diff --git a/smartassist/src/utils.py b/smartassist/src/utils.py
index 23ec68b..28a0b65 100644
--- a/smartassist/src/utils.py
+++ b/smartassist/src/utils.py
@@ -3,20 +3,35 @@
 # is that it is easier to avoid circular imports when they are defined in a central location.
 import logging
 global log_level # Remember, in Python globals are only global in the module it is defined in
-log_level = 'INFO' # Default logging level
+log_level = 'INFO' # Default logging level if not specified in config file
 
+def configure_logging(level=log_level):
+    """
+    Set up logging for the project. This is the root logger instance.
+    All child loggers inherit from this logger.
+    """
+    numeric_level = getattr(logging, level.upper())  # Convert string to numeric level
 
-def set_local_logger(log_instance):
-    """
-    Configure logging based on the global variable log_level
-    Logging is controlled by integer values, where DEBUG < INFO < WARNING < ERROR < CRITICAL.
-    To turn off logging completely, set numeric_log_level to at least CRITICAL + 1.
-    """
-    global log_level
-    numeric_log_level = getattr(logging, log_level, None)
-    if not isinstance(numeric_log_level, int):
-        raise ValueError('Invalid log level: %s' % log_level)
+    logger = logging.getLogger() # Get the root logger
+    logger.setLevel(numeric_level) 
+
+    handler = logging.StreamHandler()  # Or other handler (FileHandler for logs to file)
+    formatter = logging.Formatter("%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s")
+    handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+    logger.addHandler(handler)
+
+# To be removed?
+# def set_local_logger(log_instance):
+#     """
+#     Configure logging based on the global variable log_level
+#     Logging is controlled by integer values, where DEBUG < INFO < WARNING < ERROR < CRITICAL.
+#     To turn off logging completely, set numeric_log_level to at least CRITICAL + 1.
+#     """
+#     global log_level
+#     numeric_log_level = getattr(logging, log_level, None)
+#     if not isinstance(numeric_log_level, int):
+#         raise ValueError('Invalid log level: %s' % log_level)
     
-    logging.basicConfig(level=numeric_log_level)  # Set the root logger level to the configured level
-    log_instance.info('Log level set to {}'.format(log_level))  # Example usage of the logger
+#     log_instance.basicConfig(level=numeric_log_level)  # Set the root logger level to the configured level
+#     log_instance.info('Current log level set to {}'.format(log_instance.getLogger().getEffectiveLevel()))  # Example usage of the logger