Get Started with Empath: Your Self-Guided Quick Start 🐘
A self-guided initial setup, and onboarding guide for Empath partners. Guided calls are still strongly suggested.
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Get Started with Empath: Your Self-Guided Quick Start
About 20 minutes. No call required. Work through the steps in order, or stop and pick it back up later. Each step stands on its own.
Our goal is that your team gets real value out of Empath and keeps getting it long term. The steps below are built around the habits that have worked best for that, so it's worth doing them in order.
At a glance
| Step | What you'll do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sign in and find your way around | 2 min |
| 2 | Add your first people | 4 min |
| 3 | Create a group | 2 min |
| 4 | Assign your first training | 5 min |
| 5 | Check the recommended settings | 4 min |
| 6 | Get help and join the Herd Meetup | 3 min |
By the end you will have:
- [x] signed in and found your way around
- [x] invited at least five people
- [x] created a group
- [x] assigned your first training, with a due date
- [x] looked at Empath's recommended settings
- [x] found where to get help
Who this is for. Whoever is setting Empath up for your company. If the person who bought Empath and the person who will run training day to day are different people, do this together, or hand it to the person who will run training.
Prefer a person? You can book a guided onboarding call at any point.
Before you begin
Three things now will save you trouble later.
1. Let Empath's emails through
Ask whoever manages your email security or IT to allow this domain and sender:
Domain: app.empathmsp.com Sender: notifications@app.empathmsp.com Invitations and sign-in links come from that address, and filtered email is the most common early problem. Details are in Comprehensive Domain & Service Whitelist.
2. Use Chrome or Edge
These are the officially supported browsers.
3. Know how you sign in
You sign in at app.empathmsp.com with an emailed magic link, or with a Microsoft or Google work account. There are no passwords.
Good to know
- The email you sign in with has to match the email you were invited with.
- Personal addresses such as Gmail can use the emailed link only.
- The first time a company uses Microsoft sign-in, someone in your Microsoft account may need to approve the Empath app. If that happens, the emailed link works in the meantime.
More in How to Log In to Empath.
If your company needs enterprise single sign-on (SAML), Empath sets that up with you directly. See Single Sign-On (SSO) Setup for Empath and book a call.
Words you will see
If you've never run a learning platform before, these are all the words you need.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Library | The full catalog of Empath courses. It's big, so this guide gives you a short list to start from. |
| Course | One topic, made of short lessons. |
| Pathway | Several courses in a set order, like a project plan for learning. |
| Assignment | Giving a person or a group a course, usually with a due date. By default, only assigned training counts toward a person's record and reports. |
| Knowledge Check | A quiz. A short set of questions inside a course that checks people understood the material. |
| Group | A named set of people. Assign once to the group instead of person by person. (The screen is titled Teams in some places.) |
| Member | Someone who learns. Typically an employee. |
| Manager | Sees their team, adds and removes users, and manages training assignments and reporting. |
| Admin | Everything a manager can do, plus account settings and creating new content. |
Step 1: Sign in and find your way around
About 2 minutes
- Go to
app.empathmsp.comin Chrome or Edge. - Enter the email you were invited with, then choose the emailed link, or sign in with your Microsoft or Google work account.
- Look at the top of the screen. You should see three items: Dashboard, Library and Admin.
| Where | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Library | The training lives here. Browse and find courses, and assign them. |
| Dashboard | Your home view. It shows what's next for you, and reporting for your team. |
| Admin | Where you run Empath. The left menu has Dashboard and Learning Progress (how your team is doing), Members (add people), Groups (organize them), and a Company section with Account Settings and Notification Settings. |
You'll use all of these in the next steps. Don't worry about learning them now.
Don't see Admin? You're probably signed in with a Member role. Ask the person who set up your Empath account to change your role to Manager or Admin, then sign out and back in. If you're not sure who that is, contact Empath support.
More on who sees what: Member vs Manager and Admin Views in Empath.
Step 2: Add your first people
About 4 minutes
Goal: invite at least five people now. Include a couple of people who aren't leadership, such as a team lead or a senior technician. A team made up only of leaders doesn't tell you much about whether Empath will work for everyone else.
- Click
Admin>Membersin the left menu. - Click Add Member.
- Enter the person's name and email. Use the exact address they will sign in with.
- Pick their role:
- Member for learners
- Manager for team leads and anyone who will manage reporting and assignments
- Content Admin for an admin or anyone who will create content
- Leave Assign Content blank. You'll assign training in Step 4, where you can set a due date.
- Click Send Invite. The person gets an email from
notifications@app.empathmsp.com.
Repeat for at least five people.
