A contact is a person who is assigned to act on behalf of a participant. Contacts are useful if a participant is unable to speak directly with the organization or if the participant is a large body that has designated an individual to handle its interactions. For example, if a person is incapacitated, all the person's interactions with the organization can be conducted through a contact. Or, if a product provider is a large company, a representative of the company might be listed as the company contact.
If a contact who has not been registered as a participant is added, he or she is automatically registered as a representative. The information entered for the contact is used for the new representative.