Brain contacts and external contacts
Choose who GuruSup Brain can ask when it lacks an answer, and how to reach them.
When GuruSup Brain does not know something, it can ask a person. That person needs to be a Brain contact. Admins set contacts up under Team in the sidebar. Members can set up their own.
There are two kinds of contact:
| Kind | Who | Where you manage it |
|---|---|---|
| Brain contact | A member of your organization | Open the member in Team and use the Brain contact section. Members can also do it themselves under Account. |
| External contact | Someone without an account, such as a partner | The External contacts section at the bottom of Team. Admins only. |
Only admins can manage other people's contacts, and external contacts.
Before you start
- Slack. To add a Slack method, the person must be in a Slack workspace already connected to your organization. Connect Slack first, see Connect Slack.
- Phone. For a Call method, enter the phone number with the country code, for example +1 415 555 0100.
- Access. Brain asks a member about something only when that member is allowed to see the knowledge behind the question. Keep this in mind when you pick who to set up.
Set up a member as a Brain contact
Open the member
Go to Team and click the member's row. A panel opens on the right.
Enable the contact
In Brain contact, click Enable. Until you do, it reads "Not enabled for human escalations."
Add contact methods
Under Contact methods, choose Call or Slack and fill in the value.
| Method | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Call | A phone number. Include the country code, for example +1 415 555 0100. |
| Slack | The person's Slack user ID, like U012ABCDEF. An @handle does not work. |
For a Slack user ID, open the person's profile in Slack, click More, then Copy member ID.
After you enter a Slack ID, Brain checks it against the Slack accounts connected to your organization when you leave the field. The result shows the workspace, the person's name and email, and whether they are a guest. If that check does not run, click Verify Slack user. If the person is in more than one connected workspace, choose the right one under Slack workspace. You cannot save until every Slack method is verified.
Click Add method to add more. The arrows move a method up or down. The X removes a method. One method must stay.
Write When to ask
Under When to ask, write one topic per line. The placeholder shows two examples: pricing approvals and enterprise exceptions. Brain uses these to decide whether this person is the right one to ask.
Save
Click Save contact. Brain confirms with "[name] is now reachable by the Brain." and the section shows active.
You need at least one contact method. Without one, Brain shows "Add at least one contact method."
Set up your own contact
Any member can set up their own contact. You don't need an admin.
- Open the menu at the bottom of the sidebar and click Profile settings. The page is titled Account.
- Find Brain contact, the section that reads "How the Brain reaches you when it needs something only you know."
- Click Enable, add your methods and When to ask the same way as above, then click Save contact.
Brain confirms with "The Brain can now reach you." To stop, click Disable and confirm. Brain confirms with "The Brain will no longer reach you this way."
Having a contact also lets you ask your assistant to contact you yourself. See Ask questions.
Methods, priority and When to ask
Call and Slack only
The app offers two kinds of method: Call and Slack. Email and other channels are not offered.
What priority means
A contact can have several methods. The first one has the highest priority. Brain tries the first method first. If a request fails, or the person doesn't answer, the requester can click Try next contact method in My requests. Brain then uses the next method in the list that it hasn't used yet. Use the arrows to reorder.
How Brain uses When to ask
When Brain needs to ask someone, it reads the question and the When to ask topics of every contact, and picks the person whose topics fit best.
If no topic matches clearly, Brain can still propose a contact, so check the name before you confirm. It finds nobody when no contact is set up, or when none has a method the request allows. Then the assistant tells the user that no team contact is available.
So write topics the way people ask questions: short, one per line, specific.
Who Brain can ask
- The person must be set up as a contact. A person named in a Slack thread or a document is not one.
- If the question rests on what Brain found in your sources, the person must be a member who is allowed to see that knowledge. External contacts are not asked in that case.
- For conflicts, the same rule applies, see Resolve conflicts.
