Getting Started

How do you setup Unless?

Setting up Unless involves connecting your content sources, configuring integrations, and defining how the AI should behave for your specific use case. The exact steps depend on whether you are deploying an AI assistant for your website, integrating a team assistant for your support agents, or syncing data from your CRM for personalization. This guide walks through the core setup process so you know what to expect.

Start with a pilot

Unless recommends starting with a free pilot that can be up and running in as little as four weeks. During this phase, you connect your main content sources, deploy an AI assistant on a single page or portal, and measure results before committing further. This approach lets you validate the platform against your specific goals without a large upfront investment.

Connect your content sources

The AI needs training data to generate accurate answers. You can add content in several ways:

• Website scraping: Point the AI to your website pages, and it will extract the relevant content.
• Knowledge base import: If you use Zendesk, you can pull knowledge base articles directly into Unless. This gives you cleaner data than website scraping because it excludes navigation, footers, and links. You can also set up include and exclude rules based on section IDs to import only the most relevant articles.
• Manual upload: Add documents or text directly through the dashboard.

All training sources are organized into topics, which group related content together. The AI uses these topics to determine which knowledge to draw from when answering a question.

Configure integrations

Unless connects with several platforms to extend its capabilities. The setup varies by integration:

Team assistant integrations

The team assistant browser extension helps support agents by automatically detecting ticket information and generating contextual answers. You can integrate it with:

• Salesforce: In the Unless dashboard, go to the Team assistant tab, click Platforms, and select Configure for Salesforce. You can then map Salesforce custom fields to Unless topics so the AI automatically selects the right topic when you open a ticket. Enable the integration and sync settings in the extension.
• Zendesk: Follow the same path in the dashboard, but select Zendesk. In the Brands tab, add a brand configuration by entering the brand name, choosing the environment, and optionally selecting a topic. Enable the integration and ensure the Brand field is visible in Zendesk ticket fields.
• HubSpot: Again, go to the Team assistant tab, click Platforms, and select Configure for HubSpot. In the HubSpot pipelines tab, add a pipeline configuration by entering the pipeline name, choosing the environment, and selecting a topic. Enable the integration and make sure the Pipeline field is visible in HubSpot ticket fields.

For all team assistant integrations, if the extension was already open, close it and reopen it to apply the settings. You can also sync settings via the menu icon in the top right corner of the extension.

CRM data sync integrations

If you want to use CRM data for audience segmentation and personalization, you can sync contacts from Salesforce or HubSpot to Unless:

• Salesforce contacts: Go to the Integrations tab, find the Salesforce integration, and select Configure. A popup will open where you can connect your Salesforce account and set up the sync. This allows you to use Salesforce segmentation criteria as custom traits in Unless, enabling hyper-personalized website experiences.
• HubSpot: Navigate to the integrations section in your dashboard, select HubSpot, and configure which pipelines should map to your Unless environments. You can also set up topic-level mappings for lead qualification.

Define audiences

Audiences let you group visitors based on shared characteristics or behaviors. You can create audiences using:

• Behavioral targeting: Segment based on pages viewed, referral sources, new vs. returning status, landing pages, cookies, and custom events.
• URL parameters: Use UTM parameters, query strings, and hash values to track visitors from specific campaigns.
• Self-segmentation: Ask visitors direct questions and group them based on their answers.
• Cookie-based segmentation: Segment based on existing cookies like login status or affiliate tracking.

Unless checks audiences in descending order. If a visitor does not match the first audience, it checks the second, then the third, and so on. Visitors who do not match any defined audience see the default version of your website.

Set goals and measure success

Before going live, define clear, measurable objectives. Common goals include reducing support ticket volume, improving customer satisfaction, increasing agent productivity, and enhancing compliance. Unless users typically see a 58% average ticket deflection rate, 31% faster ticket resolution, and 512% average ROI in the first year. Establish metrics and dashboards to monitor progress and demonstrate value.

Conclusion

Setting up Unless is a structured process that starts with connecting your content sources and configuring the integrations that matter most to your workflow. Whether you are deploying an AI assistant for customers, equipping your support team with contextual answers, or syncing CRM data for personalization, each step builds on the previous one. Starting with a pilot lets you test and refine before scaling across your organization.