Category: Chat

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Does your chatbot live in Facebook Messenger? If so, it might stop working properly because of Facebook’s most recent API updates. But don’t despair, in this article I’ll explain how to deal with the changes and create a buttonless bot that works, no matter what Facebook does!

To button, or not to button? That is the question.

But not when it comes to Facebook.

On November 30th, Facebook announced they are updating their Messenger API to comply with European privacy laws, which will impact many of the 300.000+ chatbots that currently live on this platform. ‌

If your Facebook page and bot users fit the criteria listed here (such as being located in Europe), users will no longer be able to see bot messages that contain:

• Buttons
• Carousels (also called generic templates)
• Quick replies — update: these might actually stay
• Any media other than images — such as video, files, audio

So that’s the bad news. The good news is that you can easily avoid all of the messaging types above by cleverly using intents, context and other conversational design tricks. And if you think about it, we have all these new, smart devices that we can use in almost any way we choose. But out of laziness or lack of innovation, we continue to force users to click a tiny little area just a few pixels wide..

Let’s do something about it. Let’s go buttonless!

1. How to avoid buttons and carousels

You can easily replace buttons by using a combination of match entities and input validation. For example, when the user places an order, the bot can check in a predefined list of available menu items if this order is indeed possible. Sure, you’ll need to create a few extra steps, but it almost makes it more conversational this way.

Using a button to show a URL? Simply turn it into a message containing that same URL. Sure, it’s a few extra steps and it doesn’t look as good, but it makes no difference in the end. In fact, it’s so much more conversational!

Carousels are a way to visualise options by using images and buttons. Each option can have up to three buttons, which are the same as any other buttons.

2. How to avoid quick replies

Instead of showing quick replies, you can add the options to your text message. Create an entity (for example, @shirt.size) and add all possible values (small, medium, large), so your bot is able to detect the correct value.

3. How to send files

Instead of sending the PDF to the user for download, you can host it on any file hosting service like Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer etc. This way, the user can view the PDF in their browser.

ps: Chatlayer.ai recommends a max. size of 5 MB for media files shared on Facebook Messenger, as Facebook seems to struggle with files larger than that.

5. How to use videos and audio

I know, the video thumbnail on the left looks better visually, but when it comes to the actual conversation, nothing really changes. The user still has to click on the bot’s message, it just looks a bit different. And instead of the video being played inside the conversations, users will be redirected to an external website.

Do make sure to create an intent for ‘see product video’ so the bot knows what to do when the user states this type of intent.

To wrap it up

Sure, buttons are handy and fun. I love a good button myself! But if your bot lives on Facebook Messenger, you should skip them all together. Having a buttonless bot protects it from breaking every time Facebook decides to update their API.

Besides, a chatbot’s main purpose is and always will be to imitate a real-life conversation with people. And there’s no buttons in real life anyways. 😉

Hi, I’m Tess, language enthusiast and taco lover. I work as a Conversation Designer at Chatlayer.ai — an intuitive platform where you can build clever AI bots in any language, no coding skills required.

Interested in knowing more about chatbots? Want to share stories or talk conversation design? Let’s chat on Twitter or send me an email.

Try it yourself!

Sign up for our 30-day free trial on chatlayer.ai and follow the easy step-by-step tutorial to build your own chatbot from scratch — no coding skills required.

Don’t forget to give us your 👏 !

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How to create a buttonless bot was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

While RPA robots automates a series of steps which are somewhat predictable in terms of application and data, chatbots automates communication with live chat acting as human-takeover when the chatbot gets questions not trained for.

Symprio is a UiPath Gold partner and delivers automation solutions for customers and also provide chatbot solutions leveraging both our own (BotExpress.ai) as well as other platforms. We see more and more where automation flows are being combined where RPA robots executes processes on top of legacy applications and chatbots and live are being used to automate or simplify communication.

Modern chatbot platforms like our own (BotExpress.ai) detects intents (essence of what you want) as well as entities (data variables) which provide the specifics for a specific request.

