40.1 Purpose of Pre-Chat Lead Capture

AIUNIFY Chat can require visitor identification before the Chat panel unlocks.

The Pre-chat lead capture option is useful when the workspace wants contact information before allowing the visitor to begin the AI Conversation.

40.2 Enabling the Pre-Chat Gate

Open the Agent's Customize appearance page and locate Pre-chat lead capture.

Enable:

Require name + email before chat

When enabled, visitors see a Lead form before the Chat panel opens.

40.3 What the Visitor Experiences

After the visitor successfully submits the form, the Chat panel unlocks in the same widget without requiring a page reload.

The deployed system also tracks that the Lead has already been captured for the Conversation so the same returning Conversation does not repeatedly show the gate after a refresh.

40.4 Default Lead Form

If no custom Lead-form schema is configured, AIUNIFY Chat uses the default Name + Email form shape.

40.5 Custom Lead Form Fields

The Lead form fields section lets you define which information the Agent asks visitors to provide.

The deployed builder supports these field types:

• Text
• Email
• Phone
• Long text
• Dropdown
• Checkbox

40.6 Field Configuration

Depending on the field type, a field definition can include:

• Field key
• Label
• Type
• Required or optional state
• Placeholder
• Maximum length
• Dropdown options

The deployed schema supports up to 12 Lead-form fields.

40.7 Built-In Starting Presets

The Lead-form builder provides predefined starting shapes, including:

• Classic — Name + Email
• B2B SaaS — Name, Work email, Company, Team size
• Support — Email + Order ID + Issue category

You can start with a preset and then adjust the fields for the Agent's use case.

40.8 Same Schema for Pre-Chat and Mid-Conversation Capture

The custom Lead-form schema is shared between:

• The Pre-chat gate.
• The inline mid-Conversation Lead form.

This keeps the information requested from visitors consistent regardless of when Lead capture occurs.

40.9 Pre-Chat Gate vs. In-Chat Prompt Timing

The Pre-chat toggle determines whether the visitor must complete the form before Chat unlocks.

A separate setting controls when AIUNIFY Chat should automatically surface the Lead form during an already active Conversation. That timing behavior is covered in the next chapter.

40.10 Data-Minimization Best Practice

Collect only information the business actually needs. Avoid adding sensitive or unnecessary fields simply because the builder technically supports custom fields.

The Lead-form builder includes safeguards for potentially high-sensitivity field names. Treat any request for sensitive personal information as a deliberate data-governance decision.

40.11 Saving the Configuration

After configuring the pre-chat toggle and Lead-form fields, select Save customization.

Then test the visitor experience on the Agent's website or appropriate test environment to confirm that the form displays correctly and that submitted Leads appear in the Inbox.