Getting Started
Get Empfio up and running in under 10 minutes.
What you need
- An Empfio account (sign up at your self-hosted instance or cloud dashboard)
- A Cal.com account (free plan works) — required for booking
- At least one channel: WhatsApp, Telegram, or web chat
Setup order
Follow this order to get everything working correctly:
1. Complete your business profile
After signing in, go to Settings → General and fill in your business name, industry, and services. The AI agent uses this information to greet customers and understand what you offer.
2. Connect Cal.com
Cal.com is the calendar engine that powers all bookings. Without it, the AI can capture leads but cannot book appointments.
Go to Settings → Integrations → Cal.com and enter your API key and event type ID. See Connect Cal.com for step-by-step instructions.
3. Connect a channel
Choose how customers will reach your AI agent:
- WhatsApp — the most popular channel for local businesses
- Telegram — quick to set up, great for testing
- Web Chat — embed a chat widget on your website
You can connect multiple channels. They all share the same AI agent and calendar.
4. Test the agent
Use the Playground (accessible from the dashboard sidebar) to have a test conversation with your agent. It behaves exactly like a real customer interaction — the agent will ask about services, collect contact info, and offer to book an appointment.
What happens next
Once everything is connected:
- A customer messages your business on any connected channel
- The AI agent greets them and asks what they need
- It collects their name, email, and phone number
- It checks your Cal.com calendar for available slots
- It books the appointment and confirms with the customer
- You see the new lead and booking in your dashboard
- You receive an email notification about the new booking