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The TalkChief integration for ActiveCampaign logs every TalkChief phone call on the matching ActiveCampaign contact and tags the contact with the call’s outcome, such as TalkChief - Missed call. Because tags can start ActiveCampaign automations, a call can trigger a follow-up sequence on its own, for example a “sorry we missed you” email after a missed call. ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a sign-in flow for apps, so you connect with your account’s API URL and API key.

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What the integration does

  • Logs every external call as a note: each inbound and outbound call adds a note to the contact. Calls between two TalkChief extensions are not logged.
  • Finds the right contact: TalkChief looks up the caller’s number (or the number you dialed) in the contact’s Phone field, in the formats people usually type, such as +15551234567, 5551234567 or +1 555-555-1234.
  • Tags the call’s outcome: the contact gets one TalkChief outcome tag that shows how its last call went (see Start automations from calls).
  • Creates contacts for new numbers: when no contact has the number, TalkChief creates one with the number and the caller ID name, and tags it TalkChief - Created from call. This needs phone-only contacts in your ActiveCampaign account (see Before you start). You can turn it off.
  • Adds the recording: when the call was recorded, the note includes a link to the recording.
Each note looks like this:
The note’s author in ActiveCampaign is the user whose API key you connected; the agent who handled the call is named in the note. Calls usually appear in ActiveCampaign within a few minutes of hanging up.
There is no calling panel inside ActiveCampaign, because ActiveCampaign has no calling framework for apps. Place and answer calls with your TalkChief app or desk phone as usual; every call is logged in ActiveCampaign the same way. To start calls from your own tools, see the Click-to-Call API.

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Before you start

  • You are a company admin in TalkChief.
  • You have the API URL and API key of an ActiveCampaign user in the Admin group. We recommend a dedicated user for TalkChief (for example “TalkChief integration”): notes in ActiveCampaign show that user as the author, and the connection stops working if that user is deleted.
  • To create contacts for new numbers, your ActiveCampaign account must allow contacts without an email address (phone-only contacts). Without it, calls from numbers ActiveCampaign doesn’t have are not logged. Ask ActiveCampaign support if you’re not sure whether your account has it.
  • One ActiveCampaign account can be connected to one TalkChief company.

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Find your API URL and key

1

Sign in as the integration user

Sign in to ActiveCampaign as the Admin user whose key TalkChief will use. Each ActiveCampaign user has their own API URL and key.
2

Open Developer settings

Select Settings (gear icon), then Developer.
3

Copy both values

Copy the API URL (it looks like https://yourcompany.api-us1.com) and the API key. Use the API URL exactly as shown there. The address you see in your browser while using ActiveCampaign (yourcompany.activehosted.com) is not the API URL and is not accepted.

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Connect ActiveCampaign

1

Open Integrations in TalkChief

In the TalkChief web app, select Integrations under Configuration in the sidebar. The page opens on the CRM tab.
2

Start the connection

On the ActiveCampaign card, select Connect. A window asks for your API URL and API key.
3

Enter the API URL and key

Paste the API URL and the API key, then select Connect. TalkChief checks them with ActiveCampaign right away.
4

Confirm in TalkChief

A message confirms that ActiveCampaign is connected, and the card moves to your connected integrations with a Connected label.
5

Test with a real call

Make or receive a call with TalkChief. A few minutes after you hang up, open the contact in ActiveCampaign and check that the note and the outcome tag are there.
TalkChief stores the API key encrypted and uses it only to log calls in ActiveCampaign.

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Choose what gets logged

On the connected ActiveCampaign card in Integrations, select the settings (gear) icon. The ActiveCampaign settings window shows the connected account and three switches you can change at any time. Each change applies to calls that end afterwards.

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Start automations from calls

After each call, TalkChief removes the contact’s previous TalkChief outcome tag and applies the tag for this call: Contacts that TalkChief creates also get TalkChief - Created from call, so you can leave them out of email sends until you know more about them. To follow up automatically, create an automation in ActiveCampaign with the Tag is added start trigger, choose one of the TalkChief tags, and set it to run multiple times. ActiveCampaign starts such an automation again only when the tag was removed and added again, which TalkChief does on every call, so the automation runs after each matching call. The Tag is added trigger is available on every ActiveCampaign plan.
Each tag appears in ActiveCampaign after the first call that uses it. To build an automation before that, create the tag yourself in ActiveCampaign with exactly the name shown above; TalkChief then uses your tag.

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Data TalkChief uses in ActiveCampaign

With your API key, TalkChief: TalkChief does not read or change your deals, lists, campaigns, automations or other tags, and it does not copy your ActiveCampaign contacts into TalkChief.

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Disconnect ActiveCampaign

To stop logging calls, open Integrations in TalkChief and select the trash icon on the ActiveCampaign card (or Disconnect in the ActiveCampaign settings window), then confirm with Yes, disconnect. When you disconnect:
  • Calls are no longer logged in ActiveCampaign. Calls that were waiting to be logged are dropped.
  • TalkChief deletes the API key it stored.
  • Notes, tags and contacts already in ActiveCampaign stay there. Nothing is deleted from ActiveCampaign.
The API key itself keeps working in ActiveCampaign until you reset it. If no other app uses that key, reset it: in ActiveCampaign, go to Settings > Developer and select Reset API Key. Any other app that uses the key must then be updated with the new one. You can connect again at any time: the ActiveCampaign card returns to Discover more integrations, where you select Connect.

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Troubleshooting

Copy the API URL from Settings > Developer in ActiveCampaign. It looks like https://yourcompany.api-us1.com. The address of the ActiveCampaign app in your browser (yourcompany.activehosted.com) is not accepted. If your Developer page shows an API URL in a different form and TalkChief refuses it, contact TalkChief support.
Copy the key again from Settings > Developer, signed in as the same user as the API URL. A key stops working when it is reset or its user is deleted.
If TalkChief says it could not reach ActiveCampaign at this API URL, check the URL. If it says ActiveCampaign is busy, wait a minute and try again.
The card shows Reconnect needed when ActiveCampaign no longer accepts the API key, usually because the key was reset or its user was deleted. Select Reconnect and enter a current API URL and key. Calls that ended in the meantime are logged once you reconnect, as long as you reconnect within 7 days.
Your ActiveCampaign account requires an email address for every contact, so TalkChief can’t create a contact for a new number. The ActiveCampaign settings window shows this under Last problem. Turn on phone-only contacts in ActiveCampaign (ask ActiveCampaign support if you can’t find it), or add the contact yourself. TalkChief tries new numbers again a few hours later.
The API key’s ActiveCampaign user may not manage tags. Connect with the key of a user in the Admin group.
An ActiveCampaign account can be connected to only one TalkChief company, so that each company’s calls stay in its own CRM. Disconnect it from the other TalkChief company first.
TalkChief matches the contact by its Phone field. Check that the contact has the caller’s number there. If Create contacts for new numbers is off, calls from numbers ActiveCampaign doesn’t have are not logged.
In the automation’s Tag is added trigger, set it to run multiple times. Otherwise ActiveCampaign runs it only the first time the tag is added to a contact.
The recording link is added only when the call was recorded. Check that call recording is on for that number or team in TalkChief.
For anything else, contact TalkChief support at support@talkchief.io.