can send and receive SMS messages with inbound contacts directly from CallCow.

### Creating a Thread

1. Open a contact from the **/contacts/inbound** page.
2. Click **New Thread** to start a conversation.
3. Select a "from" number (the preferred number is pre-selected if one is set).
4. Type your message and send.

### Viewing Threads

Each thread shows the full message history between you and the contact on a specific number. You can have multiple threads with the same contact using different phone numbers.

### Sending Messages

Type a message in the thread view and click send. Messages are delivered via Twilio using the thread's "from" number.

## Inbound SMS Contacts

When someone sends an SMS to a phone number that is assigned to a workflow, an inbound contact is automatically created for that person.

* **Automatic creation** — The contact is created as soon as the first SMS is received from a new phone number.
* **Preferred number** — The phone number they texted is automatically set as their preferred number.
* **Workflow trigger** — If the phone number is assigned to an SMS-triggered workflow, the workflow will run automatically for the new contact.

This means you do not need to manually create contacts for people who text your numbers. Simply assign a phone number to your workflow, enable SMS, and any incoming text message will create the contact and trigger the workflow.

For instructions on enabling SMS on a phone number, see the [Phone Number Guide](/phone-number-guide#setting-up-sms).