Setting up Temperature Monitoring involves configuring Kio Cloud, configuring Temperature Monitoring, installing Monitor devices, and onboarding your team—in that order. Complete the four steps below sequentially, as each step depends on the previous one. Following this order helps ensure a smooth deployment and avoids common setup issues.
This guide explains what each task is, why it matters, and what information to prepare so you understand the overall setup process before you begin.
Before you begin
Confirm the following are in place before you start. Your Kontakt.io deployment team usually handles the first two. The third is for whoever is leading the on-site Temp Monitor installation.
-
A Kio account with Temperature Monitoring enabled. Your organization's account must be provisioned and Temperature Monitoring activated. Kontakt.io provides your sign-in URL, which looks like
https://[Tenant ID].app.cloud.[us or uk].kontakt.io. - Gateway infrastructure online. Monitor readings reach Temperature Monitoring through gateways on your network. Depending on your deployment plan, these gateways are Kontakt.io Portal Lights, compatible BLE-enabled Wi-Fi access points from your existing wireless infrastructure, or a mix of both, installed and connected to the local Wi-Fi network. The Kontakt.io team completes the setup required to support any third-party access points. Confirm the Kio platform's network requirements with your IT department.
- The Kio Setup Manager mobile app. Installers use this app to install, configure, and troubleshoot Kontakt.io Temp Monitors. Mobile device required: iPhone or iPad (iOS 17 or later) or an Android phone or tablet (Android 8 or later). Bluetooth must be on, and the mobile device requires an internet connection (Wi-Fi or cellular).
What to gather before you start
Most setup decisions come from your own policies and environment, not from Temperature Monitoring's defaults. Gather the information below before you start, having this ready keeps Step 1 and Step 2 moving and prevents rework. If Kontakt.io is leading your deployment, the deployment team collects this with you.
| Information to gather | Used in | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Locations and departments | Step 1 (Smart Location) | The campuses, buildings, floors, and rooms being monitored, with a digital floor plan for each floor. Each room must be assigned to a Department (such as Pharmacy or Laboratory). Departments drive reporting and department-level user access. |
| Who needs access, and their role | Step 1 (Users) | Names, emails, mobile phone numbers (for alerts only), and their Temperature Monitoring role. For the department-level roles (Monitoring User and User), also the campus department they cover. |
| The Storage Units to monitor | Step 2 (Storage Units) | Every refrigerator, freezer, warmer, or incubator to monitor, with its location and Storage Unit Type. |
| The acceptable range for each Storage Unit and Room | Step 2 (Threshold Settings) | The low and high temperature, and humidity where it applies, for each Storage Unit or Room, taken from your policies, product labeling, or program requirements (for example, 2 to 8°C for a vaccine refrigerator). |
| Who to notify, how, and for what | Step 2 (Alert Rules) | For each location and condition: who is notified, by which channel (email, SMS, or webhook), and if reminders and escalations are required. |
| Policy-based system settings | Step 2 (Advanced Preferences) | The temperature unit, logging rate, and alert delays that match your compliance program. |
Step 1: Configure Kio Cloud
Kio Cloud is the shared foundation that Temperature Monitoring and every Kio app depends on. Complete these tasks first, in the Kio Cloud section of the Kontakt.io Launchpad.
| Task | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Set up users | The Kio platform is built on Role based access control (RBAC). Everyone involved with setup requires a user profile and assigned to app roles. An app appears on a user's Kontakt.io Launchpad only if they are assigned to a role for the app. Before onboarding your team, be sure their user profiles are complete with assigned to a roles either through SSO or managed directly in the Kio Users app. See View and manage users and About user access to Temperature Monitoring. |
| Build the Smart Location hierarchy | The map of campuses, buildings, floors, and rooms that Storage Units, Rooms, and users are assigned to. Each floor needs a floor plan. See Location hierarchy: campus, building, floor, room and Add a floor and set up its floor plan. |
| Create Departments and assign rooms (Smart Location) | Departments drive compliance reports by department and support department-level user access. See Create a department. |
| Claim your Kontakt.io order (Device Management) | Adds the order's devices to your organization's Kio account. Devices cannot be installed until they are claimed. See Claim and add devices with your Kontakt.io Order ID. |
Roles to assign the setup team:
- Temperature Monitoring System Manager, or Administrator for those not responsible for Advanced Preferences
- Smart Location Administrator
- User Management Administrator
- Device Management Administrator (required to claim Kontakt.io orders)
- A Kio Setup Manager installer role for each installer, by platform: iOS Device Management Temp Monitor Installer; Android Setup Manager (mobile) Temp Monitor Installer
Manage users directly in the Users app or through your SSO identity provider.
Step 2: Configure Temperature Monitoring
Work through each of these tasks in order — each one builds on the one before it. A user with the Administrator or System Manager role has the required permissions to complete these steps.
