Add Bot Responses

You can define how the bot responds to contact utterances What a contact says or types.. Bot responses are configured in dialogues Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder.. During an interaction, when the bot identifies a particular intent, it responds with the response that was configured for that intent. Actions consist of one or more bot actions.

Glossary

Concept	Definition	Example	What the Bot Does
Utterance	Anything a contact says in an interaction. Sometimes called a message.	"I lost my password." "What is my balance?" "Are you a bot?"	The bot uses Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to analyze each contact utterance to determine its meaning, or intent.
Intent	What the contact wants to communicate or accomplish. Every message the contact sends has an intent.	"I lost my password" has the intent of "reset password". "Hello" has the intent of "greeting".	The bot analyzes a contact's message using NLU This process expands on Natural Language Processing (NLP) to make decisions or take action based on what it understands. to determine the intent. Once it knows that, it can respond with a message of its own. You configure the response you want the bot to use for each intent.
Entity	A defined piece of information in a contact's message.	Person or product name, phone number, account number, location, and so on.	The bot uses NLU to identify entities in a contact's message. Entities help the bot understand what the contact's message means.
Slot	An entity extracted from a contact's message and saved for use in bot responses. Similar to a variable.	Creating a slot for contact name lets the bot use that name in responses during an interaction, making it more personal.	When configured to do so, the bot extracts an entity from a contact message and saves it in a slot. You can have the bot use this information later in the conversation.
Rule	Defines a bot's response to messages that don't change meaning with context.	Single-turn interactions with fixed responses: What are your hours? What is your address? Conversation building blocks: Greetings, good-byes, thank yous and transitions; simple yes/no questions; and acknowledgments. CXone Bot Builder comes with default intents and rules for several of these, including greetings, handover Any contact message that should trigger transfer to a live agent requests, and more. FAQs Insults and classic bot challenges	Rules are one of two ways you can configure how the bot responds to an intent. Rules are useful for certain kinds of intents, but not all intents.
Story	Trains a bot to handle an interaction based on message intent and conversational context.	In an interaction about a forgotten password, the bot would respond to, "How do I do that?" in one way. If the interaction were about creating a new account, the response would be quite different even though in both cases the contact is using the same words with the same intent – to get more information.	Stories are the second of two ways you can configure how the bot responds to an intent. Stories teach the bot how to use the context of the conversation to respond appropriately.
Bot Action	Anything a bot says or does while handling an interaction.	In an interaction about a forgotten password, the bot responds by sending the link to the password reset FAQ on the website. When a contact expresses frustration, such as "I don't understand! It's not working!!!" the bot responds with "I'm sorry. Would you like me to transfer you to a human agent?" When the contact says yes, the bot initiates the transfer.	Actions are the options you have when defining how you want the bot to respond to each intent. They give you the flexibility to configure each response to achieve the outcome that meets the contact's needs.

Create a Bot Response

When you create a dialogue Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder. or fallback A plain text alternative sent when the destination doesn't support rich media., you can choose which actions the bot will use when responding to contact utterances What a contact says or types..

In CXone, click the app selector and select Bot Builder.
Click the bot you want to work with.
Click Dialogues in the left icon menu.
On the Stories, Rules, or Fallback tab, click the dialogue you want to work with.
In the middle panel, hover your cursor over the + icon on the left. It changes to the bot icon and the bot actions menu appears.
Click the bot action you want to use. The action appears on the workspace in the dialogue you're working with.

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Configure the action you selected:
Continue adding actions as needed to complete the bot response.
When you're finished making changes, click Train and Stage to update your bot model Version of a bot that has been trained and staged to test this change.

Message

The bot responds with a text-based message that can include buttons or quick replies.