Have more than five people? Invite five by hand now so you see how it works. Then use Import CSV in the same window for everyone else. Download the template, fill in these columns, and upload it after you finish this guide:
name,email,roles Jordan Lee,jordan@example.com,member Sam Rivera,sam@example.com,manager Want to build your own content? It's possible, and it's a good project for a Content Admin. You can upload your own content, embed outside content (the YouTube import tool makes that easy), and edit content already on the platform. It isn't part of this quick start. The Learning Manager section of the Knowledge Base has up-to-date instructions.
Good to know
- Send the invitations before anyone tries to sign in. Someone who signs in without an invitation creates a separate account that only Empath Support can remove.
- Use work email addresses. Personal addresses such as Gmail can use the emailed link only.
- To resend an invitation, open the three-dot menu on the person's row and choose Resend invitation email. This only works for people who have never signed in.
- Deactivate stops someone signing in but keeps their training data, and it doesn't free their seat. Delete is permanent and frees the seat.
Knowledge Base: How to Add or Remove Members in Empath
Step 3: Create a group
About 2 minutes
Groups let you assign training to a set of people at once, and see progress by team.
- Click
Admin>Groupsin the left menu. The screen may be titled Teams. - Look at the All group. Empath creates it automatically and keeps everyone in it. Don't rename it.
- Click Create and name a group after the team you want to start with, such as
Service DeskorL1. If you're not sure, call itTest group. You can rename it later. - Open the group, click Add Members, and pick the people you just invited.
A person can be in several groups at once. Someone can be in All, in a team group, and in a level group like L1. Think of it as layers.
Start with one group. A focused first group tends to finish more training than "everyone at once," and more groups make reports harder to read. You can add more later.
Knowledge Base: How to Create and Manage Groups in Empath
Step 4: Assign your first training
About 5 minutes
This is the step that makes Empath work. Training that is assigned, with a due date, gets finished. Training that's just sitting in the Library mostly doesn't. Do this step now, not later.
The Library is big, and most people feel overwhelmed the first time they open it. So don't browse. Pick from this short list of popular starter courses. Assigning one is also the quickest way to see how assigning works, how finding things works, and what Empath's content looks like.
| For | Course |
|---|---|
| Anyone who will be a Manager or Content Admin | How to Use and Administer Empath |
| Anyone serious about managing Empath | So You're a Learning Manager |
| Leadership | Achieving Results on Repeat: The Expectation Flywheel (Kyle Christensen) |
| Revenue and sales | Selling AI Transformation as a Service (Tim Hickel) |
| Technical staff | Time Tracking: What Every MSP Employee Needs to Know |
| Anyone, or you're not sure | New MSP Employee 101: The Essentials for Everyone |
These are courses, not pathways. If you bought Empath mainly to train new employees, assign the T1 Pathway Template: Express Edition (about 10 hours, beginner level) instead.
How to assign
- Open Library.
- In the filters on the left, scroll to Publisher and select Empath. This limits the Library to Empath's own core content.
- Scroll down to More filters, open it, choose Content type, and select Course.
- Search for the course by its exact name.
- Click the course card, then click Assign Course.
- Choose a group, or click Select Members to pick individuals. Assign it to the people you invited.
- Set a due date no more than two weeks out.
- Confirm, then check See Assigned to see your assignment.
Why only assigned training counts. Empath's suggested best practice is that managers assign content, and that is how your account is set up by default. Only assigned content counts toward a person's record and reports, so someone browsing the Library on their own gets no credit.
Start small. One or two courses per person is plenty for now. You'll build from there once people are in the habit.
Knowledge Base: How to Assign a Course in Empath and How Does Assignment and Progress Tracking Work?
Step 5: Check the recommended settings
About 4 minutes
Empath has settings that control what your people see and what notifications they get. You don't need to understand all of them today. The point of this step is to set Empath's recommended starting settings, and to show you that these settings exist, that they're documented, and that you can change them any time.
You need an admin-level login to see these. If you can't see them, ask whoever set up your account.
Notification Settings
Open Admin > Notification Settings in the Company section.
Notifications are controlled in two places. You set company-wide defaults here and can lock them. Each person can adjust their own settings under My Account, but can't override anything you've locked.
Under Notification types, set these:
| Section | Set to |
|---|---|
| Learner rows (assigned training, due dates, overdue, completions, new courses) | In-app on, email on, delivery Recommended, audience People it's about |
| Manager rows, in general | In-app audience Managers & admins; email delivery Recommended, audience Managers & admins |
| At-risk team alerts | Email delivery Immediate, audience Managers & admins. Lock it. |
| Coaching prompts | In-app audience Managers & admins; email delivery Digest, audience Managers & admins. Lock it. |
| Low adoption alerts, content authoring, account and system alerts | Leave as they come |
At the bottom of the screen you can pause all notifications. It's good to know it's there.
