> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.nectir.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# FAQ

> Answers to common questions about Nectir AI.

## 💬 General Information

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is Nectir AI?">
    Nectir AI is an AI-powered education platform that lets your institution build custom, 24/7 learning Assistants for any course or department. Think of it as a digital assistant designed specifically for education—seamlessly embedded into your LMS, references only your materials, and is fully under your control. It answers questions, clarifies concepts, and supports students, faculty, and administration, reducing administrative burden and improving learning outcomes.

    [Check out our website!](https://www.nectir.io/nectir-ai)
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is Nectir AI a model or large language model (LLM)?">
    **No**, Nectir AI is not an AI model or LLM. It is a way to interact with AI models. With Nectir AI, you can create personalized AI Assistants. These Assistants live inside your LMS and provide you and your students with accurate, 24/7 learning support, feedback, and guidance.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How is Nectir AI different from other AI solutions?">
    Nectir is purpose-built for higher ed—not a one-size-fits-all chatbot. Key differences:

    * **FERPA-compliant privacy**: We treat your data and student data like gold, with full SOC 2 Type II compliance and industry-leading security.
    * **Results-driven**:  Institutions using Nectir have seen up to 20% GPA gains and measurable boosts in student engagement and self-efficacy.
    * **Flexibility**:Assistant’s responses are grounded in and only reference your own materials (syllabi, slides, readings) that you upload.
    * **No cookie-cutter answers**: Each Assistant’s responses are tailored to your institution’s unique courses and culture.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need technical skills to set up an Assistant?">
    **No**, Nectir AI is designed to be user-friendly for educators without technical backgrounds. Setting up an Assistant involves:

    * **Simple Upload Process**: Drag and drop your course files (PDFs, Word docs, slides, etc.)
    * **Template Prompts**: Choose from pre-written prompts designed by education experts
    * **Intuitive Interface**: All settings are accessible through a straightforward web interface
    * **No Coding Required**: Everything is point-and-click with clear instructions

    Most educators can set up their first Assistant in 15-30 minutes. If you can use email and upload files to a cloud service, you can use Nectir AI.

    **Additional Support Available:**

    * **Guided Onboarding**: Step-by-step walkthrough when you first create an account
    * **Tutorial Documentation**: Comprehensive guides and tutorials available on this site
    * **Educational Resources**: Video tutorials, best practices guides, instructional templates, and exemplars
    * **Direct Support**: Contact [support@nectir.io](mailto:support@nectir.io) for personalized assistance
    * **Feedback Sessions**: Monthly optional sessions open to all Nectir educators to share, collaborate, and connect

    <Tip>
      Start with our template prompts and gradually customize them as you become more comfortable with the platform. Don't hesitate to reach out for help - our support team loves helping educators succeed!
    </Tip>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How accurate are the AI responses?">
    AI response accuracy depends on several factors:

    * **Training Data Quality**: The more relevant and comprehensive your uploaded materials, the more accurate responses will be
    * **Question Clarity**: Clear, specific questions typically receive more accurate answers
    * **Subject Matter**: Responses about your uploaded course content are generally more accurate than general knowledge questions
    * **Temperature Settings**: Lower temperature settings (more conservative) produce more consistent and factual responses, while higher settings allow for more creative but potentially less accurate answers. [Learn more about temperature settings](/creating/advanced)

    **Important Notes**:

    * AI can occasionally make mistakes or "hallucinate" information
    * Always encourage students to verify important information with course materials or instructors
    * The AI works best as a learning guide rather than an authoritative source
    * You can improve accuracy by regularly updating your Assistant's training materials and refining its prompt

    <Tip>
      Test your Assistant regularly with sample student questions to ensure response quality meets your standards. For fact-heavy subjects, consider using lower temperature settings for more consistent responses.
    </Tip>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's the difference between a Workspace, Group, and Assistant?">
    These are the three key organizational levels in Nectir:

    * **Workspace**: The top-level container that houses all your Groups and Assistants. Think of it as your institution or organization's main account.
    * **Group**: A specific class, course, or team within your Workspace. Each Group can have its own Assistants, members, and content.
    * **Assistant**: The AI-powered helper that lives within a Group. Each Assistant can be trained on specific materials and customized for particular subjects or purposes.

    For example: Your university (Workspace) might have a "Biology 101" course (Group) with a "Lab Assistant" that helps students with experiments (Assistant).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 📚 Usage and Capabilities

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Will the AI just give students the answers or write their assignments?">
    **No.** You have precise control over every Assistant's behavior. We provide a multitude of sample prompts with built-in guardrails and recommend best practices. For example, you can prompt the Assistant to:

    * Ask students what they already understand before offering support
    * Guide them with hints or break down problems without providing the answer
    * Refuse to write essays or complete assignments

    This protects academic integrity and encourages real learning—not shortcuts.

    Learn more about best practices for creating an Assistant prompt [here](/creating/assistant-prompt)!
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is there a limit to how many students or instructors can use Nectir at once?">
    **No limits!** Every student and faculty member can interact with Nectir AI Assistants concurrently, as often as they like. It scales with your needs—no office hours required.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Who can see conversations between users and the AI?">
    By default, conversations are private to the user and securely stored. Administrators and faculty only see interactions if explicit review or oversight features are enabled.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What languages does Nectir AI support?">
    Nectir AI can support these languages:

    * **English**
    * **French**
    * **Portuguese**
    * **Spanish**
    * **German**
    * **Italian**
    * **Turkish**
    * **Japanese**
    * **Chinese**
    * **Vietnamese**
    * **Korean**
    * **Russian**
    * **Persian**
    * **Arabic**
    * **Urdu**
    * **Hindi**
    * **Marathi**
    * **Tamil**
    * **Telugu**
    * **Gujarati**

    This multilingual support allows Nectir AI to effectively serve diverse student populations and international educational environments.

