Welcome to the BrainStorm platform! This Getting Started guide will provide you with the information you need to get started.


System Requirements


Supported OS: Windows OS and Mac OS

Supported Browsers: Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari



For security reasons and optimal operation of the BrainStorm platform, please ensure that browsers are up-to-date (within two of the most recent versions). 


BrainStorm Websites


BrainStorm has two websites. The Admin Portal is used to configure the BrainStorm platform and manage users and content. The End User Portal is the website end users use to view flows and other content. We recommend that you bookmark these websites for future use. 



Who needs to be involved?

To configure the BrainStorm platform with your BrainStorm representative(s), you will need the following people:

  • Project team members
  • System administrator(s) with the ability to:
    • Add Whitelisting
    • Add Trusted Sites
    • Authorize Microsoft Global Admin or Google Super Admin permissions
    • Configure SSO



Step 1: Configure Communications and Streaming

Trusted sites

  • *.brainstorminc.com
  • d16gvbuj4jvvrk.cloudfront.net

  • bsiprodmedigeneralncus.blob.core.windows.net 

  • bsi-prod-signalr-rtn-ncus.service.signalr.net

Videos from our platform stream from these URLs. Adding these URLs as trusted sites will remove buffering issues for end users if your organization restricts content streaming from certain URLs. Admins typically know where this is configured for their organization.


Direct Send

Direct send is a feature that allows an application or device within the Admins' organization's network to send email directly to end users within the same network. Using direct send for the BrainStorm platform can be advantageous because email communications appear as internal email communications (as opposed to emails from outside your organization). Direct send may be an ideal configuration for organizations wishing to reduce or eliminate emails from outside their organization. 


Click here to configure the Direct Send feature.

Whitelisting

Whitelisting the following IP addresses:

  • 159.183.129.244
  • 158.247.19.189

Whitelisting our two IP addresses means creating/modifying rules within your messaging system (MS Exchange and any other applicable email traffic appliances) to allow our emails to be received by your end users. It also ensures that emails from our IP address will not be quarantined or sent to junk/spam folders.


Send a Test Email

This is crucial for identifying any issues with email formatting, delivery, and the overall user experience. Here is the article with instructions on how to send a test email. 


Communication Integrations

BrainStorm is designed to engage users through email and instant message communications. To achieve the greatest reach, we recommend that you pin the BrainStorm App in Microsoft Teams and communicate via Teams consistently. To implement the BrainStorm Microsoft Teams app and pin the app for your users, please see the BrainStorm Microsoft Teams App Configuration Guide. 


Step 2: Configure Single Sign-On (SSO) with your Identity Provider (IdP)

To use Single Sign-On (SSO) with BrainStorm, you'll need to: 

Step 3: Add Your Company Logo

Follow the step-by step documentation below to learn how to add your company logo:

Step 4: Add Users

There are three ways to add users to the BrainStorm platform:

We recommend that you use an integration to manage your users.  An integration will synchronize your users with the BrainStorm platform as you make changes to your system. For more information, please see the Adding & Managing Users article in the BrainStorm documentation. You will need to sign in as a BrainStorm admin to view this article.



Step 5: Create Groups and Assign Administrator Roles


Organizing your users into groups allows you to distribute and share content easily.  For more information, see Creating & Managing Groups.


After users have been added to the platform, you can allow specific users to manage different areas of the platform using Roles.  For more information, see the Roles article.


Step 6: Feature Content


To license and share content with your users, give them access to one or more of your purchased or private packs. Then update the priority on flows in those packs to display them on the homepage of the end users portal. 

Step 7: Create Awareness


BrainStorm is built to engage users to help them adopt software. We recommend you use the following resources to help you with your launch process: