The most basic element in a Chatbot is called a 'node'. A node is simply a ready-made action like “Send message to customer” or “Transfer to Agent”.

A 'flow' is a sequence of nodes.

In your Chatbot, you can have 1 long flow or a number of shorter flows that link together. The shorter flow option is perhaps the best for clarity and editing purposes.

This help file gives you an example of 4 shorter flows that would all link together to form 1 well rounded chatbot.  The flows described below are the same as those in our Chatbot template. If you would like to create them using our template, please see here. 

Before you start

  • Ava is available as an Add-On. To learn more, click here. 
  • You’ll need to have access to Smart Tools > Chatbots in your permissions.
  • Admin and Team Leader roles will have the Chatbot permission by default.
  • If you don’t have access, you can request it from an Admin user within your business.
  • You'll need to have a Content hub set up. To learn more, click here.
  • To learn more about creating and editing chatbots, click here.
To get started, create your chatbot. The 'Default Answer' flow will show by default. Add 3 more flows and name them 'Check my order', 'AI flow' and 'Agent transfer'. Your list of flows should look like this before you start:


Note: To learn more about key nodes mentioned below, click here.

01 Opening Flow 

  • Click on the ‘Default Answer’ flow and rename it ‘Opening flow’. (Note: Your customer will not see this, it is for your reference only).

  • Add a ‘Present options' node, write some greeting text and rename the 2 buttons to 'Check my order' and 'I have a question'.

  • Under the 'Check my order' button, add a 'Transfer to another flow' node and choose 'Check my order' flow.

  • Under the 'I have a question' button, add a 'Transfer to another flow' node and choose 'AI flow'.
Here's how this will look for the customer:

02 Check my order

  • Click on the ‘Check my order’ flow and add an 'Ask for identity' node.

  • Add a ‘Select order' node. 

  • Under the 'Order selected' button, add a 'Show order details' node.

  • Under the 'Show order details' node, add a 'Ask if question resolved' node.

  • Under the 'Yes' button, add a 'Send message' node and type a message to your customer like: "Great! If you need any further support, please start a new chat with us". 

  • Under the 'No' button, add a 'Send message' node and let the customer know you will try to transfer them to an agent.

  • Under the 'Send message' node, add a 'Transfer to another flow' node and choose the 'Agent transfer' flow.
  • Under the 'Order not selected' button, add a 'Send message' node and let the customer know their order can't be found but you will try to transfer them to an agent.

  • Under the 'Send message' node, add a 'Transfer to another flow' node and choose the 'Agent transfer' flow.

    Note: If the customer's email does not match an order in eDesk, they will automatically be brought down the 'Order not selected' branch.

03 AI 



Note: For this flow, you must have your Content hub set up. To learn more, click here.

  • Click on the ‘AI flow' and add a 'Send message' node, asking your customer how you can help them.

  • Add a ‘Have a conversation with Ava' node and choose the Content hub you want it to point to.

  • Under the 'Success' button, add a 'Send message' node and let the customer know they can start a new chat if needed.

  • Under the 'Failure' button, add a 'Send message' node and let the customer know you will try to transfer them to an agent.

  • Under the 'Send message' node add a 'Transfer to another flow' node and choose the 'Agent transfer' flow. 

  • Under the 'Agent' button, add a 'Transfer to another flow' node and choose the 'Agent transfer' flow. 

04 Agent transfer


  • Click on the ‘Agent transfer' flow and add an 'Add business hours condition' node.
Note: Your customers will not see any business hours, they will automatically be led down the 'within hours' or 'out of hours' path, based on the working hours you have set. For this to work, you must have your Business hours set up in your Company Settings. To learn more, click here. 
 

  • Under the ‘Within business hours' button, add a 'Send message' node and let the customer know you will try to transfer them to a support agent and that you need their email address.

  • Under the 'Send message' node, add an 'Ask for identity' node.

  • Under the 'Ask for identity' node, add an 'Agent handoff' node. This will put the customer through to a support agent on live chat.

  • Under the 'Out of hours' button, add a 'Send message' node and let your customer know it is out-of-hours.

  • Add another 'Send message' node asking for the customer's email address and let them know that you will follow up.

  • Under the 'Send message' node, add an 'Ask for identity' node.

  • Under the 'Ask for identity' node, add a 'Create a ticket' node.

  • Under the 'Create a ticket' node, add a 'Send message' node and let your customer know again that you will follow up.  

Note:  You can delete a flow at any time by clicking the ellipsis next to the 'Status' column. If the flow is currently in use by another flow, a warning message will appear before deletion.
 

Further Readings


To learn more about key nodes mentioned above, click here.

To learn how to create and edit a Chatbot, click here.

To find out how to build a Content hub, click here.