> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.voxworks.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Data Collection - Name, Date of Birth, Phone & Alphanumeric > Four single-purpose composite tools that each collect and verify one value by voice (a name, a date of birth, a phone number or an alphanumeric reference), with look-back, format checks and attempt limits. ## What they do Four composite tools each collect **one** value from the caller by voice and verify it before saving it: | Tool | Collects | Verification | | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Data Collection - Name** | One name: a first name *or* a last name, never both | Read-back to confirm, plus optional letter-by-letter spelling | | **Data Collection - Date of Birth** | One date | Read-back to confirm. If the caller gives only part of the date, the missing part is asked for. | | **Data Collection - Phone** | One phone number | Read-back to confirm, digit by digit. The number is formatted and checked before it is saved. | | **Data Collection - Alphanumeric** | One reference, policy number, registration or similar | Read-back to confirm, character by character, with an optional format check | They are single-purpose versions of [Data Collection - v0.2](/tools/composite/data-collection). Instead of choosing a **Type**, you pick the tool that matches the data. Each adds features the general tool doesn't have: picking up a value the caller already said earlier in the call (**Lookback**), a configurable attempt limit, a custom give-up line and, on Alphanumeric, a way to strip prefixes and stray words from the value. Each is a [composite tool](/tools/composite-tools): the whole exchange runs behind a single step. Use one step per value. To collect a first and a last name, place two **Data Collection - Name** steps. *** ## How a collection runs Every use enters through the same checks, in this order: 1. **Skip If Set.** If the referenced variable already holds a real value, the step ends at once with a true result. Nothing is spoken. 2. **Existing Value.** If a pre-populated value is supplied, the assistant confirms it instead of asking fresh: "I have your last name as Smith, is that right?" 3. **Lookback.** If **Lookback** is on, the recent conversation is checked for a value the caller already said, for example "Hi, it's Jane Smith" when collecting the last name. A hit is confirmed the same way as an Existing Value. 4. **Fresh ask.** Otherwise the assistant asks for the value, using **First Message** if you set one. From there the confirmation, spelling and correction loops run as the tool requires. Each stage (asking, confirming, spelling) is limited to **Max Attempts** tries. When the limit is reached the assistant says a short move-on line ("That's okay, let's move on.", or your **Move On Line**) and the step finishes false. After a successful capture the assistant says a short acknowledgement such as "Noted." unless **Skip Moving On** is on. *** ## Inputs ### Common to all four tools | Setting | Description | Default | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | **Field Description** | What is being collected, spoken inside the question. Use lower case, for example `first name`, `date of birth`, `mobile number` or `policy number`. One field only. Required. | — | | **Existing Value** | A pre-populated value, typically a contact field such as `{{contact.first_name}}` (string, e.g. `Jane`). When present, the assistant confirms it rather than asking fresh. | — | | **Skip If Set** | A variable reference, usually the same variable the output is mapped to. If it holds a real value, the step ends at once with a true result and nothing is spoken. | — | | **First Message** | A custom opening line for the first ask when there is no existing value. | Standard wording | | **Data Context** | Background the assistant can use to answer the caller's questions about the field (for example, why it's needed), and may share when it helps. | — | | **Custom Keywords** | Extra comma-separated words for the speech recogniser to listen for on this field, added to the tool's built-in set. See [Key Terms](/conversation-dynamics/keywords). | — | | **Skip Moving On** | When on, a successful capture ends silently instead of with the short acknowledgement. Useful when collecting several fields back to back. It never silences the give-up line or the apology after a technical failure. | Off | | **Max Attempts** | Total tries at each stage (asking, confirming, spelling). The default 5 means one ask plus up to four re-asks. Each stage has its own count. | `5` | | **Lookback** | How much of the conversation to check, once at the start, for a value the caller has already said: **None**, **Last 2**, **Last 4**, **Last 6**, **Last 8**, **Last 10** or **Full**. "Last N" counts individual messages from either side. An Existing Value always wins over a Lookback hit. | None | | **Lookback Ignore** | Values the Lookback must never pick up, comma-separated. Normally the variables holding fields you have already collected, so a phone number the caller just gave isn't picked up as this field. Matching ignores case, spaces and punctuation. | — | | **Move On Line** | Replaces the line spoken when the tool gives up on the field. It is spoken word for word, so write one finished statement. It must not end in a question mark. To vary it, pass a `<>` list as the value (see [Script Text Functions](/scripts/text-functions)). | "That's okay, let's move on." and variants | **Data Context** and **Move On Line** carry over between uses within a call: a later Data Collection step that leaves one blank keeps the previous step's value. Once any step in a call sets either, set it on every Data Collection step in that call, passing an empty value where you want none / the default wording. ### Data Collection - Name | Setting | Description | Default | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | **Confirm** | Read the name back and ask the caller to confirm it. | On | | **Spell** | Ask the caller to spell the name, then spell it back for a final check. | Off | ### Data Collection - Date of Birth, Phone and Alphanumeric | Setting | Description | Default | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | **Check** | Read the value back and ask the caller to confirm it before it is saved. Turn it off to save the value with no read-back. | On | ### Data Collection - Alphanumeric only | Setting | Description | Default | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | **Format Pattern** | An optional regular expression the value must match before it is read back or saved. Start it with `^` and end it with `$`, for example `^[A-Za-z]{3}[0-9]{3}$` for three letters then three digits. Without them, any value that merely *contains* a match is accepted. When the value doesn't match, the assistant asks again. | — | | **Format Hint** | A short description of the expected shape, such as `6 letters and numbers`, used in the re-ask when the value doesn't match **Format Pattern**. | — | | **Keep Pattern** | An optional regular expression describing the value itself, used to strip anything around it. For example, `2[0-9]{6}` turns `Q-2600114` into `2600114`. It is applied before the format check and the read-back, so what is stored and what the caller hears match. Normally written *without* `^` and `$`. When nothing matches, the value is left unchanged. | — | Test your patterns before using them. A pattern that isn't valid ends the collection through the failure path on a live call. *** ## Outputs | Output | Description | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **result** | Hidden boolean that routes the step. True when a value was collected (or Skip If Set fired). False when the caller declined or the attempt limit was reached. | | **Collected Value** | The confirmed value as a string. Map it to a durable variable, usually the matching contact field, in **Output mapping**. | ## Variables these tools write | Variable | Type | Example | Description | | ----------------------------------- | ------ | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `{{data_collection.output_result}}` | string | `Smith` | The confirmed value, the source of the **Collected Value** output. Empty when the tool finishes false. | All four tools share the `data_collection` namespace with Data Collection - v0.2, and each use overwrites it. Always map **Collected Value** to a contact field or custom variable rather than reading `{{data_collection.output_result}}` in later steps. *** ## Routing and wiring tips * **true**: the value was collected (or skipped because it was already set). **Otherwise**: the caller declined or the attempt limit was reached. * For an optional field, point true and Otherwise at the same next step so a failed collection never blocks the call. * Wire **Existing Value** and **Skip If Set** to the field you are collecting (for example `{{contact.last_name}}`) and map **Collected Value** back to the same field. * When collecting several fields in a row, turn on **Skip Moving On** and list the fields already collected in **Lookback Ignore**. * To collect an email address, use [SMS | Get Valid Email](/tools/composite/sms-get-email). For a value that is easier to type than say, use [SMS | Get Value](/tools/sms/get-value). *** ## Next Steps * [Data Collection - v0.2](/tools/composite/data-collection) — the general-purpose collection tool * [Composite Tools](/tools/composite-tools) — how composite steps run and write their outputs * [Variables](/flows/variables#data_collection) — the `data_collection` namespace