This article explains how to set up and use Comms and docs > Chat assistant. The chatbot is an AI assistant that answers employees' questions using the company documents you upload (e.g. staff regulations, a benefits guide) as its source. Users with Communication Module Administrator Permission configure it; employees who are given access ask questions.
Before you start
The documents you upload must be CSV, DOCX, PDF, PPTX, MD, JPG, JPEG or PNG and each at most 20 MB.
The company needs a Digital Credit balance. Each message sent to the chatbot spends 7 credits when the answer completes (the default cost; the current cost shows in the badge under the message box and in the Credit prices list).
Step by step
Admin: configuring the chatbot
In the left menu, go to Configuration, pick Internal communication in the list on the left and the Chat assistant settings card at the top. The Settings button in the header of the Chat assistant screen opens the same page.
The page has three sections one under the other: Documents, Question limit and Access.In the Documents section, click Choose a file and pick a document, or drag the document onto that area (on a phone the area only says Choose a file). The total number of documents shows on the right of the heading. Uploaded files appear in the document list below as Pending, with the note "Added when you save"; saved documents show their size and upload date. When there are no documents yet, a No documents yet notice takes the place of the list.
In the Question limit section, enter the Questions per employee per month (1–1000). An employee who reaches the limit can't ask new questions that month; limits reset on the first day of each month. The line under it shows the credits per message (7) and the most one employee can spend per month with this limit (e.g. at most 70 credits for 10 questions).
In the Access section, pick one of two options:
All employees: every branch, department, position and employee you can select right now is selected at once. People who join later are not added automatically; add them separately with Selected employees.
Selected employees: pick people in the Branch, Department, Position and Employee fields.
Under the section you see how many employees can use the assistant. Users with Communication Module Administrator Permission can use the chatbot even if they aren't selected; when no one is selected, this is shown as a notice.
Click Save in the bar at the bottom of the screen. While there are unsaved changes (limit, access or pending documents) the bar says You have unsaved changes; Discard changes puts the limit and access back to the last save and removes the pending documents. After saving, the documents show as Processed in the list.
To remove a document from the sources, click its delete icon in the document list and confirm.
Employee: asking the chatbot
In the left menu, go to Comms and docs > Chat assistant.
Type your question in Type your message... and send it. AI is thinking... is shown while the answer is prepared; the whole answer appears at once when it is ready (usually in 5 to 20 seconds). Below the answer, the documents used for the question are shown as Source.
A follow-up question in the same chat (e.g. "Does the unused part carry over?") is answered with the earlier questions and answers in mind. If you reload the page, the answer is still prepared and shows when you open the chat.
Click New Chat for a new topic. Your earlier chats are grouped by date in Past Conversations; you can permanently delete a chat with its delete icon. On a phone the chat takes the whole screen; open the list with the Past Conversations button above the chat and close it with Close or by picking a chat.
Your remaining questions are shown on the screen as Remaining Quota.
Result
The chatbot answers only from the documents uploaded in Chat assistant settings; when asked for information that is not in them, it answers "This information is not included in the uploaded documents." PDFs and images are given to the AI as files, DOCX, PPTX, CSV and MD documents as text. The server produces the answer: one AI model is tried first, and if it cannot answer, a second model is used. Each question you send is deducted from the employee's question quota; when the answer completes, 7 credits are spent from the company's digital credits. If neither model can answer, no credit is spent and the question is given back. Chats are visible only to the employee who asked.
Common problems
Symptom: The screen says "Chatbot not configured".
Cause: Settings don't have uploaded documents, employee access or a question limit yet.
Solution: The admin must fill in all three on the Configuration > Internal communication > Chat assistant settings page and click Save. The admin sees a Go to settings button on this screen; it opens that page.
Symptom: I see "Access denied".
Cause: You are not in the Employee Access list.
Solution: Ask your HR administrator for access.
Symptom: I see "Your monthly question limit has been exceeded." or "Your monthly question quota has been exhausted." in the message box.
Cause: You reached this month's question limit set per employee.
Solution: Your quota renews at the beginning of next month. If you need it sooner, ask your HR administrator to raise the limit.
Symptom: Instead of an answer I see "The AI could not answer this question right now. No credits were used and your question was given back. Please try again in a few minutes."
Cause: The AI service could not produce an answer with either model at that moment.
Solution: Send the question again in a few minutes. No credits were used and your question was given back, so trying again costs nothing extra.
Symptom: I see "This chat was not found. Start a new chat and send your question again."
Cause: The question was sent to a chat that no longer exists or is not yours.
Solution: Click New Chat and send your question again.
Symptom: I see "You do not have enough digital credits...".
Cause: The company's credit balance is below 7.
Solution: Your company administrator needs to add credits.