What you will accomplish

You will know whether a staff member should see AI Assistant in the dashboard sidebar, what information they can ask about, and how a manager turns access on or off.

This guide is for managers setting up the team and for front-desk staff who wonder why the assistant is missing or says they do not have permission.

When to use this guide

Use this guide when:

• A new employee cannot find AI Assistant in the sidebar.
• The assistant says it does not have permission to open Payments, Schedule, or another area.
• You want only certain roles to use the assistant (for example, managers but not every part-time helper).

Important idea in plain English

The AI Assistant can only show information your staff member is already allowed to see in the dashboard.

If someone cannot open Payments, they also should not expect the assistant to look up invoices for them. Permissions protect customer data the same way in the assistant as on every other page.

Who can open the AI Assistant

• Facility admins (owners and managers listed as admins) can use every area, including the AI Assistant.
• Staff with the AI Assistant permission can open AI Assistant and ask questions about the other areas they are allowed to see.
• Customer portal users never see the AI Assistant. It is for your internal team only.

What each permission controls

When a manager edits a team member, they see checkboxes for product areas. The assistant respects the same list.

Grant AI Assistant access to a team member

Managers and admins follow these steps.

1. Open Team settings

   Go to Settings > Team.

   Expected result: You see a list of team members with email addresses and role labels.

2. Open the person's permissions

   Find the staff member. Click Edit or the permissions control on their row.

   Why this matters: Each person can have different access. Front desk might need Contacts, Cars, Schedule, Parking Spots, Inbox, and AI Assistant. A detail vendor might only need Schedule.

3. Turn on AI Assistant

   Check the box labeled AI Assistant.

   Also check the areas they need for lookups—for example Contacts and Cars for phone calls about stored vehicles.

4. Save

   Click Save (or the save action on that row).

   Expected result: The staff member can refresh the dashboard and see AI Assistant in the left sidebar after their next sign-in.

What the staff member should do next

After access is granted:

1. Sign out and sign back in if AI Assistant still does not appear.
2. Open Manage your assistant chats to learn the chat list.
3. Practice one safe lookup in Use the AI Assistant.

When the assistant says it does not have permission

1. Read the exact message

   The assistant usually names the missing area, such as Payments or Schedule.

2. Try the dashboard page directly

   Open that page from the sidebar. If the page is blocked, the assistant is working correctly—you need a manager to update permissions.

3. Ask a manager

   A manager can add the missing permission in Settings > Team.

Common mistakes

Troubleshooting

I am an admin but a teammate cannot see AI Assistant

Confirm they are signed in with a staff account, not a customer portal login. Then check their permissions on the Team page.

The checkbox is on but the sidebar link is still missing

Ask them to refresh the browser or sign out and back in. Clear browser cache only if your IT person recommends it.

We want to turn off the assistant for everyone temporarily

Remove the AI Assistant permission from each non-admin user. Admins will still have access unless you change admin membership.

What to do next

• Use the AI Assistant — first practice session for staff who just received access.
• Use the assistant during a customer call — front-desk workflow while someone is on the phone.
• Manage team permissions — full settings guide for managers.