More traditional live chat solutions only handle the chat process (and in essence fully unstructured data) but with Artificial Intelligence and richer features in live chat (or chatbot) applications we are able to extract the necessary entities (data variables) and turn this unstructured data in to structured information which are required as inputs RPA robots to executed a process.

Chat sessions can extract in basically two ways:

(1) By leveraging NLP entity extraction process chatbots can find and identify information from unstructured messages to convert for example the phrase “tomorrow” to a specific date.

(2) As part of chat sessions instead of just using text we use something we call SmartForms which increases the reliability of these inputs.

This includes text fields, date selectors, dropdown lists etc. to be able to capture and validate input fields within a chat sessions.

By being able to either select or validate input fields in the chat sessions the entities (or data variables) are more reliable parameters which can be used to trigger RPA automation flows.

Reliability of these data inputs is key for reliable automation flows.

Scenario 1: Triggering RPA Robots to retrieve information or perform transactions from chat

A chat session captures the necessary information (either through live chat or a chatbot) and triggers and an RPA robot to either go to web applications or legacy applications to retrieve information or execute transactions.

A key advantage of RPA robots such as UiPath is that they are not dependent (though also possible) on integrating using API’s and can work on both older type applications (even AS/400 green screens) to modern web applications and even visual changes in the screen. With UiPath’s powerful image recognition engine even Citrix-based environments, which are purely image-based, processes can be executed.

This can be used both with internal and external customers. Internal chatbots can offer employees information or requests (i.e. leave request) about HR, IT, Finance, Supply Chain or Sales & Marketing team which in turn can launch UiPath robots via Orchestrator and once complete return with results/information back to the chat sessions.

Another example are Level 1 Helpdesk chatbot which can capture the necessary information, guide users through troubleshooting for common issues which also can be supported by robots to perform troubleshooting and resolution (below is a scenario on robots doing the IT support)

External bots provide support for customers or suppliers in sales, support, procurement

Scenario 2: For Live Chat agents

The typical Live Agent uses pure chat for the purposes of communication but based on the information captured and (copied/pasted) in to other applications to check on status, retrieve information or to make changes. When you look at the time an agent spends to deal with a customer upwards of 45% of the time is spent on transferring information from chat sessions and in to other applications (this is the time when you sit and wait for a response from the agent) and back.

Leveraging more intelligent data capture mechanisms such as AI entity extraction or embedded forms in the chat sessions which is stored as variables in the session which in turn can be sent to the UiPath Orchestrator to execute processes via robots, saving time from the agent having to transfer data (copy/paste) as well as actually executing the process or retrieval from third-party systems.

Once the information is retrieved this in turn is sent back to the chat sessions and automatically be embedded in response messages from the agent. This effectively lets the agent have robots at their finger tips to execute processes at will.

Even in cases where you are using a simpler live chat platform unable to extract and orchestrate robots, the data can still be captured in to a spreadsheet and agent can launch the robot manually to execute transactions or retrieve information much faster than manually logging in to the applications.

This significantly increases the capacity as well as speed of resolution for agents, while at the same time ready the process for complete automation where a chatbot executes the same process an agent does.

Scenario 3: Leverage chatbots (primarily internally) as a Human-in-loop process

When a robot executes a process it may reach a point where either additional information, a decision or evaluation is necessary. Similar to how UiPath Action Center (as part of Orchestrator) can be used to create tasks which are assigned to people within the organization to act on.

Once the assignee makes a decision or provides the missing information to Action Center the robot takes over and continues the process to the next step.

Similar to Action Center, internal chatbots can also be the medium to engage internal business users for quick decisions/approvals or missing information for bots set up on internal messaging platforms such as Slack, Workplace by Facebook or Microsoft Teams.

Given that all these platforms are mobile enabled the speed of decisions and resolution can often be faster than when relying on emails.

