Amazon Lex V1 is a third-party platform that provides voice and chat virtual agents. Virtual agents interpret what your contacts say or type in the chat window and respond appropriately. They do this using technologies such as:
- Speech-to-text
Also called STT, this process converts spoken language to text. (STT) - Text-to-speech Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. (TTS)
- Natural language processing Also called NLP, this process understands human speech or text and responds with human-like language. (NLP)
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
Virtual agents are flexible and can provide a range of functions to suit the needs of your organization. For example, you can design your virtual agent to handle a few simple tasks or to serve as a complex interactive agent.
CXone supports using Amazon Lex V1 with voice and digital chat-based channels. Setup requires work in the provider platform and in CXone. In CXone, setup happens in Virtual Agent Hub and with custom scripting.
Conversation Flow for Voice and Text Virtual Agents
The beginning of the conversation is different for voice and text virtual agents:
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The person interacting with an agent, IVR, or bot in your contact center. Automated phone menu that allows callers to interact through voice commands, key inputs, or both, to obtain information, route an inbound voice call, or both. menu. Once the conversation with the virtual agent begins, the contact's utterances What a contact says or types. are transcribed Also called STT, this process converts spoken language to text. into text so the virtual agent can analyze them. The virtual agent's responses are converted to synthesized speech using a text-to-speech Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. service before being sent to the contact. Transcription and speech synthesis can happen in CXone or, in some cases, in the provider's platform.
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A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on. you use. For example, it might be located on your website or the contact could start the conversation from the location of a third-party service, such as Apple Messages for Business. The contact's utterances are already in text format, so they don't need to be transcribed. They're passed on directly to the virtual agent.
After the conversation has started, the virtual agent analyzes the contact's utterances to understand the purpose or meaning behind what a person says. This is known as the contact's intent. When the intent is identified, the virtual agent sends an appropriate response to the contact.
At the end of the conversation, the virtual agent sends a signal to the Studio script. It can signal that the conversation is complete, or that the contact needs to speak with a live agent. If the conversation is complete, the interaction ends. If a live agent is needed, the script makes the request. The contact is transferred to an agent when one is available.
Once the conversation is complete, post-interaction tasks can be performed, such as recording information in a CRM Third-party systems that manage such things as contacts, sales information, support details, and case histories..
Prerequisites
To use Amazon Lex V1 virtual agents A software application that handles customer interactions in place of a live human agent. with CXone, you need:
- An Amazon AWS account.
- An Amazon Lex V1 virtual agent configured with and trained to use the responses that fulfill your contacts' requests. In the context of Amazon Lex V1, these responses are called intents. This definition differs from the meaning of intent The meaning or purpose behind what a contact says/types; what the contact wants to communicate or accomplish elsewhere in the CXone online help.
Components of an Integration
The integration of Amazon Lex V1 involves the following components:
- CXone: CXone must have a configured A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on. to use with the integration.
- Virtual Agent Hub in CXone: Virtual Agent Hub holds the configuration information for connecting to your virtual agent A software application that handles customer interactions in place of a live human agent. provider. Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. and transcription Written form of a voice or digital interaction, if your integration requires these services.
- Studio scripts: You need at least one script that includes a virtual agent Studio action. The action must be configured with the connection information for your virtual agent. The point of contact for the channel you're using with the integration must be configured to use this script.
- Amazon Lex V1:
Rich Media Support for Text Virtual Agents
If your channel supports it, you can include rich media Elements in digital messaging such as buttons, images, menus, and option pickers. content in the messages. The type of rich media that can be sent differs from channel to channel, as shown in the following table.
| Adaptive Cards | HTML & Markdown Text | Rich Link | Quick Replies | List Picker | Time Picker | Form message | |
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| Apple Messages for Business |
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Digital Chat |
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Uses fallback text |
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| Facebook Messenger |
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| Google Business Messages |
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Supported:
Not Supported:
Learn more about digital channel support for rich media.
When you want to include rich media content in text virtual agent responses, configure it in your virtual agent's management console. It should go in the configuration for each response that will send the rich media.
Rich media content is sent as JSON. When building your rich media JSON, follow the schema for the digital channel you're using. The schemas are different for each channel. Find the JSON for the media content you want to use, then add it to the response message configurations that you create in
Conversation Transcripts
If you want to capture this information, you must enable it in the
Custom Scripting Guidelines
Before integrating a virtual agent The meaning or purpose behind what a contact says/types; what the contact wants to communicate or accomplish, you need to know:
- Which script you want to add a virtual agent to.
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The virtual agent Studio action you need to use.
- Where the Studio actions must be placed in your script flow.
- The configuration requirements specific to the virtual agent you're using.
- How to complete the script after adding the virtual agent action. You may need to:
- Add initialization snippets as needed to the script using Snippet actions. This is required if you want to customize your virtual agent's behavior.
- Re-configure the action connectors to ensure proper contact flow and correct any potential errors.
- Use the OnReturnControlToScript branch to handle hanging up or ending the interaction. If you use the Default branch to handle hanging up or ending an interaction, your script may not work as intended.
- Complete any additional scripting and test the script.
Ensure that all parameters in the virtual agent actions you add to your script are configured to pass the correct data. The online help pages for the actions cover how to configure each parameter.
Additionally, ensure that you completely configure your virtual agent on the provider side. Verify that it's configured with all possible default messages. This includes error messages or messages indicating an intent has been fulfilled.
You may be able to obtain template scripts for use with virtual agent integrations from NICE CXone Expert Services. If you need assistance with scripting in Studio, contact your CXone Account Representative, see the Technical Reference Guide section in the online help, or visit the NICE CXone Community 
site.
Supported Studio Actions
Use the following Studio actions in your scripts with Amazon Lex V1:
- Voicebot Exchange
- Textbot Exchange
Voicebot Exchange Action
The Voicebot Exchange action is for complex virtual agents, or for when you need to customize the virtual agent's behavior from turn to turn. It monitors the conversation between the contact and the virtual agent turn by turn. It sends each utterance What a contact says or types. to the virtual agent. The virtual agent analyzes the utterance for intent The meaning or purpose behind what a contact says/types; what the contact wants to communicate or accomplish and context and determines the response to give. The action passes the virtual agent's response to the contact. When the conversation is complete, the action continues the script.
If you want to configure barge in or no input, additional scripting is required.
Textbot Exchange Action
The TextBot Exchange action is for complex virtual agents or for when you need to customize the virtual agent's behavior from turn to turn. It monitors the conversation between the contact and the virtual agent A software application that handles customer interactions in place of a live human agent. turn by turn. It sends each utterance What a contact says or types. to the virtual agent. The virtual agent analyzes the utterance for intent The meaning or purpose behind what a contact says/types; what the contact wants to communicate or accomplish and context and determines which response to give. TextBot Exchange passes the response to the contact. When the conversation is complete, the action continues the script.
