AI Frontdesk: Getting started with the AI Email Assistant

Valid for: AI Email Assistant (Momentum AI)

Your AI Email Assistant monitors your inbox and drafts or sends replies to incoming customer inquiries, so that no request goes unanswered. The Setup Assistant helps you get started: it asks you the most important questions in a chat and configures your assistant based on your answers. You can also skip the guided setup and configure all the settings yourself. You can combine both methods at any time. The following sections show you how to proceed.

Requirement

You have an AI Email Assistant contract.

Open AI Frontdesk

Log in to your IONOS account.
Click on Menu > AI Frontdesk in the title bar.
In the contract overview, click on Manage in the tile for the contract you want.

The Setup Assistant opens in the Setup area with the message Welcome to your AI Frontdesk.

Note

If you added the AI Email Assistant to an assistant that is already set up, the Setup Assistant does not open automatically. In this case, follow the instructions in the Added to an existing assistant section.

Set it up together or configure it yourself

To get started, choose one of two options:

Set it up together: The Setup Assistant asks you the most important questions and configures your assistant based on your answers. This takes just a few minutes and is the quickest way to get your assistant up and running.
See what it can do first: The Setup Assistant explains in the chat what your assistant can do and then asks whether you would like to set it up. Nothing is changed in the process.

This choice does not commit you to anything:

You can start the guided setup at any time. To do so, simply tell the Setup Assistant in the chat that you would like to start the setup.
You can also use the Setup Assistant for individual settings without going through the whole dialog, for example, to change only the signature. For instructions, see Using the Setup Assistant in chat.
You can configure all the settings yourself and not use the Setup Assistant at all. You can find the relevant instructions in the Next steps section.

Added to an existing assistant

If your contract already includes an AI Receptionist or AI Chat Assistant that has been set up, clicking Manage takes you directly to the settings. You then have two options for setting up the AI Email Assistant:

Connect your mailbox directly: In the left-hand navigation bar, under Settings, click Email assistant and connect your mailbox there. You then have access to all other settings. For instructions, see Connecting and managing your email account.
Use the guided setup: At the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar, click Setup Assistant and state explicitly that you want to set up the AI Email Assistant, for example, Set up the AI Email Assistant. The dialog then proceeds as described in the following sections.

Note

Your company knowledge and your inquiries also apply to emails. This means you do not need to have your website analysed again or enter any details twice. However, what your assistant learns from your emails only applies to email replies.

How the dialog works

The Setup Assistant asks you a series of questions about your business and how you would like your assistant to handle your emails. Please note the following:

Answers by click or free text: For many questions, the Setup Assistant suggests suitable answers that you can select directly. Alternatively, you can type your answer in your own words in the text box at the bottom of the chat.
Suggestions for confirmation: Before applying key settings, such as the reply mode or signature, the Setup Assistant makes a suggestion and asks you to confirm it.
Changes are applied immediately: As soon as the Setup Assistant configures a setting, it displays a Configuration updated card showing the new value.
Some processes continue in the background: Analysing your website and evaluating your inbox take a little time. The Setup Assistant displays the progress in a separate card and asks you the next question in the meantime.

Note

The Setup Assistant responds in the language you use to write to it, and your assistant also uses this language for its email replies. You can change this at any time, either in the dialog or later in the Email style guide section (see Customising the writing style for email replies).

The Setup Assistant guides you through these topics

The Setup Assistant usually covers the following topics. Depending on your answers, some topics may be omitted or added.

Website and company information

The Setup Assistant asks for your company’s website and extracts its content so that your assistant can answer inquiries in line with your business. To do this, enter your domain, for example, example.com.

The Setup Assistant then shows you how many sections it has extracted and summarises the key details, such as your business activities, location, and opening hours. Check this information and confirm it, or correct specific points in the chat.

If you do not have a website yet or do not want to provide one at this stage, let the Setup Assistant know. The setup then continues without a website. You can add your website content at any time later.

Connecting your mailbox

To enable your assistant to read incoming emails and prepare replies, connect your mailbox. The Setup Assistant displays the Connect your mailbox card, where you select your email provider:

IONOS: You connect the mailbox directly using your mailbox password.
Microsoft 365: You sign in with a licensed Microsoft 365 account and then select the mailbox.
Other provider: You enter your provider’s IMAP and SMTP connection details.

You cannot select Gmail yet. The tile is marked Coming soon.

Depending on your selection, the card guides you through the appropriate sign-in process. For an IONOS mailbox, enter the email address and password of the mailbox and click Connect mailbox. Once the connection is established, the card displays the corresponding status.