    <Warning>
      Language capabilities are based on the underlying model's training data, which
      means that performance may vary. Less common languages with smaller amounts of
      training data may have lower accuracy or more limited capabilities compared to
      widely-spoken languages.
    </Warning>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Nectir AI have Internet access? Can it bring in real-time web data?">
    **No**, by default, Nectir Assistants do not access the public Internet during responses. They work exclusively with the materials and knowledge you provide, protecting both academic integrity and institutional IP.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the environmental impact of using Nectir AI?">
    Nectir’s carbon footprint is low. The energy used by one student across a semester is about the same as streaming a single 30-minute video. We also run on data centers powered mainly by renewable energy, wherever possible.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## ⚙️ Setup and Training

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do we ground Assistants on our own course materials?">
    Just upload as many files as you want—syllabi, assignments, readings, lecture slides—into the Assistant’s settings. These documents create the “brain” for your Assistant, allowing it to answer questions with your institution's specific knowledge.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Are we limited to using Open Educational Resources (OER) or is there publisher consent for uploading textbooks?">
    Since only instructors (Owners) have the ability to upload and view training documents, it is their responsibility to ensure that copyrighted material is not shared with the assistant without proper authorization.

    We recommend using OER (Open Educational Resources) for now. Any other materials you choose to upload are at your discretion. Rest assured, all uploaded data will remain private and accessible only to you.

    **Note**: Your uploaded training materials are securely stored and never shared or used to train AI models. They will only be utilized within the scope of your AI Assistant.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I upload materials that students do not have access to?">
    **Yes**, only Owners and Facilitators of a Group will have access to see the
    training files you upload to your AI Assistant. Students (Members) do not have
    access to the training data you upload.

    <Warning>
      If you enable the "Sources" feature in your Assistant settings, students will be able to see which files were referenced in the AI's response. Depending on the file, students will also be able to preview and download the file. Turning this feature on will allow students to see restricted documents. [Learn more about Sources](/creating/sources).
    </Warning>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 🔧 Technical Information

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What LLMs are used for Nectir AI?">
    Nectir supports AI models from multiple providers, hosted through secure endpoints. You can choose **Auto** (recommended) to always use the current recommended model, or select a specific model in [Advanced Features](/creating/advanced). Available model options may change over time. Your data is not shared with these companies and is not used to train any models.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can you integrate Nectir with any LMS?">
    **Yes**, we offer LTI 1.3 integration with major LMS platforms including Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, and D2L/Brightspace. The integration allows users to easily navigate to Nectir directly from their LMS course page and enables [roster sync](/user-management/roster-sync) to import user names and send invitation emails. In Canvas, instructors can also [embed specific Assistants directly inside pages, assignments, and modules](/getting-started/canvas-embed-assistants).

    **Integration Benefits:**

    * Single sign-on from your LMS to Nectir
    * Automatic user access through LMS course link
    * Direct Assistant linking within courses
    * Optional roster sync for user management
    * Seamless course navigation
    * Embed Assistants inline in Canvas pages, assignments, and modules

    For detailed setup instructions for your specific LMS platform, see the LMS Integrations section in the sidebar. Each platform has step-by-step instructions for both dynamic and manual registration methods.

    Need additional support? Contact [support@nectir.io](mailto:support@nectir.io)!
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I train an Assistant on URLs or web content?">
    URL training functionality is on the roadmap and something we want to build soon!

    In the meantime, you can download PDFs of web pages or save as HTML files and upload them to your Assistant.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is speech-to-text and text-to-speech a future feature?">
    Speech-to-text/text-to-speech functionality is on the roadmap and something we want to build soon!
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 🔒 Data, Privacy, and Security

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What about data privacy and student security?">
    Nectir follows the strictest standards in education:

    * **FERPA-compliant**: Your student data never leaves your secure environment.
    * **SOC 2 Type II certified**: Regular audits ensure robust protection.
    * **Secure access**: You control your materials and who accesses them. That means you can designate access and assign permission based on if the user is a student, faculty, or staff. This approach helps ensure that users only have access to the resources they need. Think of us as the digital equivalent of a locked file cabinet, and certain security clearance on your keys will open certain drawers.
    * **Data privacy**: Nectir never shares your materials with third parties.

    You can view our complete security and compliance documentation, including our SOC 2 Type II certification, through our [Trust Center](https://app.vanta.com/nectir/trust/3as22kb996slor315lr4s).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens with my course data when I upload it to prompt my Assistant?">
    Your course data—syllabi, assignments, readings, and more—is securely stored and remains your property.

    * Nectir never shares your materials with third parties.
    * Nectir does not train any AI models because we are not an AI model. We do not use your data to train any AI models.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does Nectir protect our copyright and IP?">
    All materials you upload remain yours. They're securely stored, never shared with third parties, and only used for your Assistants. Ownership and privacy remain fully in your hands.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is Nectir AI accessible and inclusive?">
    **Yes**, Nectir is committed to accessibility and follows the WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards. We've integrated accessibility into our mission, policies, and development practices, and our platform is designed to work with assistive technologies. While we continue to improve our accessibility, we welcome feedback from users who encounter any barriers.

    Plus, multilingual support and round-the-clock availability make learning more equitable across demographics.

    Our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) are available from our [Trust Center](https://app.vanta.com/nectir/trust/3as22kb996slor315lr4s). For more information about our accessibility efforts or to report issues, please visit our [accessibility statement](https://www.nectir.io/accessibility).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

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