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Manage protected contact categories

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Summary

Learn how to use protected categories to limit access to sensitive prospecting groups such as pipeline segments or vendor lists, while maintaining collaboration across authorised offices.

This article covers:

About protected contact categories

Protected Contact Categories allow you to control who can see contacts when filtering by specific categories such as Vendor A/B, Hot/Warm/Cold, or Pipeline A/B/C. These controls help prevent users from viewing prospects outside their authorised office or role permissions.

When a category is marked as Protected, it adds an extra layer of security by limiting visibility in CRM search results. Only users with the appropriate Access Control List (ACL) permissions will see contacts assigned to that Protected Category.

This feature is particularly useful for teams operating open databases, as it protects sensitive prospecting information and helps maintain confidentiality across teams.

How it works

When a category is marked as protected:

  • The category still appears in search filters
  • However, the contacts returned in search results depend on the user’s permissions

If a user does not have the required permissions, they will only see contacts that they personally manage within that protected category.

If a user has broader permissions, they may see contacts assigned to consultants in their office or authorised offices.

Set ACLs for Protected Categories

Control search visibility across consultants and offices.

To configure ACLs for protected categories:

  • Go to: Settings > General > Access
  • Select Contacts > Contact details > Contact categories
  • Review the two ACLs:
  • Under Privileges, click Include Protected Categories in search results for consultants within their own office or an authorised office - This permission allows users to see contacts with protected categories if the assigned consultant belongs to:
    • Their own office, or
    • An authorised office
  • Add Roles and Groups
  • Under Privileges, click Include Protected Categories in search results for all offices - This permission acts as a full override
    • Users with this permission can see all contacts with protected categories, regardless of office ownership
  • Add Roles and Groups
Tip: Assign the first ACL to relevant user roles or groups (usually everyone by default). Grant the global override sparingly to admins or trusted users who need full visibility across all offices.

Add or mark a category as Protected

Marking a category as Protected ensures that when users filter on this category, only contacts they’re allowed to see are returned.
 

To mark a category as protected:

  • Go to: CRM > Set up Categories
  • Click Add contact category or select a category to edit an existing one
  • Under Edit Client Category, toggle Protected 
  • Click Save

Search results change depending on a user’s permissions.

Scenario 1: User without protected category permissions

When you filter by a protected category:

  • You will only see contacts they personally manage within that category
  • Contacts assigned to other consultants will not appear in results

Scenario 2: User with authorised office permissions

When you have the authorised office ACL:

  • You will see contacts where the category consultant belongs to their office or authorised offices
  • Contacts from consultants in other offices that you are not authorised with will not appear
Tip: In the contact search filter drop‑down, Protected Categories appear in purple for easy identification.

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