Fikri Ghazi Fikri Ghazi

Create Effective FAQ Articles to Solve Employee Issues

Step-by-Step Guide to Building FAQ Chatbots

Introduction

This guide walks you through the steps for creating a new FAQ article in Chime V5. Chime V5 is a real time service desk using chat to ehlp employees quickly resolve problems. With the advent of AI, content is king and the inclusion of content management systems (CMS) into serivce desk applications allow new AI systems to quickly index helpful content and provide these solutions via chat and other UI.

Managers and admins have the rights to create FAQ articles. If you're an agent, this feature is not available for you. By the end of this blog post, you will know how to:

  1. Locate where all FAQ articles are

  2. Create a new FAQ article

  3. Preview the FAQ article

  4. Publish the FAQ article

Prerequisites: A Chime V5 account with manager or admin rights.

Steps to Create an FAQ Article

Step 1: Go to the “Manager Dashboard”

Log in to your Chime V5 account. Once logged in, navigate to the manager dashboard.

Step 2: Navigate to “Content > FAQ”

On the manager dashboard, look for the "Content" tab. Click on it, then select the "FAQ" sub-menu.

Step 3: Click on "New FAQ Item" Button

Within the FAQ page, you'll find a button labeled "New FAQ Item." Click this button to initiate the creation of a new FAQ article.

Step 4: Add Title

A new screen will appear, prompting you to enter a title for the FAQ article. Make sure the title is relevant and clear.

Step 5: Add Markdown for FAQ Article Content

Below the title, there's a space where you can add the content of your article. Chime V5 allows for Markdown formatting. Enter the content accordingly, using Markdown for any specific formatting needs.

Step 6: Preview the FAQ Article

After entering the content, scroll down to find the "Preview" button. Click on it to see how your FAQ article will appear once it's live. This helps ensure that the content is formatted correctly and looks good.

Step 7: Publish the FAQ Article

Once you're satisfied with the preview, find the "Publish" button. Click on it to make your FAQ article public and accessible to those who use the Chime V5 platform.

Conclusion

How to create FAQ chatbot to solve employee questions using FAQ - deliver using Microsoft Teams

FAQs display directly in a Microsoft Teams chat -

Deploy a great FAQ chat system to deliver solutions to your employees - you build the FAQs, we build the chat app - and it’s deployed as a SaaS app in days, not weeks.

Creating an FAQ article in Chime V5 is straightforward. This feature is beneficial for managers and admins who want to disseminate information to everyone.

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Ben Morris Ben Morris

Simplify Cross-Department Chat Routing with Tenant Transfer

How To Guide to Configuring Tenant Transfer Pipeline

Simplify chat routing with the tenant transfer feature to easily move a chat session from one tenant to another. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the process of setting up and using this feature.

This can move a chat from one department (say IT Support) to another department (maybe HR). So, a company may be created with multiple departments and it is important to transfer a chat from one department to another department - and the chat session maintains all the original data, is managed using chat from with Microsoft Teams, and the employee seeking help can communicate with multiple departments from one single inbound UI - for example: the app icon on Microsoft Teams.

The Tenant to Tenant Transfer Pipeline Action is a powerful tool that allows you to direct chat sessions from one tenant to another with ease. Essentially, it enables you to transfer chat sessions to a specified tenant, and these sessions will follow the pipeline configured for the 'Primary Tenant Pipeline.' Let's dive into how this works with an example.

Example Scenario:

Imagine you have a company with a primary tenant where all incoming chats are initially routed. However, your users may need specific support or content that resides in other departments (for example, IT, HR, Legal). This is where the Tenant to Tenant Transfer Pipeline Action comes into play.

Transfer tenants within your service desk chat flow for specified support

Transfer tenants within your service desk chat flow to receive designated support

Example of a chat application connecting to both the IT Service Desk and the HR department. Our single chat app can interact with multiple departments

As shown in the diagram above, the user starts in the primary tenant and then selects an option to be transferred to a different tenant that can provide the necessary support or content.

