Settings & Configuration

Administrators configure SurelyCrm through the Settings panel. This guide covers user management, statuses, templates, custom fields, telephony, payment providers, and application-level configuration.

Admin Only: Most settings pages require the Administrator role. If you do not see these options, contact your system administrator.

User Management

Navigate to Settings > Users to manage team members.

Creating a User

  1. Click New User.
  2. Enter their name, email, and phone number.
  3. Assign a role: Administrator or Standard User.
  4. Set a temporary password or let the system generate one.
  5. Save. The user can log in immediately.

Managing Users

ActionEffect
EditUpdate name, email, role, or reset password
LockPrevent login without deleting the account
UnlockRestore login access
DeletePermanently remove the user. Reassign their customers first.

Statuses

Statuses define your customer pipeline. Go to Settings > Statuses to create, edit, or remove them.

Each status has:

  • Value — The display name (e.g., "Active", "On Hold")
  • Colour — Visual indicator on customer cards
  • Sort Order — Controls display order in dropdowns

Statuses can be referenced in workflows, custom views, bulk actions, and automated actions. Deleting a status that is in use may break existing customer records, so archive carefully.

Email & SMS Templates

Templates ensure consistent communication. Create them in Settings > Email Templates and Settings > SMS Templates.

Template Tokens

Insert dynamic values using the [Entity.Property] syntax — property names are matched exactly, including case:

TokenResolves To
[Customer.Firstname]Customer's first name
[Customer.Surname]Customer's surname
[Customer.ReferenceNumber]Unique reference number
[Customer.EmailAddress]Email address
[Customer.MobilePhone]Mobile number
[Customer.HomePhone]Home number
[Customer.Address1]First line of address
[Customer.Postcode]Postcode
[Customer.ExtraField.FieldName]Value of a custom field

Any property of the record can be referenced this way. Dates render as dd/MM/yyyy, money as currency, and true/false values as Yes/No. Tokens that don't match a property are left as-is.

Cloning Templates

Use the Clone action to duplicate an existing template as a starting point. This is useful for seasonal campaigns or A/B testing variations.

Notification Groups

Notification groups are reusable recipient lists you can target from workflow Email and SMS stages. Manage them in Administration > Notification Groups.

Each group has a Group Name, an optional Description, a Group Type, and one or more entries. The type controls how entries are validated:

Group TypeValidation Applied
Phone NumbersEvery entry is validated as a mobile number; use international format where possible (e.g. +447700900123)
Email AddressesEvery entry must be a valid email address
Free TextNo format validation; entries are stored as entered

Entries are checked before the group is saved, and a group must contain at least one entry. When a workflow stage uses a group, the message is sent to every entry without creating customer notification history.

Custom Fields

Administrators create custom fields in Settings > Custom Fields. Each field has:

  • Name — Internal identifier (no spaces)
  • Label — Display name shown to users
  • Type — Text, Number, Date, DateTime, Boolean, or Select
  • Required — Whether the field is mandatory
  • Active — Inactive fields are hidden but preserve data
  • Display Order — Sort position on the customer form

For Select fields, define the allowed options as a comma-separated list. Custom fields appear on every customer profile and can be used in workflows, views, and calendar templates.

Document Types

Document types categorise uploaded files. Configure them in Settings > Document Types. Examples:

  • Contract
  • ID Verification
  • Proof of Address
  • Invoice
  • Correspondence

You can clone document types and assign them display colours for quick visual recognition.

Telephony Configuration

To enable the built-in phone system, go to Settings > Application Settings and configure the Twilio section:

SettingDescription
Twilio SIDYour Twilio Account SID
Twilio App SIDYour TwiML Application SID
Twilio API KeyAPI Key for token generation
Twilio API SecretSecret for the API Key
Twilio Phone NumberYour purchased Twilio number
Enable IntegrationMaster toggle for telephony features
Hold MusicAudio played to callers on hold
Recording ChannelMono or dual-channel call recording

Security: Twilio credentials grant access to your phone system. Store them securely and rotate the API Secret regularly.