Learner Controls
Open Admin > Account Settings > Learner Controls. This tab only shows for the account owner or an admin. Set it to Empath's recommended configuration:
| Setting | Set to |
|---|---|
| Hide unassigned content | On |
| Hide non-subscribed premium catalogs | On |
| Allow background-tab playback | Off |
| Allow seek-ahead | Off |
| Allow extended playback speed | Off |
| Allow self-assignment | Off |
These are Empath's recommended settings. Each one is explained in the Learner Controls article below, and you can change any of them later.
Why some catalogs are hidden: Empath hides premium catalogs you don't have yet, so your team's Library stays focused. Admins and Content Admins can still see everything.
Take a quick look at reporting
Under Admin, open Dashboard, then Learning Progress. You can choose a date range on the Dashboard and click Download Report for a CSV or PDF. Nobody has trained yet, so there won't be much to see. These reports fill in as your team trains.
Knowledge Base:
- How to Find Tenant-Level Admin Settings in Empath
- Learner Controls in Empath: What Each Setting Does and How to Configure Them
- Notification settings: an overview
- How to Use the Learning Progress Dashboard in Empath
Step 6: Get help and join the Herd Meetup
About 3 minutes
Know where help lives
Click the ? icon in the top right of the app. You'll see Request a Feature, Go to Knowledge Base and Open a Support Request.
Support is staffed by people, not AI, so ask questions. Nobody minds. You can also email support@empathmsp.com. More in How to Get Help and Support in Empath.
Put the Herd Meetup on your calendar
The Herd Meetup is Empath's monthly partner call, where Empath shares feature updates and asks for your feedback. We recommend joining once or twice early in your rollout.
- Go to Library, open the Content type filter and choose Live streams.
- Sort by newest. The next Herd Meetup should be at the top.
- Open it and use Add to Calendar, or assign it to the people who should attend.
More on how live sessions work: How do Live Streams and Recorded 'Live' Streams Work?
Where to go next
You're set up. A setup turns into a habit when training looks like the rest of the work.
- Check that people got in. Within the first week, open
Admin>Membersand confirm your invited people have signed in. Resend invitations to anyone who hasn't. - Make training look like work. Most people in an MSP will pick a fire over a training module every time, so give training the same structure as everything else: a recurring training ticket in your PSA, on the same day and time each week, for 30 to 60 minutes, with real time entry and notes. Expect about five weeks in a row before it feels normal. See the Recurring Training Ticket PSA Guide.
- Let a manager decide when training gets skipped. If a client emergency bumps a session, a dispatcher or manager says so, instead of the technician quietly skipping it. That keeps "my job is training unless someone tells me otherwise" true.
- Notice the first win quickly. When someone finishes their first course, say so in Teams or Slack that day, and tie it to something your company cares about, like accountability. Small, fast and public works better than big and late. Start with one value and one skill. See How to Reinforce Training Behavior Using the MSP Dopamine Loop.
- Hold off on adding more. Add courses, groups and features once people have started the first course.
- Come to a Herd Meetup. Once or twice early on is plenty.
When to book a call
Nothing here is a test. Book a call whenever it would help.
| If you want to... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Ask questions after you've tried this guide | Book a strategy session |
| Be walked through the setup from step one | Book a guided onboarding call |
| Set up single sign-on, or build your own content | Book a strategy session and say so |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Invitation email never arrives | Your email filter is blocking notifications@app.empathmsp.com |
Ask your IT team to allow that sender (see the Domain & Service Whitelist article), then resend from the three-dot menu on the person's row. |
| Microsoft or Google sign-in fails | The sign-in email doesn't match the invited email, or Microsoft needs an admin to approve the Empath app | Sign in with the exact invited address, or use the emailed magic link instead. |
| Magic link doesn't work | Opened in a different browser, or expired | Request a new one on the sign-in page and open it in Chrome or Edge. |
| You don't see Admin at the top | You're a Member, not a Manager or Admin | Ask your admin to change your role in Admin > Members, then sign out and back in. |
| "A user with this email already exists" | The person is already in your account, signed in before being invited, or belongs to another company | Email support@empathmsp.com with the address. Only Empath Support can clear a stray account. |
| "Identity provider request failed" when adding someone | Your account has reached its seat limit | Email support@empathmsp.com. Don't keep retrying. |
| You invited someone with the wrong email | Emails can't be edited in the app | Invite the right address, and email support@empathmsp.com with both addresses. |
| A course doesn't show for someone | It hasn't been assigned to them, or unassigned content is hidden (the recommended setup hides it) | Assign it from the course card in the Library. |
| You can't see Learner Controls or Notification Settings | These need an admin-level login | Ask your account owner or admin. |
If the fix isn't here, open a support request from the ? menu, or email support@empathmsp.com with your company name, the user's email, what happened and what you expected.
Helpful articles
Keep these handy while you work through the steps.
Keep training, keep learning, keep growing your herd.