Localizing chatbot conversations by using localized Chatbot Skills for each language

For end users to interact with BMC Helix Virtual Agent in multiple languages, administrators can create localized  Skill by adding localized intents, entities, and dialogs in IBM Watson Assistant. 

If you don't want to create localized Skill for each language, you can use real-time translation. You don't require localized Skill if you are using real-time translation. For more information about this method, see Localizing chatbot conversations by using real-time translation. 

By default, BMC Helix Virtual Agent supports English. Localization is supported for BMC Helix Virtual Agent, Skype for Business on-premises, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. When using SMS to interact with BMC Helix Virtual Agent, end users can interact only in English.

For localized live chat, BMC Helix Virtual Agent uses Google Cloud Translation Services for automatic language translation. If you want to use localization for the live chat capability, you must purchase the Google Cloud Translation API key. For more information, see  Google Cloud Translation API  in Google documentation. If you do not want to enable localization for live chat capability, you do not require the Google Cloud Translation API key.

Locales supported when using localized Chatbot Skill

BMC Helix Virtual Agent supports the following languages when you use IBM Watson Assistant:

• English (default)—en
• French—fr
• German—de
• Italian—it
• Japanese—ja
• Korean—ko
• Portuguese—pt
• Spanish—es
• Chinese—zn-CH
• Dutch—nl
• Swedish—sv
• Danish—da
• Norwegian—no

Scenario: Configuring multiple localized Skill to enable localization

An organization - XYZ Limited decides to leverage the conversational capabilities of BMC Helix Virtual Agent. In addition to English, the organization supports multiple languages such as French, German, Italian, and so on. To ensure that end users can interact with BMC Helix Virtual Agent in their language, the administrator trains BMC Helix Virtual Agent to respond in each language by creating localized intents, entities, and dialogs. 

To ensure that the end users can create service requests through BMC Helix Virtual Agent in their locale, the administrator imports the localized service definitions in BMC Helix Virtual Agent.

To ensure that end users can interact with support agents in their locale, the administrator configures the language settings in Live Chat  and enters the Google API translation key. 

Localization workflow by using localized Chatbot Skill

Administrators can create one IBM Watson Assistant Skill for each non-English locale. English is the default locale and the Skill for English is provided out-of-the-box. If you attempt to create multiple skills for a locale, BMC Helix Virtual Agent generates an error. 

The following figure represents the workflow of enabling localization in BMC Helix Virtual Agent:

The following table describes the tasks to be performed in the process of configuring localized messages for BMC Helix Virtual Agent:

Result of localizing chatbot conversation by using localized Chatbot Skill

The head XYZ Limited communicates to the employees that they can interact with BMC Helix Virtual Agent in French—one of the supported locales. An employee wants to install Microsoft Visio in his laptop. The employee opens BMC Helix Virtual Agent and start interacting in French. BMC Helix Virtual Agent identifies the locale, and replies to the user in French.  After the employee has provided all the required details, BMC Helix Virtual Agent creates a service request (to install Microsoft Visio in his laptop) in French. The service request is created and tracked in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced. 

• What happens if the user's locale is not supported
  If the user initiates a conversation in a locale that is not supported by BMC Helix Virtual Agent, the chatbot responds with a message in English—Sorry, I am not trained in your language, if you would like you can continue in English. 

• Escalating to a live chat

  During an interaction in the supported locale, if the user is not satisfied with the chatbot's response, BMC Helix Virtual Agent checks whether live chat support is configured and asks whether the user wants to be transferred to a live chat. After the user connects with the support agent and interacts in his locale, the user's message is automatically translated to English for the support agent. The agent responds in English. The response is automatically translated for the user in his locale. For more information, see Leveraging live chat capability.

• Standard localized error message

  During an interaction in the supported locale, if something goes wrong in BMC Helix Virtual Agent, a standard message—Something has gone wrong, please contact the administrator or try again later—is displayed in the user's locale. 

Example of a chatbot interaction in French

The following image is an example of how a user interacts with BMC Helix Virtual Agent in French locale:

For information on changing the chatbot conversation language preference, see Localizing chatbot conversations by using real-time translation.