Payment Providers

SurelyCrm supports payment provider integrations for processing customer payments. Go to Settings > Payment Providers to configure them.

Currently supported:

  • PayPal — Full integration with sandbox and live modes
  • Stripe — Coming soon
  • GoCardless — Coming soon

For each provider you will need:

  • Client ID / Public Key
  • Client Secret / Private Key
  • Sandbox mode toggle (recommended for testing)

Click Test Connection to verify credentials before going live.

Bank Accounts

Bank accounts record the accounts you use to track bank transfer payments. Manage them in Administration > Bank Accounts under Payment & Financial.

Each account has:

  • Account Name — A label for the account (e.g. "Main Business Account")
  • Bank Name — The bank the account is held with
  • Account Number and Sort Code — The account details
  • Active — Only active accounts appear in payment forms
  • Notes — Optional free-text details

All fields except Notes are required. Accounts can be edited or deleted from the list at any time.

Application Settings

The Application Settings page controls global behaviour:

  • Company Name — Displayed in emails and the portal
  • Default Email From — Sender address for system emails
  • Portal Settings — Require authentication, enable messaging
  • Twilio Integration — Telephony configuration

License Limits

Open Administration > License Limits to see which features are licensed for this CRM and the limits that apply. The status table shows, per feature:

  • Status — Active or No License
  • Limit — The licensed allowance, or Unlimited
  • Valid From / Valid Until — The licence validity period
  • License Code — The code currently applied

To activate a feature, enter the code supplied to you in the Claim License Code box — codes use the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX — and click Claim License. A success or error message confirms the result.

Application Logs

The Administration > Application Logs page is a searchable viewer for logs written by background services and system components. You can filter by:

  • Date From / Date To — The period to search
  • Sources — One or more components that wrote the logs
  • Levels — Debug, Information, Warning, or Error
  • Search — Free text matched against the message, exception, source, and tenant

Click Filter to apply the filters or Clear to reset them. Results show the timestamp, level, source, tenant, and message for each entry, with the full exception detail where one was recorded. Results are paged, 50 entries per page, with the total count shown above the table.

Feature Toggles

Administrators manage tenant-specific feature toggles from Administration > Feature Toggles. A toggle changes only the current tenant's CRM database.

Reference-backed campaign promotion

ReferenceBackedCampaignPromotion is disabled by default. Enable it only after the tenant's database migrations have completed and the external integration is ready.

When enabled, it exposes the external campaign-location, campaign-selection, campaign-create, and atomic Lead/Opportunity promotion endpoints. When disabled, all of those /Api/external/... endpoints return 404. Existing UUID-based CRM APIs stay available to their existing clients, but they are not an alternative contract for Dark Leads and do not expose external references.

Before enabling the toggle, confirm that locations are active and campaigns are assigned to their intended locations. Use opaque externalReference values for the integration; a campaign's display referenceCode is not its external identity. See the External Promotion API for retry, conflict, and eligibility behaviour.

Automated sample-site claim

AutomatedSampleSiteClaim is disabled by default. Enable it only when an external sample-site claimer is ready to poll and claim Leads for the tenant.

When enabled, it exposes:

  • GET /Api/leads/byStatus — a bounded, status-filtered Lead listing that returns opaque external references, status, and created timestamps only. The listing is read-only.
  • POST /Api/leads/claim — an atomic compare-and-set claim that transitions one Lead from New to Processing by opaque external reference. Concurrent claimers: exactly one succeeds; others receive 409.

When disabled, both endpoints return 404. Neither endpoint returns CRM UUIDs or contact data. See the Lead Status List API and Lead Claim API.

SalesBrief

SalesBrief is disabled by default. Enable it to show the SalesBrief textarea on the authorised Lead create and edit form and to expose the Lead Read API.