In your enterprise service desk chat flow make a selection to transfer tenants based on your support needs

Build a chatbot to chat with the IT Service Desk or the HR department - and use FAQs to help resolve employee problems.

Pipeline Configuration

To make the Tenant to Tenant Transfer Pipeline Action work seamlessly, you need to configure a few key settings:

1. Tenant ID:

  • This is the unique identifier for the target tenant where you want to transfer the guest.

2. Transfer Message Template:

  • Create a card that will be sent to the guest when they are transferred to the designated tenant.

Define your target transfer tenant within the service desk chat flow

Define your target transfer tenant within the service desk chat flow

Build a chatbot to transfer chats to HR or IT - and use FAQs in the chat app - deployed using Microsoft Teams App Store

View the tenant transfer stage within your service desk chat flow

View the tenant transfer stage within your service desk chat flow

Another FAQ chatbot to transfer a chat between 2 departments - install into Microsoft Teams using MS Teams Store

Metadata

Metadata plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth transfer of chat sessions between tenants. Here's a list of metadata items that are added to the chat session on both the sending and receiving tenants:

On Sending Tenant (Transferred From):

  • Session.TransferredFrom.SessionId

  • Session.TransferredFrom.TenantId

  • Session.TransferredFrom.TenantName

On Receiving Tenant (Transferred To):

  • Session.TransferredTo.SessionId

  • Session.TransferredTo.TenantId

  • Session.TransferredTo.TenantName

View metadata from the previous tenant in the service desk chat flow

Build a chatbot and capture all data for reporting and routing to service desk agents

With this metadata, you can keep track of the session's origin and destination, making it easier to manage and analyze the flow of chat sessions between tenants.

In conclusion, the Tenant to Tenant Transfer Pipeline Action is a valuable feature that simplifies the process of routing chat sessions to the right tenant. Whether your users require specialized support or access to specific content, this action ensures a smooth and efficient transfer process.

So, go ahead and configure your Tenant to Tenant Transfer Pipeline today to provide a seamless chat experience for your users across different tenants!

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Fikri Ghazi Fikri Ghazi

Setting Up a Chat-Based Help Desk in Microsoft Teams

Transform Microsoft Teams into an Efficient Help Desk

This blog post is tailored for IT managers, business owners, and regular Microsoft Teams users who are looking for an efficient way to streamline internal help desk operations. The main goal of Chime V5 is providing a ‘real time’ service desk so that employees can quickly use chat to engage with their enterprise service desk. Of course, the underlying goal is to quickly resolve employee issues (questions) so that people can quickly ‘unstick’ a problem and continue to add value and handle their high value tasks.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction

  2. Solving Traditional Help Desk Challenges

    1. Single Point of Contact

    2. Troubleshooting

    3. Performance Monitoring

    4. Scalable Support

  3. Primary Features

    1. Chat-Based Help Desk

    2. Immediate Engagement and Dynamic Prioritization

  4. (Work in progress) How to Setup Help Desk on Microsoft Teams

    1. Installing and Integration with Microsoft Teams

    2. Creating a Chat Workflow

    3. Enabling Chat Workflow in Chime V5 Tenant for Microsoft Teams Integration

    4. Initial Testing and POC

    5. Technical Setup

      1. Creating Chat Support Channels

        1. General Support Channel

        2. Specialized Channels (e.g., IT, HR, Finance)

      2. Setting up Chatbots and AI

        1. Initial Setup and Configuration

        2. Defining Escalation Paths

      3. Roles and Permissions

        1. Defining Roles (Admin, Manager, Agent, User)

        2. Setting Permissions

      4. Reporting and Monitoring

        1. Metrics to Track

        2. Setting up Dashboards

        3. Custom Reports

    6. User Onboarding

      1. Internal Announcements

      2. Training Support Agents

    7. Roll Out

      1. Pilot Testing

      2. Collecting Initial Feedback

      3. Full Launch

Introduction

Employees need to quickly solve problems - and chat is a great channel to solve employee issues. Chats can be started using Microsoft Teams either on a Windows desktop, table, iPad, mobile device, or via a web chat client in a browser. As businesses grow, their needs for an efficient and scalable internal help desk grow as well. One of the major challenges has always been how to centralize support, offer immediate solutions, and provide scalability without complicating the user experience. This is where Chime V5 comes into play, turning Microsoft Teams into a fully functional, chat-based help desk.

