What this article helps with: Finding and managing contact records in Hona, including searching for contacts, adjusting notification preferences, and understanding why some fields can't be edited directly in Hona.
Who this is for: Firm staff with access to the Contacts section in Hona.
When not to use this article: If you need to update a contact's name, phone number, or email and your firm uses a CMS integration, you must make that change in your CMS (Filevine, Clio, MyCase, etc.) — not in Hona. See Integrations: What is Syncing? for more on how data syncs.
Overview
The Contacts section in Hona gives you a centralized view of all client and contact records tied to your active and archived projects. It's designed to make it easy to access, update, and navigate contact information across your firm.
Default View
The main table includes the following columns:
First and Last Name
Email Address
Phone Number
Associated Projects
You can use the search bar to quickly locate a specific contact by name or email.
Tips
Click on any project name in the "Associated Projects" column to open that project directly in Hona.
Add or remove columns using the buttons on the top right of the page.
Contact Details & Preferences
Clicking on a contact opens a panel on the right-hand side of the screen, where you can:
Change Language Preference — Set the contact's preferred language for notifications.
Adjust Notification Preferences — Choose how the contact receives messages (SMS, email, or both).
Edit Contact Information (see editing restrictions below)
Editing Restrictions with Integrations
If your firm is connected to a case management system (CMS), contact details such as name, phone number, and email are pulled in automatically via your integration.
These fields cannot be edited directly in Hona.
To update integrated contact data, edit the record in your CMS (Filevine, Clio, MyCase, etc.). Changes will sync into Hona automatically on the next nightly sync, or you can trigger a manual sync immediately on that project.
Why is this? Your CMS is the source of truth for case and contact data. Hona pulls from it — allowing edits in Hona would create conflicting data, which would be overwritten by the next sync anyway.
Troubleshooting
Contact information is wrong in Hona (wrong phone, email, or name) — Update the contact in your CMS and wait for the nightly sync, or manually sync that project in Hona. The CMS value will overwrite what is shown in Hona.
Can't find a contact using search — Try searching by email instead of name, or check whether the project is archived. Archived project contacts may still appear in the Contacts list.
Contact preferences (language, notifications) not saving — These are the only fields that can be edited directly in Hona. If changes aren't saving, contact [email protected].
Contact shows on a project but not in Contacts list — The Contacts section reflects all contacts tied to active and archived projects. If a contact is missing, the project may not have synced correctly. See Integrations: What is Syncing?.
If there are any additional questions, please reach out to your dedicated account rep or to [email protected].