When enabled, the form shows a SalesBrief textarea with a live character count and the same 8,000-character limit as storage, and GET /Api/external/leads/{externalReference} returns the stored external reference, business name, brief, and optional contact email and phone for the tenant. The brief is plain text or simple Markdown stored as untrusted text and is never rendered as trusted HTML. While the toggle is disabled the form field and read API are inaccessible: the field is hidden and a direct form submission cannot store or replace a brief, and the read endpoint returns 404. The external promotion endpoint stores a supplied brief at Lead creation even while this toggle is off; only the form and read API are gated.

AI

AI is disabled by default. Enable it only after you are ready to connect an AI provider and configure the tenant on the AI Settings page.

When enabled, it exposes the whole AI family: the AI Settings admin page (admin dropdown and dashboard tile), AI auto-reply on inbound correspondence email, the AI Reply Queue for reviewing generated replies, and the Generate with AI button on the Email Templates and SMS Templates edit pages. When disabled, all navigation entries are hidden and direct access to those pages returns 404. See AI Email Assistant for the configuration fields and reply workflow.

AI customer summary

AiCustomerSummary is a child of the AI toggle and is disabled by default. It has its own toggle because every summary consumes provider tokens; both toggles (and a saved AI configuration) must be on before anything summary-related appears. It can be switched from the Feature Toggles page or directly from the AI customer summary switch on the AI Settings page — both flip the same toggle.

When enabled, the customer overview page shows an AI Summary card that loads a short summary of the customer's current position automatically after the page renders (asynchronously, so page load is unaffected). When either toggle is disabled the card is hidden and the endpoint returns 404. See AI Email Assistant for details.

Unknown sender processing

UnknownSenderProcessing is disabled by default. It is a rule-based email-agent feature, separate from AI: no provider or API key is involved.

When enabled, the Unknown Sender Action setting appears on the Email Agent admin page and the email agent applies it to inbound correspondence whose sender matches no existing customer: do nothing (default), create a customer, or create a lead. When disabled, the setting is hidden and unknown senders are only logged to the inbound email ledger. See Unknown Sender Processing for the exact matching and creation rules.

Leads

Leads controls the top-level sales modules. When enabled, Campaigns and Leads appear in the main sidebar and the Campaign Locations entry appears in the admin dropdown. When disabled, those navigation entries are hidden. The Opportunities and Lead Tasks links sit inside this section, so this toggle must be on before either of them can appear.

Opportunities

Opportunities is enabled by default. It enables opportunities to track deals and pipeline value against leads: the Opportunities sidebar link, the Opportunities tab on the Lead form, and the opportunity counts and recent opportunities on the dashboard.

When disabled, the navigation entries and dashboard cards are hidden and the Opportunities pages return 404. The sidebar link only appears when the Leads toggle is also on.

LeadTasks

LeadTasks is enabled by default. It enables lead tasks to create and track follow-up to-dos against leads: the Lead Tasks sidebar link, the Tasks tab on the Lead form, and the open, overdue, and upcoming task panels on the dashboard.

When disabled, the navigation entries and dashboard panels are hidden and the Lead Tasks pages return 404. The sidebar link only appears when the Leads toggle is also on.

Campaign Locations

Every campaign is assigned to a location, so set up locations before creating campaigns. Administrators manage the list from Administration > Campaign Locations (under Campaigns in the admin dropdown), or from the Add Location button on the Campaigns page. The entry is only visible while the Leads feature toggle is on.

Each location has:

  • Name — Required; shown when assigning campaigns
  • Description — Optional free text
  • Active — New locations are active by default

Locations can be edited or deleted from the list. Choose the location when creating or editing a campaign; it is a required field on the campaign form.

Support Categories

Configure support ticket categories in Settings > Support Categories. Categories help route tickets and generate analytics. You can activate or deactivate categories without losing historical data.