When creating a bot response, click Message in the bot actions menu.
In the bot action that appears in the dialogue Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder., enter the message you want the bot to send to the contact in the Type a bot response field. In addition to adding plain text, you can:
- Type a colon : to bring up an emoji picker.
- Type a curly bracket { to bring up a list of existing slot variables. Select from the list or type the variable yourself. Enclose the name of the slot in curly brackets ( { } ).
- Click Button or Quick Reply to add one to the message. Configure the button or quick reply. Details of the configuration appear next to it on the dialogue page. You can add more buttons or quick replies, but you cannot mix the types of rich content in one message.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click the clock to override the default smart typing indicator time for this message only. This option requires that smart typing be enabled for this bot.
- Click the crossed arrows to open a box where you can add variations to the existing message. The bot will randomly select which variation to use in a conversation.
- Click rich message fallback to override the default rich message fallback for this message only. This applies only to messages that include buttons or quick replies.
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Multimedia, Cards, List Picker, Rich Link, Buttons, Quick Replies

Some of the options on the General tab of the bot actions menu allow you to create messages that have rich content. Rich content enhances the messages the bot sends to the contact. They make it a more satisfying, versatile experience compared to plain text. You can learn more about rich messaging in Bot Builder, or you can learn how to add the following rich content to bot responses on the Add Rich Message Content help page:

Multimedia: Add images, GIFs, videos, and so on.
Cards: Combine images, structured text, and buttons into one message.
List Picker: Create a list of options the contact can choose from.
Rich Link: Add a link to a response message that includes an clickable image.
Buttons: Create a button the contact can click to trigger and intent or open a URL.
Quick Replies: Create a list of options for the customer to choose from, usually to help narrow down their intent.

Adaptive Cards

Adaptive cards are currently only supported on digital Any channel, contact, or skill associated with Digital Experience. chat and Microsoft Teams channels A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on.. If a response that includes an adaptive card might be sent via another channel A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on., add rich message fallback A plain text alternative sent when the destination doesn't support rich media. to the response.

When creating a bot response, click Adaptive Cards in the bot actions menu.
In the bot action that appears in the dialogue Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder., select an Adaptive Card from the drop-down list.
To modify the card or to view its properties, hover your cursor over the selected card and click Edit. The adaptive card designer opens in the pane on the right side of the page.
Click rich message fallback to override the default rich message fallback for this message only. This applies only to messages that include buttons or quick replies.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click the clock to override the default smart typing indicator time for this message only. This option requires that smart typing be enabled for this bot.
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Fill Slot

The selected slot Entity extracted from contact's message and saved for use in bot responses. Similar to a variable. fills with a value you specify.

This bot action instructs the bot on what it needs to do. The contact does not see a message in the chat window when you include this action a bot response.

When creating a bot response, click Fill Slot in the bot actions menu.
In the bot action that appears in the dialogue Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder., select a Slot from the drop-down list. You can click Create Slot if the slot you need doesn't exist yet. If you create a slot, open the Slots panel on the right to configure it .
Enter the Value you want to fill the selected slot with. You can:
1. Enter a new value to fill the slot with.
2. Leave the field empty to reset the value of the slot.
3. Use the name of a slot as a variable by enclosing the slot name in curly brackets ( { } ).
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click the clock to override the default smart typing indicator time for this message only. This option requires that smart typing be enabled for this bot.
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Slot Condition

You can use the slot condition bot action to train your bot to use different responses based on the value the slot holds. When you include this bot action in a bot response, the value of the specified slot becomes a condition that determines which path the bot takes.

This bot action instructs the bot on what it needs to do. The contact does not see a message in the chat window when you include this action a bot response.

When creating a bot response, click Slot Condition in the bot actions menu.
In the bot action that appears in the dialogue Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder., select a Slot from the drop-down list.
Enter the Value that must be matched to trigger the next action. You can use the name of a slot as a variable by enclosing the slot name in curly brackets ( { } ). If you want to reset the value of the slot, leave this field empty.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click the clock to override the default smart typing indicator time for this message only. This option requires that smart typing be enabled for this bot.
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Handover

This option allows you to have the preceding customer message trigger the handover Any contact message that should trigger transfer to a live agent rule. This is an important action to use in fallback and out-of-scope paths, but you can use it any time you want your bot to hand a conversation off to a human agent.

