Dialog Acts for Virtual Agent
Summarize
Summary of Dialog Acts for Virtual Agent
The Dialog Acts feature in the Vancouver release enhances the Virtual Agent's ability to facilitate natural language conversations. This allows users to communicate more fluidly by interpreting and applying their inputs, rather than being limited to predefined prompts.
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Key Features
- Natural Language Input: Users can change specifications mid-conversation by typing their requests directly, such as adjusting RAM from the initial prompts.
- Immediate Specification Changes: If user inputs closely match the Natural Language Understanding (NLU) model, changes are made instantly, improving efficiency.
- Data Tracking: User utterances and feedback are recorded in dedicated tables for better understanding and refinement of interactions.
- Language Support: Currently, only English is supported for the Dialog Acts feature.
- Activation Process: Dialog Acts can be activated via the Enable Dialog Acts switch in the topic configuration settings.
Key Outcomes
By implementing Dialog Acts, ServiceNow customers can expect:
- Enhanced user experience through more intuitive interactions with Virtual Agent.
- Reduced time navigating through prompts, leading to quicker resolutions.
- Greater flexibility in conversations, allowing users to modify their requests dynamically.
As part of the Vancouver release, the Dialog Acts feature expands natural language communication with Virtual Agent, leading to more fluid conversations between user and agent.
How Dialog Acts works
Dialog Acts interprets and applies user inputs during a Virtual Agent conversation. With this feature active, you engage with Virtual Agent in your own natural language, instead of selecting replies based on prompts in the topic.
For example, if you request a laptop in a Virtual Agent conversation, you use the topic prompts to select a manufacturer, screen size, and amount of RAM. Without Dialog Acts, you change specifications only by following the prompts in the topic, potentially taking more time to loop through a Virtual Agent conversation as you reset your options. With Dialog Acts, if you change your mind about any of the laptop's specifications before finishing the request, you can input an utterance such as, "Actually, I need 8 GB of RAM." If your input matches the Natural Language Understanding (NLU) model closely enough, the specifications are changed immediately, even if you're on a different point in the topic. If the input doesn't match, it's added to a list of ignorable utterances.
User utterances are stored in the Open NLU Predict State Tracking [open_nlu_predict_state_tracking] table, while feedback is tracked by the Open NLU Predict Dialog Act Feedback [open_nlu_predict_dialog_act_feedback] table. Languages are tracked in the Open NLU Driver Languages [open_nlu_driver_language] table. In the current release, English is the sole language support for Dialog Acts.
Activating Dialog Acts
Activate Dialog Acts by toggling the Enable Dialog Acts switch in the Create a topic form or the Topic Properties tab. When activated, a second Confirm modified values toggle appears. Use this switch to provide a prompt confirming that a variable is to be changed based on your utterances.
Considerations for implementing Dialog Acts
The Dialog Acts feature is available as long as NLU is active for the instance and the topic. However, at least one of the preconfigured responses must be Active for the Dialog Acts toggles in the Topic Properties tab to be available. Dialog Acts can work without a model intent, but it can't select an entity if the topic is not associated with that model or intent.
Decision nodes can be modified by a condition or script to skip reprompting by Dialog Acts. However, the Modify Dialog Acts toggle doesn't work if there are multiple date-time nodes on a topic.
Available Dialog Acts responses
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Modify | Alter a variable recorded previously. |
| Affirm | Confirm a variable. |
| Negate | Decline confirming a variable. |