A virtual agent is a software program that uses scripted rules to provide guidance to users. Virtual agents are mostly used by organisations in their customer service functions to handle routine customer queries, fulfill standard requests and handle simple routine problems. The virtual agents are scripted to respond in a specific way to specific human requests. The organisations map workflows that would be handled by virtual agents to respond back by identifying predefined keywords programmed into the platform.
In order to configure a virtual agent on your client portal you need to follow some simple steps as follows.
Step 1:
The first step to configure a virtual agent will be to enable the module from the staff portal. You can find the said module through path admin settings>>system>>module>>virtual agent.
Step 2:
As soon as you enable the virtual agent module, a new icon called ‘virtual agent’ will appear under the customisation settings.
Through this option you may add multiple virtual agents in the system. As per your requirement you may enable and disable these virtual agents. As you open this setting, on the top right corner of the screen you will find a filter
icon . Through the filter icon you may filter out a virtual agent from the list of virtual agents created in the system. You just have to specify the name of the virtual agent, its status and the domain under which it was created.
Beside filter you will find the more list
icon. From the more list icon you may choose to add a new virtual as well as a new topic. A new topic can only be added after adding a new virtual agent. You may consider the virtual agent as the network that provides a definite structure and the topic as the main flow of data.
When you select ‘add virtual agent’ you are redirected to a page where you will be asked to provide details of the virtual agent you wish to add. The title will be the name of the virtual agent displayed in the staff portal. You can select the domain name from the list of domains available in the system.
The virtual agent display text is displayed on the client portal. You may add a name or function of the virtual agent, for example ‘Ask Karen’ or ‘May I help you!’
A question text is a feature to make sure your virtual agent is serving its purpose of resolving your client's doubts. If the virtual agent is not helpful the client can always select ‘no’ and submit an incident through the virtual agent. In this incident the client may also choose to append the conversation held with the virtual agent.
The welcome message is displayed as soon as your clients access the virtual agent. When the client is satisfied with the information received from the virtual agent and ends his inquiry, the closing message is displayed. If the client query cannot be resolved by the available data, the virtual agent displays the message under the ‘data not found text’ field. Along with the predefined script, if the keywords match with any solution articles from the system then such articles are also displayed as related searches. The virtual agent name is displayed on the top beside the virtual agent image.The position of the virtual agent can be either right bottom or left bottom of the screen on the client portal. When you add all these details, you will find a virtual agent is created in the system. In order to proceed further you need to click on this virtual agent and you will find 2 additional fields displayed in the details. Through virtual agent display image you may choose to add an image which will be displayed on the client portal beside the virtual agent name. You will find a code at the end of the page which is the key to set up the virtual agent.
Make sure all the details of the virtual agent are provided and then copy the virtual agent code.
Step 3:
This virtual agent code signifies a structure is in place for the virtual agent to function properly on the client portal. You can send this code to our technical executives who will get it applied on your client portal. This will ensure that your virtual agent will be displayed on the client portal.
Step 4:
Once the structure is in place, you may start to add the data in the system. A new topic for the virtual agent can be added from admin settings>>customisation>>virtual agent
When you choose to add a new topic, you will be redirected to a page where you can specify the topic title and select the virtual agent you wish to add the topic to. The drop down list displays the list of virtual agents available in the system.
Step 5:
When you add a topic, it will be displayed under the list of topics in virtual agents. You may also choose to enable and disable a topic from being displayed in the virtual agent on the client portal. Beside the status of the topic is a drop down option available through which you can clone or delete the topic.
From the ‘add topic flow’ option you can add a the flow of the topic. You can define how the virtual agent will carry on intelligent conversation with the end user client and respond to their questions. Through the ‘topic flow’ option you can add steps to make sure your topic proceeds as conversations unfold.
The title of the topic is displayed on the top of the screen below which you will find the steps which give a direction to the topic. There are two types of steps that can be added, namely simple and conditional. A simple step will not have options displayed below it whereas a conditional step can have options which are basically conditions. When an option is chosen the conversation is jumped forward to the next step which is specified through the drop down under ‘go to #step’ on the far right.
If you select a simple step, you can get rid of the options below as well as you will find a drop down option to the far right of the step from where you can add additional options in the conditional step. The conversation will jump to the step specified by the drop down menu. These go-to-step# act as connectors for the conversation to progress. The topic flow chart allows you to view the flow of the topic as a graphical representation.
Let us consider a topic flow for reference. Suppose you are looking for a lost item, there are two possible outcomes. You will either find it or you won’t. If you find it you can stop looking for it and if you do not find it you may question yourself if you need it. If you actually need it, you may keep on looking whereas if there is no actual need, you may stop the search.
The flow for this topic can be shown as below:-
The flow chart of the said topic is as follows:-