If you prefer to connect your mailbox later, tell the Setup Assistant that you want to skip this step. You can connect the mailbox at any time under Email assistant in the settings.

What the assistant learns from your emails

Immediately after you connect the mailbox, your assistant analyses your inbox: it reads your sent emails to learn how you reply and looks for information about your business. This takes a few minutes and runs in the background, so the dialog continues in the meantime. You can see the progress on the Learned business knowledge card.

Once the analysis is complete, the card lists the details it found for you to check, for example, how long vouchers are valid or your opening hours. For each detail, you can see how many email threads from which period it is based on. You have two options:

Use these: Leave the details you want to use selected and deselect all the others. The selected details are used in your assistant’s replies with immediate effect.
Skip for now: Nothing is applied for the time being.

You can change your selection at any time later. For instructions, see Letting the assistant to learn from emails.

Daily email summary

The Setup Assistant recommends a daily digest. Once a day, this email summary tells you what your assistant has done and which drafts are awaiting your approval or have since expired. By default, the contact specified in your contract is suggested as the recipient. You have three options:

Yes, to [first name]: The summary is sent to the suggested contact.
Someone else: The Setup Assistant asks for the name and email address of the recipient you want.
No digest: No daily email summary is sent.

After the setup, you can add further recipients yourself. For details, see Setting up a daily email summary.

Reply mode and signature

Finally, you specify how your assistant should handle general business inquiries. The Setup Assistant recommends Draft for me and offers three options:

Draft for me: Your assistant prepares each reply as a draft for your approval. Nothing is sent without your review.
Answer automatically: Your assistant sends replies without your approval.
Leave alone: Your assistant does not reply to these emails and leaves them in your inbox.

The Setup Assistant then asks for your company name or the signature you would like to use and suggests one (for example, Your team at Example Ltd). Once you have answered, it confirms the new signature with a Configuration updated card.

Note

Even in automatic mode, your assistant does not reply directly to appointment requests or other inquiries. Instead, it always prepares a draft for them. You can specify later exactly what your assistant is allowed to do for each type of inquiry. For details, see Setting reply behaviour for emails.

Finish setup

You can finish the setup at any time, even if not all topics have been covered. To do so, simply tell the Setup Assistant that you want to finish the setup.

Once all topics have been covered, the Setup Assistant summarises the setup and shows you the status of your inbox, reply mode, and daily email summary. Clicking Continue configuring takes you directly to your assistant’s settings.

Your assistant is now ready for use: it analyses incoming emails and prepares initial replies. You can find drafts awaiting your approval under Conversations in the left-hand navigation bar. You can only approve them there, not in your email program. Only replies that have been sent appear in your mailbox (in the Sent folder).

The Setup Assistant remains available: at the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar, click Setup Assistant and describe what you would like to change. Alternatively, you can adjust all the settings yourself in the individual sections.

Tip

First, check the content that the Setup Assistant has taken from your website and the details it has learned from your emails. This ensures that your assistant works with the correct details right from the start.

Next steps

Your assistant is now set up, and you can customise it in detail. The following articles cover the AI Email Assistant:

Overview

To find out which sections you see in your dashboard and why this varies depending on the products you have ordered, see AI Frontdesk: An overview of products, channels, and the user interface.
To use the Setup Assistant later for questions and individual changes, see Using the Setup Assistant in chat.

Managing replies

To specify which emails your assistant replies to and to set the signature and AI note, see Setting reply behaviour for emails.
To customise the writing style and language of replies, see Customising the writing style for email replies.
To test replies without actually sending anything, see Testing replies using a test email.
To set your assistant’s time zone, form of address, and name, see AI Frontdesk: Customising language, voice, and behaviour.

Assistant’s knowledge

To check and add to your assistant’s knowledge and upload documents, see AI Frontdesk: Storing and managing company knowledge.
To check and approve knowledge learned from emails, see Enabling the assistant to learn from emails.
To define recurring inquiries for which your assistant requests details, see AI Frontdesk: Setting up inquiries.

Mailbox

To connect a mailbox, test the connection, or disconnect the mailbox, see Connecting and managing your email account.

Everyday use

To check and approve drafts, see Checking and approving email drafts.
To see what your assistant has done with your emails, see AI Frontdesk: Viewing call history.
To set recipients for the daily summary, see Setting up a daily email summary.

Contract

To add further products, see AI Frontdesk: Adding additional products or changing your package.
To find out what changes in your dashboard after you add a product, see AI Frontdesk: What changes when a new product is added.

Content

Open AI Frontdesk
Set it up together or configure it yourself
Added to an existing assistant
How the dialog works
The Setup Assistant guides you through these topics
Finish setup
Next steps
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