Localizing chatbot conversations by using real-time translation

Administrators can enable real-time translation in chatbot conversations so that end users can interact with the chatbot and the support agent in a language of their choice. You can leverage a real-time translation provider such as Google Cloud Translation Services version 2 or Microsoft Azure Translator Speech API version 3 to localize chatbot conversations. 

When you use real-time translation, you don't require localized IBM Watson Assistant Skill with localized intents, entities, and dialogs. 

If you don't want to use real-time translation, as an alternative method, localize chatbot conversations by using localized IBM Watson Assistant Skills for each language. 

The following video (3:13) provides an overview on real-time translation:

 https://youtu.be/9HyjoWQy4Hw

You can use real-time translation in BMC Helix Virtual Agent web UI, Skype for Business on-premises, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.

Scenario: Enabling real-time translation for a chatbot

An organization - ABC has implemented an IT chatbot to resolve all IT-related queries. The primary language of the IT chatbot is English. The organization  wants to use real-time translation so that its employees can interact with the chatbot in Japanese and French. The ABC company uses Google Cloud Translation Services for automatic language translation.  In BMC Helix Virtual Agent, the administrator selects the translator provider (Google Cloud Translation Services) and provides the Google Translate API key. Before enabling real-time translation for the chatbots, administrators can test whether real-time translation is working correctly by using the BMC Helix Innovation Studio UI. After confirming that the translation works correctly, you can enable real-time translation in the IT chatbots. 

To ensure that localization is enabled for live chat with support agents, the administrator at ABC uses the same Google Translate API service in Live Chat. 

Localization workflow by using real-time translation

The following image shows the workflow for enabling real-time translation in a chatbot:

Result of enabling real-time translation for chatbot conversations

Employees of ABC can now interact with the IT chatbot in English, Japanese, and French. When a French employee opens the IT chatbot and requests for an additional monitor, the IT chatbot informs the employee that the request requires manager approval. The employee then requests to chat with a support agent. The agent asks the purpose of requirement. The employee types the message in French, which is translated for the agent in English. The agent types the reply in English, which is translated to French for the employee. The interaction continues until the employee's request is resolved. 

• What happens if the user's language is not supported by real-time translation

If the user initiates a conversation in a language that is not supported by real-time translation, by default, the following message is displayed:

I have not been trained in your language but am able to translate on the fly. This may impact the quality of my responses.

• Standard error messages

If the real-time translation configuration is incorrect, the following message is displayed:

An error occurred while connecting to the translation service call.

If the real-time translation configuration is correct, but the translation provider service generates an error, the following message is displayed:

An error occurred during translation <additional description from the service> .

• Live chat localization
  
  If the IBM Watson Assistant Skill configured with a chatbot is non-English, for example, in  Japanese, then the agent receives messages in Japanese. To ensure that the agent receives the messages in English, you must enable translation in Live Chat. 

Example of a chatbot conversation by using real-time translation

The following image shows a sample conversation in French (one of the locales supported by BMC Helix Innovation Suite) after enabling real-time translation:

The following image shows a sample conversation in Hindi (one of the unsupported locales of  BMC Helix Innovation Suite) after enabling real-time translation:

Locales supported by BMC Helix Innovation Suite for end users

As an end user, you can use real-time translation to interact with the chatbot in several languages that supported by translation providers such as  Google Cloud Translation API  or  Microsoft Azure Translator API . Languages that use right to left script such as Hebrew are not supported by real-time translation.

Locales supported by BMC Helix Innovation Suite for administrators

As an administrator, you can access BMC Helix Innovation Suite without the need for localization or translation providers in the following languages:

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

Benefits of enabling real-time translation for localizing chatbot conversations

• Support for more number of locales when using real-time translation.
• Eliminate the need to create multiple chatbot Skills for each language. If you have localized chatbot Skills, you can continue using them. To add new locales, you can enable real-time translation.
• Ability to select chatbots for which you want to enable real-time translation. 

• Easily test real-time translation for chatbot before implementing it in the production environment. 

Where to go from here

Enabling a real-time translation provider for chatbots