Configuring system responses for a conversational channel

A conversational channel contains several predefined system responses for standard events that happen during an interaction between a user and Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA). To fit the needs of your organization, you can customize system responses so that an IVA is more responsive to user input. For example, you can modify the initial system response, the voice command, or the text message that the IVA invokes when the user starts a new interaction session.
Before you begin: Configure text analyzer settings for the IVA. For more information, see Configuring text analyzer settings.

To ensure that the IVA responds correctly, apart from modifying the system responses, you can define response commands when you configure the conversational channel behavior. For more information, see Defining response commands for a conversational channel.

  1. In the header of Dev Studio, click the name of the application, and then click Channels and interfaces.
  2. In the Current channel interfaces section, click the icon that represents your existing Alexa, Unified Messaging, or Web Chatbot channel.
  3. In the channel, click the Behavior tab.
  4. In the System Responses section, click the Switch to edit more icon for one of the system responses:
    • To display a welcome message to the user when they start an interaction with the IVA, edit the Welcome response.
    • To display a warning that the user input does not contain a matching command, edit the No match response.
    • To display a message stating that multiple commands match the user input, edit the Multiple matches response. This response is not available in the IVA for Alexa.
    • To display a message that a system error occurred for the IVA, edit the Internal error response.
    • To display an authentication prompt to log in to a Pega Platform application, edit the Authentication response. This response is not available in the IVA for Alexa.
    • To display a success message immediately after a user successfully authenticates, edit the Authentication-Success response. This response is not available in the IVA for Alexa.
    • To display a failure message immediately after a user fails to authenticate, edit the Authentication-Fail response. This response is not available in the IVA for Alexa.
  5. In the Response type field, select and configure a response type:
    Choices Actions
    Authenticate the user in the system
    1. Select Authenticate.
    2. In the Response text area, enter the text to display when the user authenticates in the system.
    Cancel the current work in the interaction session
    1. Select Cancel
    2. In the Response text area, enter the text that you want to display.
    3. Optional: To add a command to a menu you display after you cancel current work, click Add response.
    4. In the Menu item list, select a command tat you want to invoke for the menu item.
    5. In the Label field, enter a menu item name that you want to display in the system.
    6. To add more commands that you want to display as menu items, repeat steps 5.c through 5.e.
    Start a top-level case
    1. Select Create work.
    2. In the Case type list, select a case type to open.
    Display a rich text menu for the IVA for Web Chatbot
    1. Select Custom.
    2. In the Data transform field, select or configure a data transform rule that is used to display a rich text menu.
    Link to a Facebook account for the IVA for Facebook
    1. Select Link.
    2. In the Title field, enter a title for a Facebook account that you want to link to.
    3. In the Authentication callback URL field, enter the authentication callback URL for a Facebook account that you want to link to.
    Display a menu with a list of available commands
    1. Select Menu.
    2. In the Response text area, enter the text that you want to display to the user.
    3. Optional: Add a command to a menu by clicking Add response.
    4. In the Menu item list, select the command that you want to invoke for the menu item.
    5. In the Label field, enter the menu item name that you want to display in the system.
    6. To add more commands to display as a menu item, repeat steps 5.c through 5.e.
    Restart work on a case that is currently being processed in the session
    1. Select Restart.
    2. In the Response text area, enter the text that you want to display to the user.
    Display a text message to the user
    1. Select Text.
    2. In the Response text area, enter the text that you want to display to the user.
  6. Optional: To save the text from the Response text area in a template, click Add existing.
  7. Click Submit.
  8. Click Save.
What to do next: Simulate a conversation and build an IVA.