Why Has Someone's AI Assistant Stopped Working?
A connected AI assistant stops working with ABM Service when its connection has ended, and there are only a few ways that happens: somebody disconnected it, assistants were switched off, the address changed, the person left, or it went unused for 90 days. The Connected list on the AI assistants screen (menu, then Administration) shows whether the person's assistant is still connected. In every case the person connects it again from inside the assistant, if assistants are switched on.
Why has somebody's AI assistant stopped working with ABM Service?
When a connected assistant is suddenly refused by ABM Service as not signed in, its connection has ended. Check the Connected list on the AI assistants screen: if the person's line has gone, one of these happened.
- Somebody disconnected it — you, with Disconnect or Disconnect everybody on the AI assistants screen, or the person, on their own Your account page.
- Assistants were switched off — switching Off ends every connection. Switching back On does not bring them back; each person connects again.
- The address was changed — saving a different address in The address assistants use ends every connection, because each was made for the old address.
- The same assistant was connected again — each person has one connection for each assistant, so connecting the same assistant a second time, for example the same program on a second computer, replaces the first connection. Only the newest one works.
- The person left — once a person is removed from ABM's list of users, their assistant stops within the hour and the connection ends.
- A security check ended it — if an assistant's access is renewed with a renewal ABM Service has already accepted, ABM Service ends that connection at once. It is a sign the connection may have been copied, not proof, and using the assistant from two places does not set it off by itself.
One reason can leave the line on the list: an assistant unused for 90 days stops working, and its line can stay in the Connected list with a used date more than 90 days ago. Select Disconnect on it to tidy the list; the person connects again when they next want it.
For a short time, an assistant is also turned away while ABM Service updates its own tables in your company's database, when everybody sees The database is being updated. That clears by itself; the connection has not ended.
Why can somebody's assistant read ABM Service but not make changes?
A connected assistant that can look things up in ABM Service but is refused every change was connected either with Make changes in ABM unticked, or by an assistant that asked only to read, in which case the box was never shown. The assistant is told: This connection may read ABM but not make changes: "make changes in ABM" was left unticked when it was connected. Connect the assistant again and leave it ticked to allow it.
Check the person's line in the Connected list on the AI assistants screen: it says reads only instead of reads and makes changes.
Only the person can change it, by connecting the same assistant again and leaving Make changes in ABM ticked on the Connect an assistant page. The new connection replaces the read-only one. There is nothing on the AI assistants screen that gives an existing connection more than the person allowed.
A file sent through an upload address is refused in the same way, with The assistant's connection to ABM has ended, or may no longer make changes, so the file was not taken. An upload address works for ten minutes and one file; after that the assistant is told This upload address has expired or was already used. Ask the assistant for a new one.
When an assistant may make changes but a particular change is refused, ABM Service has given it the same reason the call screen would give, such as a missing contact name, or that the customer is an inactive account and a call cannot be logged against it. The assistant can put that right and try again.
Why can't somebody connect their AI assistant at all?
When somebody cannot connect their assistant to ABM Service, the page they reach while connecting usually says why. The most common causes, with what they see:
- Assistants are switched off — Connecting assistants is switched off for this company. The administrator can switch it on in ABM. Switch them on with On and Check and switch on on the AI assistants screen. If you switched them off while the person was connecting, they see Connecting assistants has just been switched off for this company.
- The wrong address — the assistant needs the address that follows People paste on the AI assistants screen, ending in /mcp, not the address of the sign-in page.
- The sign-in is too old — Sign in again to connect followed by the assistant's name, with a Sign in again button. Anybody whose browser sign-in is more than ten minutes old signs in again, with their password and authenticator code if they use one, and comes back to the same page.
- The request expired — This connection request has expired. Start again from your assistant. They took too long; they start again from inside the assistant.
- They are a customer — only ABM users can connect an assistant. A Customer portal sign-in cannot.
- They are in the desktop app — connecting happens in a browser, and Your account is only in the menu there.
Some refusals are about the assistant itself rather than your company, for example that it asked to come back to an address it does not list as its own, or that its description could not be read. Those are for the assistant's own makers; ABM Service refuses rather than guess.
Note: The Connect an assistant page warns people when the assistant is a program on their own computer, and asks them to allow it only if they started it themselves just then.