This documentation supports the 23.3 version of BMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk.To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Configuring Ask HelixGPT for BMC Helix ITSM

Important

The features and enhancements in this topic are under controlled availability to select customers.

The Ask HelixGPT capability, powered by BMC HelixGPT, provides a conversational user experience to service desk agents for finding information to resolve incidents. When working on an incident, a service desk agent can use the Ask HelixGPT tab on the incident screen to get real-time information about the possible resolution for the incident instead of reading through the knowledge articles to find the information.

BMC HelixGPT is an answer retrieval service that uses large language models (LLM) to sift through the text in published knowledge articles. BMC HelixGPT uses this text to match the contextual data of the incident ticket and the user queries and generates an answer in human-like natural language.


Related topics

Use case: Finding information to resolve incidents by using Ask HelixGPT

Resolving-tickets-with-the-help-of-Ask-HelixGPT

BMC HelixGPT FAQ

To opt for the Ask HelixGPT capability, contact your BMC account manager.

After you opt for this capability, BMC Software does the following configurations:

  • Configures the URL of the HelixGPT Assistant service in the HelixGPT-Assistant-Service-URL CCS parameter to enable BMC HelixGPT in your BMC Helix ITSM environment. After the HelixGPT-Assistant-Service-URL CCS parameter is configured, the Ask HelixGPT tab is available on the incident screen.
    For more information about the HelixGPT-Assistant-Service-URL CCS parameter, see Setting configuration parameters in BMC Helix ITSM.
  • Configures the BMC Helix IT Service Management application out of the box in BMC HelixGPT Manager.

If you want to enable BMC HelixGPT for an on-premise deployment, see Performing the BMC Helix Service Management installation.

The design-time parameters to render the Ask HelixGPT tab are configured out of the box in the HelixGPTChat component on the SHR:SV_TicketDisplay form in Developer Studio. If you want to view the HelixGPTChat component, ensure that you upgrade Developer Studio to the latest version.

At run time, when an agent clicks the Ask HelixGPT tab on the incident screen, the contextual data of the incident is passed to BMC HelixGPT. BMC HelixGPT uses the contextual data to determine the context of the incident and generates an initial resolution summary providing information about the possible resolution for the incident. 

If the agent wants to investigate the incident further, the agent can ask specific questions on the Ask HelixGPT tab. The agent can also view the knowledge articles from which BMC HelixGPT sourced the information.

BMC HelixGPT provides real-time recommendations based on the past and current information that helps the agents to quickly analyze the root cause of the incident, perform necessary actions, and resolve the incident.

Important

The Ask HelixGPT tab is available only on the Progressive Web Application (PWA) incident screen.

The following diagram depicts the tasks for configuring Ask HelixGPT for BMC Helix ITSM:

Workflow_Enable_AskHelixGPT.png

Supported knowledge providers

For the BMC Helix IT Service Management application, BMC HelixGPT uses the following knowledge articles, by default, to generate responses: 

  • Published knowledge articles from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management
  • Knowledge articles associated with closed incidents from BMC Helix ITSM

(Version 23.3.04) You can also set BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as a data source for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application instead of BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management. BMC HelixGPT uses published knowledge articles from BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround to generate responses.


 

Before you beginMake sure you complete the following tasks before you start using the Ask HelixGPT tab:

Product

Task

Reference

BMC Helix Innovation Studio

Ingest data from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix ITSM into BMC HelixGPT.

If you have set BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as a data source for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application, ingest its data into BMC HelixGPT.

BMC HelixGPT Manager

Obtain the API key from your AI service provider and configure the AI service provider connection in the BMC HelixGPT Manager administrator UI. 

BMC HelixGPT Manager

In BMC HelixGPT Manager, the following pair of skills are provided out of the box for the Ask HelixGPT feature:

  • ITSM Resolution Skill: To generate an initial resolution summary when the agent clicks the Ask HelixGPT tab on the incident screen.
  • ITSM Conversation Skill: To generate an answer when the agent asks a question on the Ask HelixGPT tab.

A skill is a container for the artifacts that define the conversation flow for user responses.

You must associate these out of the box skills with the model that you want to use for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application in the BMC HelixGPT Manager administrator UI.

By default, these skills are associated with the Azure OpenAI gpt-35-turbo model.

For information about associating a skill with a model, see Updating prompts and skills for consistent and efficient responses from BMC HelixGPT.

BMC HelixGPT Manager

(Version 23.3.04) Set BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as a data source for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application.

Perform this task only if you want to use published knowledge articles from BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround instead of BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management to generate the responses.

You need not define search filters for BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround because they are predefined.

Important

By default, BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix ITSM are set as data sources for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application. 

If you set BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as a data source, make sure you remove the association of  BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management as a data source for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application.

For information about setting a data source for an application, see Defining knowledge search settings.


(Version 23.3.04) To enable or disable the initial resolution summary for Ask HelixGPT

When an agent clicks the Ask HelixGPT tab on an incident screen, BMC HelixGPT generates an initial resolution summary that provides information about a possible resolution for the incident. If the agent wants to investigate the incident further, the agent can ask specific questions on the Ask HelixGPT tab.

An API call is made to the large language model (LLM) to generate each response. Each API call is associated with a cost, which depends on the LLM you select.

If you want to optimize the cost while leveraging the BMC HelixGPT capability, disable the initial resolution summary so that BMC HelixGPT does not generate it. Disabling the initial resolution summary generates a response only when an agent asks a question, limiting the API calls to answer the questions. 