Slack ID problems
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Enter a Slack user ID like U012ABCDEF, not an @handle | Use the member ID, not the name. |
| No connected Slack workspace contains that user ID. Check the ID and workspace connection, then try again. | Check the ID. Check that the person's Slack workspace is connected under Sources. |
| That Slack workspace is not connected. Connect it or choose a connected workspace. | Connect it, or pick another under Slack workspace. |
| That Slack user is not reachable in the selected workspace. Choose another workspace or user. | Pick another workspace or person. |
| No connected Slack workspace can reach that user. Check the user ID or choose another active human. | Check the ID. |
| Slack could not find that user ID. Check the ID or choose another active human. | Check the ID. |
| This Slack user is deactivated. Reactivate them in Slack or choose another active human. | Reactivate them or choose someone else. |
| Slack bots cannot be contact methods. Choose an active human workspace member or guest. | Choose a person. |
| Slack app identities cannot be contact methods. Choose an active human workspace member or guest. | Choose a person. |
| This Slack Connect-only identity is not reachable here. Choose a workspace member or invite this person to the connected workspace. | Invite the person to your Slack workspace. |
| This user exists in several connected workspaces. Choose one before saving. | Pick a workspace. |
| Slack is temporarily unavailable. Check the Slack workspace connection and try again. | Click Try again in a minute. |
| Slack verification is unavailable. Refresh the page and try again. | Refresh the page. |
| Could not verify this Slack user. Check the ID and workspace connection, then try again. | Click Try again. |
| This Slack user is already linked to another contact in that workspace. | Another contact already uses this Slack person. Remove it there first. |
Phone numbers that don't look right show "Doesn't look like a valid phone number". An empty method shows "This contact method is required".
Turn a contact off
To stop Brain from contacting someone, open the member and click Disable, then confirm. The dialog is titled Disable contact for [name] and says the Brain will no longer be able to reach this member and that this can't be undone. Brain confirms with "[name] is no longer reachable by the Brain."
Disabling removes their contact methods and topics. You can enable them again later, but you will need to re-enter the details. Requests that were already sent to that person can't use Try next contact method. The requester sees "The person this question was sent to is no longer a contact. Ask someone else instead."
Find members who are not set up
At the top of Team, a notice lists members who have no contact method, for example "2 users without a contact method". It says the Brain can't escalate questions to them until they have one. Click a name to open that member.
Add an external contact
Use this for someone who has no account, such as a partner or a reseller.
Click External
At the bottom of Team, in External contacts, click External. The New external contact dialog opens.
Fill in the details
Enter a Name and at least one method under Contact methods. When to ask is optional, but without it Brain has fewer hints about when to ask this person. Methods and When to ask work as above.
Save
Click Save. Brain confirms with "[name] saved." and the contact appears as a card in the list, with its first topic and its methods.
Use Edit on a card to change a contact, or the delete icon to remove it. Deleting cannot be undone, and Brain confirms with "[name] deleted." With no contacts yet, the list reads "No external contacts yet."
External contacts are not asked questions that rest on what Brain found in your sources, and they can't be asked to settle a conflict. They can appear in the Who to ask list of a conflict, but Brain turns them down when it tries to send.
If something goes wrong
| You see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Add at least one contact method. | Add a method before saving. |
| Name and at least one contact method. | Fill in the external contact's name and a method. |
| Fix the invalid contact method before saving. | Correct the marked value. |
| Verify every Slack contact and choose its workspace before saving. | Click Verify Slack user and pick a workspace if asked. |
| Couldn't save contact. Only organization admins can manage another user's contact. | You are not an admin. Set up your own contact under Account. |
| Couldn't save contact. This user already has a contact. | Open the existing contact and edit it. |
| Couldn't save contact. Someone else changed this contact at the same time. Refresh the page and make your change again. | Refresh and repeat. |
| Couldn't save contact. This contact is being deleted, so it can't be changed. | Wait, then refresh. |
| This contact no longer exists. Refresh the page to see current contacts. | Refresh. |
| Couldn't disable contact. | Try again. If it keeps failing, contact support. |
What happens next
Brain can now ask these people when it lacks an answer. Members who started a request follow it under My requests. When you settle a conflict, you can also ask one of these contacts, see Resolve conflicts.
Related
- Members and roles: invite people and set roles.
- Ask questions: how an assistant asks a colleague.
- Connect Slack