Open Temperature Monitoring from the Kontakt.io Launchpad.
| Task | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Configure Advanced Preferences (System Manager role required) | Company-wide settings for the temperature unit, logging rates, and alert timing. Facilities that enable additional preferences by location can also override these defaults for an individual department. See Configure advanced preferences. |
| Create Storage Unit Types | Categorize units (for example, Refrigerator, Freezer, Ultra-low Freezer, Warmer) so you can filter and group them in views and reports. Every Storage Unit needs a type. See Create Storage Unit Types. |
| Add Storage Units | Each Storage Unit being monitored must be added to Temperature Monitoring to allow a Temp Monitor to be assigned to it during install. Add one at a time or import using a CSV file. See Create a Storage Unit and Import Storage Units from CSV. |
| Create Threshold Settings | Defines the acceptable low and high reading range. A reading outside of a threshold is an excursion. Without one, readings are recorded but no excursion is ever detected. Reuse one setting across units that share a range. Name each Threshold Setting after its range, such as Refrigerator 2 to 8°C or Vaccine Freezer -25 to -15°C. See Create a Threshold Setting. |
| Create Alert Rules | Turns a problem into a notification. Without an Alert Rule, excursions and device issues are recorded but no one is notified. See Create an Alert Rule and Create an Escalation Alert Rule. |
The alert types:
| Alert type | Triggers when |
|---|---|
| Threshold alert for Storage Unit | A Storage Unit reading goes outside its threshold range. |
| Threshold alert for Room | A Room reading goes outside its threshold range. |
| Hardware error alert | A Monitor reports a hardware problem, such as a disconnected probe. |
| Monitor offline alert | A Monitor stops reporting to Temperature Monitoring. |
| Data out of sync alert | A Monitor has not synced its local data to Temperature Monitoring within 7, 14, or 21 days. |
Each Alert Rule sets the condition (the alert type), the Storage Units, Rooms, or Monitors and locations it covers, and who is notified and how (email, SMS, or webhook). Reminders are optional repeat notifications to the same recipients until the alert is acknowledged or resolved.
Escalations:
An escalation notifies additional people when an alert still needs attention. If an alert is not acknowledged, not resolved, or the condition is still active after a wait time you set, Temperature Monitoring triggers a new alert for a different Group — such as supervisors or on-call staff who were not on the original notifications.
An escalation has two parts: an Escalation Alert Rule (a separate, reusable rule that names the Group who can resolve escalation alerts and how they are notified) and an escalation you add to an Alert Rule (which sets the trigger condition and how long to wait before escalating). One Escalation Alert Rule can be reused across many Alert Rules.
See About escalation alerts, Create an Escalation Alert Rule, and Add an escalation to an Alert Rule.
Advanced Preferences:
These settings apply company-wide, a change applies to every Storage Unit, Room, and Monitor. They control three things: the temperature unit readings are shown in, how often each Monitor logs a reading (the logging rate), and how alerts are timed. The defaults below suit most facilities, so you can leave them as-is to start and adjust later if your compliance requirements call for it. Only the System Manager can view or change advanced preferences.
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Temperature unit | Celsius |
| Logging rate within threshold (in range) | 15 minutes |
| Logging rate out of threshold (excursion) | 1 minute |
| Out-of-threshold alert delay | 0 minutes (immediate) |
| Alert arming delay | 5 minutes |
Tip: If a specific department requires different settings, a System Manager can add per-department overrides under Additional preferences by location. Each override changes only the settings you choose for that department; everything else continues to inherit the company-wide defaults. See Configure advanced preferences.
Step 3: Install the Monitors
Install Monitors with the Kio Setup Manager mobile app. During installation, each Monitor is assigned three things: its location, the Storage Unit or Room it measures, and a Threshold Setting. Once those are set, the Storage Unit or Room begins reporting.
Note: A Room does not appear in Temperature Monitoring until a Monitor is installed and assigned to it. If you created Alert Rules in Step 2 and could not find a Room, install its Monitor first, then add the Room to the rule.
| Monitor | Placement |
|---|---|
| Temp Monitor Pro | Mounts outside a Storage Unit with one or two probes inside. Each probe is assigned its own Storage Unit and Threshold Setting. See Install a Temp Monitor Pro and Quick install: Temp Monitor Pro. |
| Temp Monitor Lite | Mounted in a room or placed inside a Storage Unit. See Install a Temp Monitor Lite and Quick install: Temp Monitor Lite. |
Important: Always use Kio Setup Manager to make device-level changes, such as updating a Monitor's location, its assigned Storage Unit or Room, or its Threshold Setting. Make these changes in the mobile app, not the Temperature Monitoring web app, so the Monitor's local configuration is saved correctly to Kio Cloud.
Step 4: Onboard your team
Before go-live, make sure staff know how to use Temperature Monitoring for their role. A short walkthrough helps people respond to alerts confidently and use the system correctly from day one. Share the quick starts that match each person's responsibilities.
| Topic | Audience |
|---|---|
| Quick start: administration | Administrator, System Manager, Facilities Manager |
| Quick install: Temp Monitor Pro and Quick install: Temp Monitor Lite | Anyone installing Monitors |
| About user access to Temperature Monitoring | Administrator, System Manager, or Facilities Manager with the User Management Administrator role |
| Quick start: Reports | Administrator, System Manager, Facilities Manager, User |
| Quick start: Monitoring and alerts | All users |
| About Monitor devices | All users |
| Temperature Monitoring terminology | All users |
Track your progress in the Monitoring view
As you complete the steps, the Monitoring view tells you what is still needed for each Storage Unit and Room:
- A new Storage Unit shows Threshold setup required until a Threshold Setting is assigned.
- It then shows Monitor setup required until a Monitor is installed.
- Once a Monitor is reporting and a reading is within range, it shows Online.
- A Storage Unit or Room not yet covered by an Alert Rule shows Alert setup required.
When a Storage Unit or Room shows Online and is covered by an active Alert Rule, its setup is complete.