  1. In Developer Studio, open the SV_TicketDisplay view of the SHR:SV_TicketDisplay form.
  2. On the Ask HelixGPT tab panel, set the Disable Resolution property of the HelixGPTChat component to one of the following options:

    • true: If you do not want to generate an initial resolution summary when an agent clicks the Ask HelixGPT tab.
    • false: If you want to generate an initial resolution summary when an agent clicks the Ask HelixGPT tab.
      The default value is false.


(Version 23.3.04) To enable or disable Ask HelixGPT

After BMC configures the URL of the HelixGPT Assistant service in the HelixGPT-Assistant-Service-URL CCS parameter, the Ask HelixGPT tab is available on the incident screen. If you do not want to use the Ask HelixGPT feature, you can disable it.

  1. On the AR System Configuration Generic UI form, add the disableAskHelixGPT CCS parameter to the arsystem.bmc.arsys.itsm (*) component.
  2. Set the disableAskHelixGPT CCS parameter to any of the following:

    • true: To disable Ask HelixGPT. The Ask HelixGPT tab is not displayed on the incident screen.
    • false: To enable Ask HelixGPT. The Ask HelixGPT tab is displayed on the incident screen.
      The default value is false.

For more information, see Setting configuration parameters in BMC Helix ITSM.


Troubleshooting

The following table describes the steps you can perform if you encounter the following problems: 

Problem

Resolution

You cannot view the Ask HelixGPT tab on the incident screen.

Solution 1:

In Mid Tier, ensure that the URL of the HelixGPT Assistant service is present in the HelixGPT-Assistant-Service-URL CCS parameter of the com.bmc.arsys.server.shared CCS component. 

For more information, see Setting configuration parameters in BMC Helix ITSM.

If the URL is not present, contact your BMC account manager.


Solution 2:

The following objects are updated in Developer Studio for the Ask HelixGPT feature. 

If you have an overlay of the SHR:SV_TicketDisplay form in Developer Studio and you have upgraded BMC Helix ITSM from version 23.3.01 or earlier, make sure you reconcile the following objects:

Object name

Object type

SHR:SV_TicketDisplay

View

SHR:TKD:SV_Get_CCS_Setting

Filter

SHR:TKD:SV_ServiceCallinitiate

Active link

SHR:TKD:SV_HideRelatedPanels_Guide

Active link guide

SHR:TKD:SV_HKM_EventTrap_ProcessEvents

Active link guide

SHR:TKD:SV_HelixGPTChatTab_Hide

Active link

The Ask HelixGPT tab does not generate any response.

Make sure you have performed the following actions:

  • Set the correct API endpoint URL and API key for the model you want to use for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application in the BMC HelixGPT Manager administrator UI.
  • Associate ITSM Resolution Skill and ITSM Conversation Skill with the model you want to use for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application in the BMC HelixGPT Manager administrator UI.
  • Run the data connection jobs for the data sources of the BMC Helix IT Service Management application and make sure that the data sources are indexed. 

BMC HelixGPT Manager shows a seed data error when you try to associate an out of the box skill with another model for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application.

Work around:

  1. Log into BMC Helix Innovation Studio with administrator credentials.
  2. Select the Development mode as Base.
  3. Click Workspace.
  4. On the Workspace page, click the HelixGPT Manager application to open it.
  5. On the Rules tab, click the Protect Seed Data - Skill rule.
  6. On the Edit Edit_Tab.pngtab of the Protect Seed Data - Skill page, expand GENERAL and turn off the Enabled toggle key.

  7. In BMC HelixGPT Manager, associate the out-of-the-box skill with the model that you want to use for the BMC Helix IT Service Management application and save the changes.
    For information about associating a skill with a model, see Updating prompts and skills for consistent and efficient responses from BMC HelixGPT.

    Warning

    Do not modify any other out-of-the-box configuration.

  8. Open the Protect Seed Data - Skill page and turn on the Enabled toggle key.

Important

If BMC HelixGPT is upgraded, the preceding configuration is overwritten by the out-of-the-box configuration. Therefore, you must perform the workaround steps again after a BMC HelixGPT upgrade.


FAQ

The Ask HelixGPT tab does not generate any response even after you have done the required configurations

Possible reasons:

  • A published knowledge article relevant to the incident does not exist in the knowledge repository referenced by BMC HelixGPT.
  • A published knowledge article relevant to the incident exists, but the logged-in user is not entitled to view the knowledge article.
The Ask HelixGPT tab shows incorrect or varied responses

Possible reasons:

  • Response generation depends on many factors such as accuracy of the knowledge articles, model, and prompt configuration. Therefore, the generated responses might vary.
  • BMC HelixGPT does not use information present in the attached documents of the knowledge articles for generating responses. Hence, if the resolution information is present in an attached document of a knowledge article, the generated response will not contain the information.

If the knowledge article that is referenced to generate the response contains incorrect or hidden malicious content, the generated response will be incorrect. Knowledge approvers must thoroughly review the knowledge articles before approving them.

Tip

If you want to allow knowledge approvers to review the articles in source HTML format, you can set the isCKEditorSourceEditable CCS parameter to true. For more information, see Setting configuration parameters in BMC Helix ITSM.

The following screenshot shows the Source option that is available on the edit knowledge article screen after you enable the isCKEditorSourceEditable CCS parameter:

IncidentScreen_SourceOption.png

Response generation takes longer sometimes

Response generation depends on many factors, such as the format of the knowledge articles, model, and prompt configuration. Therefore, response generation might sometimes take longer than the time required for other operations in BMC Helix ITSM.

Can I access the BMC HelixGPT capability for BMC Helix ITSM with suite licenses?

For information about licensing, see Licensing and pricing for BMC HelixGPT.

Where is the BMC Helix ITSM data stored if I plan to use BMC HelixGPT?

For information about data transportation, encryption, and storage, see BMC HelixGPT FAQ and Security and privacy for BMC HelixGPT.

 

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