Setting Up Custom Fields
Track the job details that matter to you, and let the AI do the data entry.
A custom field is any extra detail you want to track on a contact beyond the basics like name, phone, and address. Think roof type, insurance carrier, how the homeowner found you, or whether the house has more than one story. Custom fields matter because they turn a contact record into a full picture of the job, and in Alivo, your AI agents fill most of them in for you as they talk to leads. This page covers where your fields come from, the types available, and what gets handled during onboarding versus what you can add later.
Where Your Fields Come From
Custom fields get into Alivo one of two ways, and many businesses use both.
Mapped From Your CRM
If you use a CRM (the software where you keep your customer records) like JobNimbus or AccuLynx, its fields can be mapped to Alivo custom fields during your integration setup, which is part of what Alivo configures for you during onboarding. Mapped fields stay in sync: when the AI fills in a value or you update one, it can flow back to the matching field in your CRM, so nobody enters the same detail twice.
Created in Alivo
You can also create fields directly in Alivo, no CRM required, under Settings, then Templates, then Custom Fields. Each field gets a name, a plain-language description, and a type.
| Field Type | What It Stores | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Text | A word or short phrase | Insurance carrier, gate code |
| Number | A numeric value | Square footage, number of stories |
| Choice (dropdown) | One option from a list you define | Roof type: shingle, metal, or tile |
| Yes/No | A true or false value | Has insurance, homeowner present |
The AI Does the Data Entry
Here is the part that saves your team real time. After each text conversation or completed phone call, Alivo reads the full transcript and fills in any custom fields the conversation answered. If the homeowner mentioned their insurance carrier and you have an Insurance Carrier field, it gets written to the contact record automatically. A few things worth knowing about how it behaves:
- Descriptions steer the AI. Each field's description tells the AI what to look for. "The type of roofing material on the home, such as shingle, metal, tile, or flat" works far better than just "Roof Type."
- Dropdowns never guess. For choice fields, the AI only picks from the options you defined. If nothing matches, it leaves the field alone.
- Filled fields stay put. The AI only writes to a custom field that is empty. Once a value is set, by the AI, by you, or synced from your CRM, it will not overwrite it.
Good to know: you can test how the AI would fill your fields against a real past conversation without touching the actual contact. It is a handy way to sharpen a field description before relying on it.
What Happens During Onboarding
If you connect a CRM, field mapping happens as part of your integration setup, so the details your CRM already tracks carry straight through. Your agent scripts are also built to ask for the info you care about, which is what gives the AI something to extract in the first place. Adding your own fields on top of that is a natural thing to take on with your specialist in the sessions after go-live, once you have seen a few weeks of real conversations and know what you wish you were capturing.
Keep in mind: populated field values show up on the contact page, as columns in your Audience table, as chips on pipeline cards, and back in your CRM when the field is mapped. Set a field up once and it works everywhere.
Where to Go Deeper
For the full walkthrough, including the CRM mapping steps and every field option, see How to Configure Custom Fields in Alivo.
The takeaway: decide what job details matter, write clear descriptions, and let your agents gather the answers while they qualify leads and book inspections. Your records fill themselves in, and your CRM stays in sync without double entry.
Still have a question this didn't answer? Reach out to our support team support@alivo.ai and we'll be glad to help.