Solving Traditional Help Desk Challenges

Here's how Chime V5 addresses the inherent challenges in traditional help desk models:

Single Point of Contact

Chime V5 integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams, a platform that your employees are already familiar with. It becomes a centralized point for all help-desk related queries, thereby reducing the learning curve.

Troubleshooting

With Chime V5, troubleshooting becomes as easy as sending a chat message. Your IT support agents can receive and resolve issues in real-time, without the cumbersome ticket queues that could take days to resolve.

Performance Monitoring

Chime V5 offers robust monitoring and reporting features. The data collected can be invaluable for performance evaluations, strategic planning, and scaling operations. In addition, you can create a custom report in Chime V5.

Scalable Support

The Problem: As enterprises grow, the internal support structure often struggles to keep up. This challenge manifests in several ways, from increased ticket volume and longer resolution times to overwhelmed support agents and dissatisfied employees. The process of scaling usually involves adding more agents, integrating new tools, or even overhauling the entire system. These approaches often come with a high financial and operational burden.

The Solution with Chime V5 and Microsoft Teams: Chime V5 provides a solution to this conundrum by integrating seamlessly into Microsoft Teams, a platform already likely in use in your enterprise. This allows your support structure to scale without the need for entirely new platforms, extensive training, or complex integrations.

  1. Resource Optimization: As more support agents may be needed to cater to a growing workforce, Chime V5 allows the easy onboarding (addition) of new agents.

  2. Consistency: As your company scales, maintaining a uniform approach to support can be difficult. With Chime V5 in Microsoft Teams, the user experience remains consistent, whether you have 50 or 5,000 employees.

  3. Automated Chat Bot: With Azure ChatGPT AI, Chime V5 can provide self-service help in addition to the support agents to all employees.

  4. Data-Driven Decision Making: Chime V5’s robust performance monitoring features allow for data-driven decisions. As you grow, you can use the analytics to identify bottlenecks, allocate resources more efficiently, and even foresee issues before they become critical.

  5. Streamlined User Experience: With Chime V5, your employees won't have to learn a new platform as you scale. This is a huge advantage in reducing onboarding time and maintaining high levels of user satisfaction.

  6. Adaptability: Chime V5’s chat-based model can easily adapt to incorporate new features or third-party integrations, ensuring that your help desk platform is as agile as your business needs.

Why Microsoft Teams? Microsoft Teams itself is designed to be a scalable solution, fitting well into both small business environments and large enterprises. Its wide range of functionalities—like chat, video conferencing, and file sharing—make it an ideal platform for centralizing operations, including your help desk. By leveraging a platform already in use and accepted by your staff, Chime V5 makes it possible to add a powerful, scalable help desk solution with minimal disruption.

Primary Features

Here's why Chime V5 is indispensable for this setup:

Chat-Based Help Desk

Chime V5 harnesses the chat functionality in Microsoft Teams to offer an easy, intuitive, and quick way for employees to seek solutions. Whether it's a simple query that the AI can handle or a complex issue that requires a support agent, the chat-based approach speeds up resolution time and enhances user satisfaction.

Immediate Engagement and Dynamic Prioritization

Unlike traditional ticketing systems, Chime V5 offers immediate engagement and uses customizable algorithms (chat workflow) to resolve employees’ issues. In addition you can integrate with your existing ticketing system to automate your ticket creations.