This option uses digital routing queues The system uses routing queues to determine which agents to route cases to. Your system administrator creates routing queues so that certain cases are routed to agents with expertise in that type of case.. You can choose a specific routing queue or allow the system to automatically route the contact. If you use digital Any channel, contact, or skill associated with Digital Experience. ACD skills Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge for routing, you can still use this option. Every ACD skill has a corresponding routing queue that's automatically created in Digital Experience. You can configure it when you want to use the handover bot action.

This bot action instructs the bot on what it needs to do. The contact does not see a message in the chat window when you include this action a bot response. However, the contact will see a change in the chat window when the human agent takes over the conversation.

When creating a bot response, click Handover in the bot actions menu.
In the bot action that appears in the dialogue Bot stories and rules in CXone Bot Builder., select a digital Any channel, contact, or skill associated with Digital Experience. routing queue from the Into drop-down list.
Enter a Note for Agent if you want to pass any information on to the human agent. You can include slot variables in this field by enclosing the name of the slot in curly brackets ( { } ).
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Add Tag

Add Bot Builder tags to an interaction by including them as a bot action. Tags allow you to identify patterns in conversations.

This bot action instructs the bot on what it needs to do. The contact does not see a message in the chat window when you include this action a bot response.

When creating a bot response, click Add Tag in the bot actions menu.
Click Add Tag in the bot response workspace.
Select one or more tags from the drop-down list. You can search for tags by name.
To create a tag:
1. Enter a tag name the search bar.
2. Click the Create tag option that appears.
3. Select the new tag to add it to the bot response.
Click Add Tag to add more tags.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Checkpoint

Checkpoints allow you to link stories within the same dialogue. This bot action is only available for stories.

This bot action instructs the bot on what it needs to do. The contact does not see a message in the chat window when you include this action a bot response.

When creating a bot response, click Checkpoint in the bot actions menu.
Click Story continues to in the bot response workspace.
Select the story you want to link to. You can enter a keyword to search for a story.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Forms

Forms are a convenient way your bot can gather information from the contact. Forms are used to guide form-based conversations. The bot asks the contact questions, then completes the form with the responses. Form responses are stored in slots Entity extracted from contact's message and saved for use in bot responses. Similar to a variable..

To display a form for the contact to complete, follow the steps below. You must create a form before you can complete this task.

When creating a bot response, click the Forms tab in the bot actions menu.
Select Activate or Submit. You must add actions for both of these options to the bot response.
Select the form you want to activate or submit.
Add another Forms bot action to the bot response and click the Cancel option. This gives the contact the ability to cancel out of the form.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click the clock to override the default smart typing indicator time for this message only. This option requires that smart typing be enabled for this bot.
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

API Actions

API integrations are an advanced option that allows you to customize and extend your bot's capabilities. You can connect your bot to other applications or platforms using API calls. If you have any API integrations set up, this tab displays your options for their actions.

This bot action instructs the bot on what it needs to do. The contact does not see a message in the chat window when you include this action a bot response.

When creating a bot response, click the APIs tab in the bot actions menu.
Click the API action you want to add to the bot response.
In the Save response into drop-down, select the slot where you want the response returned via the API call to be saved.
To view the configuration page for this API integration, click the configuration icon in the bot response. When you are ready to return to the bot response, click Dialogues in the left icon menu and navigate to the story, rule, or fallback you were working with.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.

Script Actions

Script integrations allow you to create custom bot actions with JavaScript to use with your bots. Depending on what the custom actions are designed to do, a message may or may not be sent to the contact.

When creating a bot response, click the Scripts tab in the bot actions menu.
Click the custom bot action you want to use in the bot response.
To view the script of the custom action you added, click the configuration icon in the bot response. When you are ready to return to the bot response, click Dialogues in the left icon menu and navigate to the story, rule, or fallback you were working with.
Specify a value for any editable variables the custom action you added has:
- For text type variables, enter a value in the field. This value overrides the default value, if the variable has one.
- For select type variables, choose a value from the drop-down list. The values in the list are the ones assigned to the variable when it was created.
Use the other options available for this action as needed:
- Click and hold the six vertical dots to drag the message to a new place in the dialogue.
- Click the trash can to remove the message from the dialogue.