Configuring interactive chat options in chatbot conversations

As an administrator, you can use BMC Helix Virtual Agent to initiate interactive conversations with users, and present multiple response options for their queries. For example, when a user requests for a leave, the interactive chat options can be 'Paid leave', 'Unpaid leave', or 'Annual leave'.

You can configure interactive chat options in any of the following scenarios:

• For services that are being imported: You can configure the interactive chat options in the Dialog tab while importing a BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced service to BMC Helix Virtual Agent.
• For an already-imported service: For services that are already imported from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced, you can configure the interactive chat options from IBM Watson Assistant.

To configure interactive chat options when you import a service

You can configure the interactive chat options on the Questions tab while importing a BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced service to BMC Helix Virtual Agent.

To enable interactive chat, you must provide a list of options for the user question on the Questions tab so that the user can select the desired option. The list of options is displayed based on the interface the user is using, such as web UI, SMS, and so on.

1. Log in to the BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
2. Click BMC Chatbot.

3. Click Actions > Publish Chat-enabled Service.

4. On the Publish Chat-enabled Service wizard, select the locale and the service to enable chat. 

5. Click Next till you reach the Questions tab.

6. From the Questions tab, select the Display the possible answers to this question as selectable buttons/options check box to present single-select interactive chat options to the user during a chatbot conversation.  

   Note

   For questions with multi-select options, the Display the possible answers to this question as selectable buttons/options check box  is disabled.

   The interactive chat options are presented to the user during a chatbot conversation. For more information about importing a BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced service, see Importing chat-enabled services from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced.

To configure interactive chat options for an already-imported service

For services that are already imported from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced, you can configure the interactive chat options from IBM Watson Assistant.

1. Log in to IBM Watson Assistant.
2. On the Skills tab, select the service for which you want to provide interactive chat options.
3. From the detailed view, click the Dialog tab.
4. Double-click the node for which you want to provide multiple response options; for example, BMC-Request Software.
   

5. Select the specific slot for which you want to provide interactive chat options.

   For example, for Urgency slot, show interactive chat options as High, Medium, and Low.

6. For the same slot, specify the following options:

   1. Save It as: $temp

   2. Type: Optional

7. Click the Edit Slot icon  beside the slot, and in the JSON Editor, specify the following settings for the every entity:
   
   The following table provides information about the parameters and their configuration values: 

   Key	Slot	Description
   1	$urgency == null && $software != null"	This entity initializes the variable and presents the interactive chat options to the user. Provide the following information and click Save: Save It as: $temp Type: Optional JSON editor: Click the Edit Slot icon  and provide the following options in the JSON editor:  "sys_options": [ { "label": "high", "value": "high" }, { "label": "medium", "value": "medium" }, { "label": "low", "value": "low" } ] The following image shows a completed JSON editor:
   2	@urgency	This entity gets the user's response for the variable. Provide the following information and click Save: Save It as: $urgency Type: Required The following image shows a completed JSON editor:
   3	$urgency ! = null	This entity cleans up the sys_options variable. Provide the following information and click Save: Save It as: $temp. $temp is a dummy variable. Type: Optional The following image shows a completed JSON editor:

Examples of interactive chat displayed on different interfaces

You can enable BMC Helix Virtual Agent to have an interactive conversation with users. Interactive conversation enables the users to select a desired option for a question from the available multiple responses. For example, a user initiates a conversation with BMC Helix Virtual Agent to request a service. In such a case, BMC Helix Virtual Agent displays the available service request options such as password reset, software installation, paid time off, and so on. From this list of options, the user can select the desired option and BMC Helix Virtual Agent creates the request on behalf of the user.

The following table describes the display format options for an interactive conversation:

Where to go from here

Enabling the dynamic options or buttons

Related topics

Importing chat-enabled services from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced

Integrating