> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.outband.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Contact Models > How Outband builds and uses per-contact AI models to understand communication relationships. Contact Models are the foundation of Outband's intelligence. They are per-contact AI profiles that capture how each person communicates. ## What a Contact Model Contains Each Contact Model captures multiple dimensions of a person's communication: | Dimension | What it includes | | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Communication style** | Formality level, typical message length, vocabulary patterns, tone preferences | | **Response patterns** | Typical response time, preferred hours, urgency signals | | **Intent patterns** | What they commonly ask for, how they make requests, how they say yes or no | | **Relationship dynamics** | History between you and this contact, rapport signals, shared context | | **Cultural context** | Language preferences, honorific levels (Keigo for Japanese), formality expectations | ## How Contact Models Are Built Contact Models build automatically from your communication history: 1. **Initial build** -- When you first connect email, Outband analyzes 6-24 months of history and creates models for your top 50 contacts within the first hour 2. **Continuous refinement** -- Every new message you send or receive updates the relevant Contact Model 3. **Cross-channel enrichment** -- If you connect Slack or WhatsApp, messages from those channels enrich the same Contact Model 4. **User corrections** -- When you correct Outband's understanding, the model updates immediately ## Bilateral Intelligence Traditional AI tools only model one side of a conversation -- you. Outband models both sides: * **Your Personal DNA** captures how *you* communicate * **Contact Models** capture how *each contact* communicates * **Together** they enable Perception Prediction -- predicting how a specific person will interpret a specific message from you This bilateral approach is what enables the "Tanaka-san moment": knowing not just what to say, but how it will be received. ## Confidence Scoring Every Contact Model has a confidence score based on four factors: | Factor | Low confidence | High confidence | | ----------------- | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | **Data volume** | Few messages analyzed | Hundreds of messages analyzed | | **Recency** | Last interaction months ago | Recent, active communication | | **Consistency** | Communication patterns vary a lot | Stable, predictable patterns | | **Context match** | Limited context available | Rich, multi-channel context | The confidence score is visible on every Contact Model and on briefing items. It helps you gauge how much to rely on Outband's analysis for a given contact. ## Personal DNA Your Personal DNA is the Contact Model that represents you. It captures: * Your writing style and vocabulary * Your tone preferences across different contexts * Your typical response patterns * Your communication priorities Personal DNA is what makes AI drafts sound like you, not like a generic AI. ## The RLHF Feedback Loop Every interaction with Outband improves your Contact Models: 1. Outband generates a draft or makes a prediction 2. You review and either approve, edit, or reject 3. Your feedback is fed back into the model 4. Future interactions with that contact become more accurate This creates a virtuous cycle: the more you use Outband, the better it gets, which makes you use it more, which makes it even better. ## Privacy Contact Models are built from your private communication data. Important privacy facts: * Contact Models are **not shared** with the contacts themselves * Non-consenting contacts (people who are not Outband users) have models built under legitimate interest, with no personally identifiable information stored in model weights * Any contact can request a data subject access report or deletion of their model * Your Contact Models are fully exportable and deletable at any time For more details, see [Privacy & Data](/concepts/privacy-and-data). ## Related Step-by-step guide to using Contact Models. How Contact Models power draft generation.