Using the Connect App in ContactDrive

Connect helps you keep in touch with your key contacts through SMS, email, phone, and more. It turns "I should call some people" into a structured session — a list, in an order, with a script, a record of what happened, and a way to hand the work to someone else.

Get a complete overview in the video below, or keep scrolling for the detailed guide.

Adding Connect to your workspace

1. Log into your ContactDrive account.
2. On the left sidebar, click the Apps icon.
3. Click Browse at the upper right of your screen.
4. Click the Connect app.
5. Click the green Add to Workspace button.
6. Connect now appears in your sidebar.

Creating a session

A session is one batch of outreach: who you're contacting, in what order, with what message.

1. Click Connect in the sidebar.
2. Click Start New — it's in the middle of the screen, and also at the upper right.
3. Choose your contact source (see below).
4. Give the session a name. Something you'll recognize later — "Derby Invites 2026" beats "Session 4".
5. Assign it to a user. Assign it to yourself if you're doing the calling, or to someone else if you're building their list for them.
6. Click Add Session.

Your session appears on the main Connect screen with a green Start Calling button.

Choosing a contact source

Where the session's contacts come from, and whether that set can change afterward:

Static vs. dynamic is the decision worth understanding.

A static session resolves its source once and freezes. That's usually what you want: if you're calling everyone tagged Volunteer as of this morning, the set shouldn't shift underneath you while you're working through it.

A dynamic session keeps re-evaluating, so contacts that start matching get added. Useful for a standing session you work continuously.

Saved Views and Lists are static only — those sources can't be re-evaluated live. A List source also preserves the list's own contact order, because the order a list was curated in is the order it should be called in. And it's a snapshot: later changes to the list don't flow into a session you've already created.

Building your audience with a saved view

The most flexible source is a saved view, since you can filter on anything.

1. Open Contacts.
2. Apply filters to narrow the list — location, prior history, custom fields, past activity, whatever's relevant. Click Columns to add more fields to filter on.
3. Click Save New View, and be sure to include the filters so the view is limited to your filtered group.
4. Give it a descriptive name, like "Prior Attendees".

That view is then selectable as a Connect session source.

Session settings

Open a session, click the three dots next to the session name, then Manage Settings.

Name and assignment

Rename the session or reassign it to a different user.

Quick Mode

Controls what happens after you send a text:

• On — the app advances immediately to the next contact. Ideal for sending personal messages to a group at speed.
• Off — you stay on the current contact, so you can add notes or try another channel. Right when you're calling and texting the same person.

Quick Fill

Quick Fill is the feature that makes long sessions bearable, and the most-missed one. These are pre-defined buttons that apply notes, tags, and completion status in one click.

To set one up:

1. Click Add Option.
2. Name the button after an outcome — "Will Attend", "Can't Attend", "Left Voicemail".
3. Add the note that should auto-fill.
4. Select tags to apply. You can create new tags here.
5. Choose whether this outcome marks the contact Complete.

You can add up to five Quick Fill options. Pick the five outcomes that actually cover most of your calls — that's most of your data entry gone.

Templates

Click the Manage Templates tab to set up:

• A text message template — pre-fills for each contact and opens your phone's messaging app with the personalized draft ready to send.
• An email template — subject and body, pre-filled the same way.

Remember to save your changes.

Ordering and prepping the list

Inside a session, click View Contacts:

• Reorder by dragging contacts. Call the most important people while you're fresh.
• Change status on any contact, including marking them Complete.
• Add briefing notes — short notes that appear on screen while you're calling that person. Invaluable when you're building a list for somebody else: "met at the gala, asked about the scholarship fund."

Save your changes after reordering or adding notes.

Making calls

Click Start Calling.

On desktop you get:

• Contact history — a full-screen view of your prior engagement with this person: past calls, emails, notes.
• Contact details — the relevant facts.
• Send email and send text message, using your templates.
• Notes and tags — record what was said and categorize the contact.
• Next contact to move on.

On mobile, the interface is optimized for one-handed use. Click the mobile icon at the top right to display a QR code — scan it with your phone to open the session in your mobile browser. You can also copy the session link to share or save for later.

This is how most calling actually happens: build the session at your desk, scan the code, work the list from your phone.

Recording outcomes

As you finish each conversation, hit the relevant Quick Fill button to apply its note, tags, and status in one click — then add custom notes on top for anything specific. Click Complete to move to the next person.

Notes and status recorded in a session stay with that session, so you can see how a specific push went without it being buried in each contact's full timeline.

Resetting a session

Calling the same list again for follow-up? You don't need a new session.

1. In your session, go to Manage Settings.
2. Click Reset Session and confirm.

This clears the Status column for every contact so you can work the list again. Notes and ordering remain intact — you keep everything you learned the first time round.

Working as a team

• The Connect widget on your ContactDrive dashboard drops you back into your session where you left off.
• With the Dashboard app enabled, you and your team see results in real time as calls are made — so support staff can follow up immediately rather than waiting for a handoff.