How can I set up an onboarding chat for my IoT platform?

Start by uploading your IoT platform tutorials, quick-start guides, API references, and device pairing documents into Chatref. The agent learns your exact content and uses it to answer common onboarding questions like "how do I register a device" or "what ports do I open." No hallucination, no generic web guesses – answers are grounded in your own material.

Add content as PDFs, URLs, or plain text. Re-upload whenever you publish a new tutorial; the agent re-learns automatically. This ensures the onboarding chat always reflects your latest firmware changes and feature releases.

Use Chatref’s custom actions to turn passive questions into an active onboarding flow. For example:

• Ask for the user’s device type, then serve the exact pairing instructions.
• Collect a MAC address or serial number and trigger a provisioning API call.
• Present a checklist – "load firmware, connect to Wi-Fi, activate" – and confirm each step.

Each action runs inside the chat, so new users never have to leave your app. You build the logic once, and the agent handles thousands of unique setups.

Copy the Chatref widget snippet and paste it into your dashboard, mobile app, or documentation portal. The chat can appear as a floating button or an embedded panel. Once live, it greets new users with a branded message and immediately offers to help them get started.

Style the widget to match your brand – colors, logo, and tone – and set the agent’s welcome message to ask, "Ready to onboard your first device?" The result is a guided, in-app tutorial that scales across every new signup.

Chatref’s inbox shows you every onboarding conversation, and insights surface the top questions new users ask. Use that data to:

• Write better tutorials for questions the agent couldn’t answer.
• Add new custom actions when you release a new device or integration.
• Shorten time-to-value by spotting exactly where users get stuck.

You can step into any chat as a human when a setup needs personal help, and the agent hands over the full context so you don’t ask again what’s already been shared.

How to create an IoT onboarding chat

Upload your IoT platform guides, add custom actions that guide device setup, embed the Chatref widget, and activate the agent. No coding is required – the entire flow is built inside Chatref’s dashboard. You’ll have a live onboarding assistant in minutes, and the $50 free credit lets you test it risk-free.

Best practices for automating onboarding

Start with your most-asked setup questions and write concise, step-by-step answers as source docs. Use custom actions to collect device details and conditionally serve the right tutorial. Let the agent hand off to a human only when provisioning fails – that keeps the experience self-serve for 80% of cases. Update your content regularly as your IoT platform evolves.

Set up IoT platform tutorials

Build your tutorials as plain-text guides inside your help center or upload PDFs directly to Chatref. The agent will parse them and present the relevant steps in response to user questions. You can also trigger tutorials via custom actions: for example, a "Choose your gateway" button that delivers the exact setup guide for that hardware model. This interactive approach keeps users engaged and reduces drop-off during onboarding.