Enabling Skype for Business on-premises in a chatbot application

You can use Skype for Business on-premises as one of the communication channels for chatbot applications so that the on-premises users can connect to BMC Helix Virtual Agent. The configuration for BMC Helix Virtual Agent to work with Skype for Business on-premises is a tenant-level configuration. If you have multiple chatbots, you must configure Skype for Business on-premises for each chatbot.

Before you begin

• Ensure that Skype for Business Server 2015 or higher is installed on-premises. 

• Use an existing contact or add a new contact in Skype for Business on-premises that end users can connect to. 
  For example, if you want to connect to the HR Chatbot from Skype for Business on-premises, create a contact HR-Bot.

  Important

  If you want to configure Skype for Business on-premises for multiple chatbots, you must create a new contact for each chatbot.

• Ensure that you have the Lync Autodiscover URL that is accessible to the BMC Helix Innovation Suite server. For more information about getting the Lync Autodiscover URL, see  Autodiscover service requirements  in Microsoft documentation.
• If you are using a secured connection (https), ensure that your Skype for Business server has the certificates issued by Certificate Authorities (CAs). For more information, see  Environmental requirements  in Microsoft documentation.
  

Process for enabling Skype for Business on-premises in a chatbot application

To configure a chatbot application to work with Skype for Business on-premises

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
2. On the Workspace tab, click the application in which you want to configure a chatbot to work with Skype for Business on-premises. 
3. Click the Chatbots tab and click the chatbot that you want to configure to work with Skype for Business on-premises. 
4. Click the Channels tab, and select New > Skype for Business On-premises. 

5. In the Skype for Business On-premises settings section, enter values for the following fields:

   Field	Description
   Description	Enter the description that provides details about this setting.
   Discovery URL	Enter the complete Lync Autodiscover URL with the domain in the following format: http://lyncdiscover.domain.com
   Chatbot User Name	Enter the user name that you use to sign in to the Skype for Business on-premises client. Typically the format is domain\user or user@domain.com Example: calbro\hrbot or hrbot@calbro.com  Image of the username that you must enter
   Chatbot User Password	Enter the password that you use to sign in to the Skype for Business on-premises client.
   Locale	Enter the locale code of the chatbot application. Example: If you want to enter the Chinese locale, enter zh-CN.

6. Click Save. 

If the credentials provided are correct, the settings are saved and the status of the contact that you added in Skype for Business on-premises changes to Available. If the credentials are incorrect, the settings are not saved and the contact continues to be offline.

The following image is an example of configuring an HR chatbot application to work with Skype for Business on-premises: 

Localization of the chatbot application configured with Skype for Business on-premises

Administrators can use one of the following methods to localize chatbot conversations: 

• Localizing chatbot conversations by using real-time translation
• Localizing chatbot conversations by using localized Chatbot Skills for each language

Troubleshooting

The following table provides the troubleshooting steps for common scenarios:

Related topics

Enabling Microsoft Teams in a chatbot application

Formatting chatbot responses to be displayed in communication channels