Setting up and managing Spark

This page describes how to configure Nexthink Spark, including the required technical prerequisites and step-by-step setup instructions.

Before you begin

Nexthink Administrators must complete the following technical prerequisites before setting up Nexthink Spark.

• To ensure Spark can identify the user:

  • Ensure all employee devices have Collector configured to gather the User Principal Name (UPN) in clear text. Refer to Configuring Collector level anonymization for more information.

  • Configure the Microsoft Entra ID inbound connector for your Microsoft tenant. Refer to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) connector for more information.

• To use Microsoft Teams as a communication channel:

  • Download version 1.2.0 or later of the Nexthink Teams application package. The package is typically provided by your Nexthink representative via email.

Enabling Spark to hand off conversations to a human agent requires additional prerequisites, including administrator rights and ITSM connector credentials. Refer to Configuring ticket escalation with Spark > Prerequisites for more information.

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Setting up Nexthink Spark

Ensure that you meet the prerequisites before setting up Nexthink Spark. Follow these steps to ensure Spark is set up correctly:

1

Set up a communication channel for Spark interactions

Set up a Communication channel in Nexthink to enable Spark interaction with MS Teams.

• Use the welcome message to inform employees about the Spark scope and remind them to exercise judgment when reading AI-generated replies.

• After setting up the communication channel, install the Spark version-specific application package (.zip) provided directly by Nexthink.

If you have previously deployed the Nexthink Teams app (either the original version or the new Spark version) using the Microsoft Teams Admin console, you will not be able to upload the Spark Teams application into your Teams client directly.

Microsoft Teams blocks the use of the application for users who are not authorized in the Teams Admin console. If you have never deployed the Nexthink Teams app through your Teams Admin console, you can upload the Spark Teams application into your Teams client directly.

2

Grant permissions

To configure and monitor Spark, update your roles to include the required permissions:

• Set the Agent conversations NQL table visibility to Visible for the relevant roles.

• Enable Spark permissions for the relevant roles.

For detailed information about available permissions, View domain options, Data model visibility and Data privacy granularity settings, see:

• Roles > Spark

• Roles > Data model visibility

• View domain > Spark

3

Import knowledge base articles

Ensure Spark can effectively support employees by providing access to your IT knowledge base, just as you would for human support agents. Manually upload knowledge base articles from the ITSM tool as CSV files into Nexthink. This includes both employee-facing and IT support-related knowledge.

Refer to the Managing knowledge sources documentation.

4

Enable diagnosis and remediation actions for Spark

Validate and enable actions for Spark in Nexthink.

Enable built-in Agent actions

From the main navigation menu:

1. Go to Spark > Manage actions and review the Agent actions designed to work with Spark.

2. Enable the desired Agent actions for Spark use.

Refer to the Managing Spark actions documentation for more information.

Activate custom remote actions of workflows

Configure custom or Nexthink Library remote actions or workflows and enable them in Spark by selecting Spark trigger method and activating them in Spark cockpit.

Refer to the Remote actions and workflows for Spark documentation for more information

Nexthink advises against setting up remote actions for Spark that involve Nexthink campaigns.

5

Configure ticket escalation with Spark

Configure Spark to automatically create ITSM tickets when an issue cannot be resolved. Integrate Nexthink with your ITSM platform and define how Spark generates escalation tickets. This integration ensures that unresolved issues are escalated with the relevant context.

Refer to the Configuring ticket escalation with Spark documentation for more information.

6

Communicate Spark deployment

Select the employee group for Spark deployment and prepare communications.

• Use the controls in the MS Teams admin console to select the employees with Spark access.

• Inform employees about the scope of the Spark agent and remind them to exercise judgment when reading AI-generated replies.