Exploring Now Assist in Virtual Agent
Summarize
Summary of Exploring Now Assist in Virtual Agent
Now Assist in Virtual Agent leverages large language models (LLMs) and generative AI to enhance Virtual Agent capabilities by improving deflection rates and reducing the complexity and time required for Natural Language Understanding (NLU) topic discovery. This AI-driven approach simplifies setup and configuration, enabling faster deployment without the need for extensive expertise or prolonged development cycles involving subject matter experts.
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Users can continue using their existing NLU topics and migrate them to LLM-powered topics through a topic migration feature within the Virtual Agent Designer. Now Assist is accessible across multiple channels, including portals via chat widget, the mobile app, and Microsoft Teams.
Key Features
- AI-Enhanced Search and Chat: Now Assist combines AI Search with conversational chat, allowing users to input natural language queries instead of relying on keywords. The LLM service synthesizes responses and presents actionable options, improving issue resolution and reducing the need for live agent intervention.
- Service Catalog Integration: Users can browse and request service catalog items directly through Virtual Agent conversations, refining requests naturally (e.g., specifying product features) without leaving the chat. Enabling generative AI for catalog item requests unlocks full catalog functionality within the chat window.
- LLM Topic Creation and Management: Administrators can create and activate LLM topics for Now Assist, tailoring the skill picker interface to user needs by customizing labels and promoted assets.
- Multi-Portal Deployment: Now Assist can be deployed seamlessly across various platforms including web portals, mobile apps, and Microsoft Teams.
- Performance Monitoring: Admins can track usage and value metrics through the Conversational Interfaces console and the Now Assist Admin console to measure effectiveness and optimize configurations.
Key Outcomes
- Reduced Development Time: Automating topic discovery with LLMs cuts down the months-long setup traditionally required for NLU topics.
- Improved User Experience: End users benefit from natural language conversations, quick access to relevant answers, and easy navigation between multiple requests within the same chat session.
- Increased Deflection Rates: Enhanced AI responses and service catalog access reduce the frequency of live agent escalations.
- Ease of Configuration: Guided setup allows administrators to launch Now Assist rapidly with minimal technical expertise.
- Comprehensive Access: Support across multiple communication channels ensures users can engage with Virtual Agent wherever they are.
Now Assist in Virtual Agent uses large language models (LLMs) and generative AI skills to improve deflection rates and reduce the amount of time-consuming work that Natural Language Understanding (NLU) topic discovery requires.
Now Assist capabilities bring generative AI to Virtual Agent. Using LLMs for topic discovery simplifies the amount of setup and configuration required for Virtual Agent. Topics that use keyword and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) discovery often require months of development and the involvement of dedicated subject matter experts. Unusual issues or questions may lead a user to contact a live agent instead. You can continue to use your existing NLU topics and migrate them into new LLM topics using the topic migration feature within Virtual Agent Designer. For more information on topic migration, see Migrating NLU/keyword Virtual Agent topics to LLM topics.
Use the guided setup to configure Now Assist in Virtual Agent in a few minutes. No expertise is necessary to launch the experience. For more information, see Configuring assistants overview.
Now Assist in Virtual Agent is available through portals on the chat widget, the mobile app, and Microsoft Teams.
Search in Now Assist in Virtual Agent
Now Assist skills in Virtual Agent enhance the user experience by combining AI Search with chat. These skills can increase issue resolution in Virtual Agent and reduce deflections to a live agent.
The following figure shows how the requester uses natural language rather than keywords in the chat. Now LLM Service determines the most likely option based on the requester's input and sends a synthesized response with possible action items. Queries can apply to both information searches and service catalog requests.
Now Assist in Virtual Agent shows users the best possible answer to a query, in the form of actionable options displayed along with the results. The bot may generate answers based on what it found, or return actionable options or links. Users have the option to see more results as needed.
Service Catalog access
Now Assist in Virtual Agent also gives users access to available options in the Service Catalog. Users can request an item, such as a mobile phone. The user can then provide more information to refine the search. For example, they may refine their request to a blue 256-GB iPhone. They can even request a new item instead, all in the same conversation, and the generative AI creates its responses using natural language.
For full catalog functionality in the chat window, enable the generative AI experience for catalog item request submissions. For more information, see Configure Now Assist in Conversational Catalog Request.
LLM topic creation
Admins can create LLM topics for Now Assist in Virtual Agent. For more information, see LLM assistants. Activate the Now Assist Topics skill in the Now Assist guided setup. For more information, see Configuring assistants overview.
For more examples of having a conversation with Now Assist in Virtual Agent, see Using Now Assist in Virtual Agent.
The skill picker is configurable based on the user's requirements. For example, a user can change the View all topics label in the skill picker and add or remove the bullet list of promoted assets from the skill selection message.
Benefits
Now Assist in Virtual Agent provides the following benefits.
| Benefit | Feature | User |
|---|---|---|
| Configure Now Assist in Virtual Agent in a few minutes, from either the Conversational Interfaces console or the Now Assist Admin console. | Guided setup experience | virtual_agent_admin or admin |
| Now Assist skills can be turned on within the guided setup. | Activate a Now Assist skill | virtual_agent_admin or admin |
| Deploy Now Assist in Virtual Agent on multiple portals using the chat widget, the mobile app, and Microsoft Teams. | Configuring assistants overview | virtual_agent_admin or admin |
| Generative AI enhances the user search experience with the ability to generate answers and enabling the user to select the Show more results option for a new search. | Now Assist Q&A Genius Results skill | requesters |
| Give users in-chat access to available options in the Service Catalog. | Now Assist Multi-Turn Catalog Ordering skill | requesters |
| Now Assist lets Virtual Agent switch easily between requests, using plain language when new queries are made in the same conversation. | Mid-topic switching during Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversations | requesters |
| Monitor performance metrics for Now Assist in Virtual Agent from the Conversational Interfaces console. | Conversational Interfaces console | virtual_agent_admin or admin |
| Monitor value metrics (Now Assist usage versus Now Assist in Virtual Agent) from the Now Assist Admin console. | Overview tab in Now Assist Admin | virtual_agent_admin or admin |