Originally published on LinkedIn

Symprio is a UiPath Gold partner with a strong delivery team located in USA, Singapore, Malaysia & India. Symprio, leveraging our own platform called BotExpress.ai, provide internal and external facing chatbots integrated with UiPath robots to automate end-to-end processes.

Don’t forget to give us your 👏 !

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Why RPA Bots & Chatbots/Live Chat are natural partners in automation was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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Chatbots are getting popular day by day. Though they are not as perfect as we would like them to be but they can be very useful to both users as well as service providers.

Chatbots are currently being used in various industries from ecommerce, Realestate, Logistic, Healthcare to Spirituality with different roles like to answer FAQs, Lead generation, appointment scheduling, customer feedback gathering. Also, it works as a standalone app for eCommerce which can be integrated with different chat channels like Telephone, SMS, Google Assistant, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Website, etc.

WHY APPOINTMENT BOOKING CHATBOT?

One of the most prevalent uses of chatbot is to book appointments. Appointment booking chatbots work tremendously well in various industries from Healthcare (Hospitals, clinics) Restaurant reservations, Home installation services to Salon. Even though the appointment booking process seems to be the same for every industry, the reality is quite different. Each industry brings its own requirements and challenges.

Also, Study shows people who engage in repeated work often feel constricted and frustrated thus their output in terms of the effectiveness of dealing with customers gets hampered and no business can afford this situation.

Customer’s perspective

A recent study shows, because of the hectic schedule, working-class people usually do not get time during office working hours and they tend to choose non-working hours to enquire about the services or schedule their appointments. Imagine, if there is no one available to attend a call at that time to cater the customer’s query that can be a huge loss for the business.

Technological trends

We are now experiencing a new trend where many people expect the answers at their fingertips, and to find them, they’re turning to the nearest gadget. For service providers, it becomes essential to be present across devices and across the multiple chat channels.

Furthermore, Voice Assistant technology has opened a new front itself. More and more people are adopting voice technology which forces businesses to be present on each possible platform. Chatbot has the capability to be integrated with multiple chat channels is the greatest advantage a company can invest in.

Trending Bot Articles:

1. 3 Tips for your Voice and Chatbot Program from Gartner’s Customer Service Hype Cycle 2020

2. Deploying Watson Assistant Web Chat in Salesforce Lightning Console

3. Are Chatbots Vulnerable? Best Practices to Ensure Chatbots Security

4. Your Path to AI — An IBM Developer Series

GETTING STARTED WITH DEVELOPMENT

When you plan to build any product (in this case an Appointment booking chatbot), you have to answer these following fundamental questions:

1. What do you want to achieve with this product?
2. How will your customer benefit from this product?

[1] Over millions of human resources are being involved in a task/activities for instance Answering basic queries, working hours, Availability of slots or scheduling an appointment for the customers where a simple AI-driven chatbot can do it more efficiently and economically. So we want to build a chatbot which will take care of the appointment booking process and it can answer the customer’s queries across the chat channels.

[2] As far as customer’s benefits are concerned, customers can book their appointment from anywhere at any time even from their preferred chat channels. And if customers feel they will not be able to make it at the scheduled time, they can either reschedule appointments or delete appointments at any time.

When it comes to a Development decision, a couple of questions can arise in one’s mind

1. What will be the conversation flow?
2. Which chatbot building platform we are going to use?
3. For which chat channels should we make it available?

[1] As far as conversation flow is concerned, we are clear with our vision. We will keep the conversation flow simple so that with minimal customization as many as businesses can use the AI-Appointment booking chatbot.

[2] After deciding the conversation flow, the next big and crucial question comes, which platform should we use to build this Appointment scheduling chatbot. There are various chatbot building platforms available such as:

• Dialogflow
• IBM Watson
• Amazon Lex Microsoft Bot Framework
• Chatfuel
• Manychat
• wit.ai
• Botsify
• Flow XO
• Beep Boop
• Bottr

Each platform has its own positives and negatives but our choice was pretty obvious. We chose Dialogflow to build Appointment booking chatbot.

