The Collect Data Only agent is a Merlin Engage agent that gathers specific information from a contact by text or email. Unlike a Collect & Qualify agent, it isn't linked to a Merlin Qualify profile and makes no judgment about the lead. Its only goal is collecting the fields you've told it to ask for.

Because it doesn't require a Qualify profile, this agent works anywhere you need specific information from a matter, not only at intake. A common use is turning a long client questionnaire, like an estate planning intake form, into a text or email conversation, so a client can answer a handful of questions at a time instead of filling out one long form all at once.

You decide exactly which fields the agent asks for, including all your matter and contact standard fields and custom fields. Or you can pull them directly from an existing form. Each field can be marked High priority or Low priority: It will ask the questions in the order of the list, but High Priority fields may be asked multiple times if it couldn't capture a valid answer the first time.

If a field already has a value on the matter, the agent won't ask for it again.

Because this agent can be used in so many different contexts, it doesn't promise a human follow-up by default. Its closing message simply confirms the information was received (something like "I've added that to your file, and we're all set here."). If you want it to promise next steps, you can set that with Custom Instructions (under Engagement Settings below).

As the conversation progresses, the matter's fields are automatically updated:

A Collect Data Only agent can hand a contact directly to another agent once it's done, or route to a person instead. See Merlin Handovers for how that connection works.

It will never claim to be human. If someone asks, you choose whether it acknowledges being AI and continues, or hands the conversation to your team.

Go to Merlin → Engage → Agents, open the Collect Data Only tab, and click New Agent.

In the window that opens, choose Collect Data Only as the agent objective. Give the agent a name, and optionally turn on Analyze My Firm's Tone to have Merlin scan your past SMS messages for tone patterns.

Give the agent an Identity Name and, optionally, an Identity Role, and add one or more Supervisors. Choose a Communication Tone (Professional, Balanced, Casual, or Empathetic):

Set which Channels it can use (SMS, email, or both, with one marked primary.) Add any Custom Instructions or Never Say Rules the same way you would for any Engage agent.

Add any Custom Instructions or Never Say Rules the same way you would for any Engage agent:

A Collect Data Only agent can be triggered by an automation action, started directly from a matter, or reached as a handover from another agent.

From there, the rest of the settings work the same way they do for any Engage agent:

Operating Mode lets you choose how much autonomy the agent has:

AI Disclosure sets your AI Disclosure preference: either Escalate to a Human immediately or Acknowledge & Confirm before moving on with the conversation. If you choose Acknowledge and Confirm, you have the option for a custom confirmation message:\

Cadence

Quiet hours apply only to those follow-ups. Think of it as a delivery window for nudges, not for live conversation. Turn these on if you don't want unresponsive-lead follow-ups going out overnight or on weekends.

Engagement Summary determines if you want the agent to add a conversation summary to the matter's notes after engagement ends

Notifications will notified Supervisors when a conversation completed, was escalated to your team, or stopped because an exit condition was met.

You can set Matter-based exit conditions based on pipeline stage or matter status to stop the engagement.

The Collect Data Only Agent has one exit condition unique to it: it automatically stops once all required information has been collected.

This tab is specific to the Collect Data Only agent. You can:

For each field, you can edit the label the agent uses when it asks about it, and set its priority to High or Low.

It will ask the questions in the order of the list, but High Priority fields may be asked multiple times if it couldn't capture a valid answer the first time. Fields that already have a value are skipped:

Choose what happens next for each way a collection attempt can end:

For each, choose to hand off to another agent, notify a supervisor, or just stop here.

Use the Test Agent tab to run through a conversation before activating.

You'll have a preview of the information already existing on the matter and what will be asked:

As the conversation progresses, it will let you know what fields were successfully collected and with what values:

Can I set up conditional logic, like skipping a question if it doesn't apply based on an earlier answer?

Not currently. Every field marked High priority will be asked regardless of how earlier questions were answered. If a question won't apply to everyone, mark it Low priority so it's less likely to be reached, or leave it out of this agent's field list entirely.

Can I use General (Form Only) Fields?

The Collect Data Only agent only supports standard and custom fields.

If I pull the fields from a form, can this be used for a "Form Submitted" automation Entry condition?

It won't be considered a form submission, but you can trigger automations based on the outcome being "All Collected," "High Priority Fields Collected" or "Partially Collected" to have the same function.

For pricing details, see Merlin Pricing.