Introduction to chatbots

EngageOne™ Communicate provides a browser-based design tool that enables you to create deterministic, rules-based chatbots to communicate with customers via multiple messaging channels.

It enables non-technical users to design and control the conversation, while providing flexibility for IT teams to add business rules and integrate with various business systems via API calls.

Using the chatbot functionality, you can:

  • Create structured, data-driven conversations.
  • Design once, then publish to any supported channel.
  • Test your bots using Preview before deployment.
  • Use the Communicate Reporting feature to see statistics that will help you understand consumer behavior. You can view real-time statistics on the dashboard, see trends over time and transcripts of conversations.
  • Monitor conversations in progress and take over conversations when necessary.

For some examples of using chatbots, see Chatbot examples.

For a series of short video clips on using chatbots, see Help videos: Chat communications.

Things to consider when designing a chatbot

  • Structuring the chat experience: design the chatbot flow and decide whether a single chatbot will suffice or whether you need multiple chatbots.
  • Methods of interaction: you can use various methods such as buttons, menus, images and free text.

User roles

See User roles for details of the various user roles within Communicate. The Live Takeover role is required for any agent that will be taking over chats.

Interaction between user and chatbot

To avoid confusion if the user attempts to enter more text before the chatbot has a chance to reply, the following rules are followed in the chatbot:

  • After the user has entered a message, but before the chatbot has replied, further user input is disabled. The message Please wait... is displayed in the user text entry line. When the chatbot has replied and the user can enter another message, this changes to Type a message....
  • If the chatbot has responded by displaying a selection of buttons or quick replies, the user text entry line is disabled and displays the message Choose an option above....The user must choose one of the buttons or quick replies to proceed.
  • If the chatbot has asked a question, the user must answer it by typing in the user entry text line (which displays the message Type a message... until the user starts typing).

Message customization

You can customize the chatbot messages. Click Get My Bot, then scroll down to the Options section. Look for the following parameters:

  • botProcessingPlaceholder. Set this to the text to be displayed in the message input box while the bot is processing. The default is Please wait....
  • placeholder. Set this to the text to be displayed in the message input box that invites the user to type a message. The default is Type a message....
  • disabledPlaceholder. Set this to the text that appears in the message input box when the box is disabled because the user must first select a button or quick reply option. The default is Choose an option above....