There are few reasons behind choosing Dialogflow.

• It comes with machine learning capabilities and built-in NLP features
• It also offers inbuilt options for integration with various chat channels so you don’t have to put in extra efforts.

[3] To let customers access the bot from their preferred chat channels, we have decided to offer this appointment booking chatbot on Website, Google assistant and Telegram in the first phase and in the second phase, we’ll be adding Telephone and SMS as well.

NTEGRATION WITH EXISTING APPOINTMENT BOOKING SYSTEM

Many of the businesses would be using an existing appointment booking system. And if they are happy with their booking system then it’s unlikely that they would switch to a new system. Taking that into consideration, we have planned to integrate our appointment booking chatbot with as many existing booking systems as possible.

We have started with Google Calendar integration and we’ll be integrating more systems in near future.

Google calendar will keep a record of all the appointments in the service provider’s Google calendar which he/she can access from anywhere (e.g. Mobile phone, Laptop). Appointment Booking chatbot also sends the reminder to the customers which ultimately decreases the “no show”.

Challenges

The Journey of building an Appointment Booking Chatbot was not an easy one but it was full of excitement. Having a customer-first approach in mind, Our cross-functional team worked hard towards building a fine product. When it comes to making this chatbot available across the chat channels, we have gone with the same fundamental approach “Customer-first”. We have integrated the same chatbot on different chat channels like Website, Google Assistant, Telephone, SMS, Telegram, Facebook Messenger so that the customer can choose to book appointments on their preferred chat channel. Publishing the chatbot on multiple chat channels will help service providers to have better reach which ultimately leads to more business opportunity and happy customers.

But managing the integration of the same bot across all the chat channels isn’t a cakewalk. Each chat channel has a different interface and managing the same bot response is quite difficult. Let’s take an example of suggestion chips.

• Suggestion chips are awesome. It’s always better to use suggestion chips which user can easily select instead of writing out the phrase to continue the conversation. But the tricky part of suggestion chips is you can not add suggestion chips for SMS and Telephone. So you have to craft separate responses for telephone and SMS.
• Managing the different time zones is also quite a task. It becomes more crucial when you are building an Appointment booking chatbot. It is not super hard to manage but it requires technical know-how and some extra efforts.
• Another challenge is to manage customer conversation. Customers tend to respond randomly and to manage those conversations with sophistication is the important task. You have to make sure that the chatbot conversation does not get messed up.
• It is always better to make the responses dynamic. Making the responses dynamic needs an extra effort.
• There are some challenges in speech recognition by Dialogflow especially if you have a different accent. Sometimes chatbot could not recognize the user’s response properly so in this case it becomes very crucial to manage the conversation gracefully so that customers do not get frustrated.

Benefits of Appointment Booking Chatbot

• Appointment booking chatbot considerably reduces the Human resources and company’s human resource can work on more productive things.
• It has been observed that the customer always prefers conversational experience over boring form filling just like it is there on a website so the user engagement will increase and that will result in an increase in appointment bookings.
• Telephone-based appointment booking will help users to book appointments even if they are not tech-savvy people.
• As the machine works 24 hrs and it can handle multiple users at the same time unlike humans, this is a win-win situation for both user and service provider.
• Maximize your team’s productivity by automating scheduling
• Enhance user experience with seamless appointment handling
• Customers usually get frustrated by being in a queue. Chatbot prevents queuing as the chatbot can cater to multiple customers simultaneously.
• Ensure glitch-free appointment execution
• It sends the reminder
• It increases customer engagement.
• As customers can converse with the virtual assistant, it will result in better customer engagement.

As many businesses are constantly eyeing on decreasing the human resource dependency and moving towards automation, the chatbot can be the best tool to start with Automating the business activities.

Don’t forget to give us your 👏 !

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Case Study: Building Appointment Booking Chatbot was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.