How to setup Help Desk on Microsoft Teams

The primary objective is to deploy a user-friendly help desk application accessible to all employees through Microsoft Teams. Additionally, we want to set up a dedicated tenant in Chime V5 for support agents and managers.

By the end of this, your employees will have a new app menu on the Teams sidebar. This app will be their main way to ask for help. When they ask questions, a smart chat system will make sure their messages reach the right support agents quickly.

Installing and Integration with Microsoft Teams

Setting up Chime V5 is a straightforward process. Here are the steps:

  1. Find Chime V5 in the Microsoft Teams Store: Visit the Microsoft Teams store and find Chime V5 using this link: Chime V5 on Microsoft Teams Store.

  1. Install Chime V5: Once you've found Chime V5, click on the "Get it now" button to add it to your Teams environment.

  2. Request an Evaluation: After installation, you can create a request for an evaluation.

  3. Evaluation Request Notification: Your evaluation request will be received by our team at Instant. We'll promptly notify you regarding the status of your request.

  4. Chime V5 Tenant Creation: Upon approval, we will create a dedicated Chime V5 tenant for your organization.

  5. Receive Account Credentials: Once your Chime V5 tenant is set up, we'll provide you with your account credentials (username and password) to access your tenant.

Installation is Now Complete: Your Chime V5 Teams app is now connected to the Chime V5 tenant. In the next steps, we'll guide you through setting up the tenant so that inbound support chats from the Teams app are routed to the tenant's chat workflow and directed to support agents.

Creating a Chat Workflow for Teams Help Desk

The integration of Chime V5 with Microsoft Teams is a crucial step in establishing a seamless help desk experience. In this section, we'll guide you through the process of updating the chat workflow for your Chime V5 tenant.

Customizing the Chat Workflow for Managers:

Within the manager's dashboard, you have the opportunity to shape the chat workflow to suit your organization's requirements. This workflow serves as a framework that influences how incoming help/support chats are managed and directed.

Key Workflow Capabilities: The chat workflow offers a range of capabilities that can be designed to align with your specific needs:

  • Creating Tickets on ServiceNow: Automatically generate tickets in your ServiceNow system when employees initiate chats, streamlining issue tracking and resolution.

  • Running Custom JavaScript: Execute custom JavaScript to perform specific actions, integrate with other systems, or provide dynamic responses to users.

  • Sending Email Notifications: Notify relevant parties via email when specific events occur within the chat workflow, ensuring timely communication.

  • Routing Users to Agents: Direct incoming chat requests to available support agents based on predetermined criteria, ensuring optimal resource allocation.

  • Routing Users to AI: Utilize AI-powered assistance for certain queries, providing immediate responses and freeing up human agents for more complex issues.

Creating a Simple Chat Workflow:

In this example, we'll create a basic chat workflow that directs inbound chats to support agents. Currently you are the only user (with admin role) in your Chime V5 tenant. But because an admin has all rights including accepting chats like an agent, for testing purposes, we are going try acting as an agent with our admin account.

Step 1: Navigate to Manager Dashboard > Pipelines.

In Chime V5, a chat workflow is called a pipeline. By default, you are given 2 pipelines: Route To Agents and FAQ Workflow And Route To Agents.

Create a chat workflow that will run inside of Microsoft Teams

Enable a chat channel, with FAQ lookup, integration with AI, and routing to agents

The new chat channel is deployed using Microsoft Teams, can be pushed across the organization, and installed via the Microsoft Teams Store

To check the content of a chat pipeline, click on the Route To Agent text link.

Scroll down to the bottom, and you will see the pipeline diagram.

chatbot inside of microsoft teams

A simple chat bot delivered using Microsoft Teams

This chat service will collect the employee’s question and then the chat to a service desk agent - anywhere in the world

The diagram tells you how the chat workflow starts and ends. From looking at this diagram, we can see that the chat workflow sends a welcome card, before routing the user to support agents. Once chat with agents completed, chat workflow is going to send user a feedback card. Finally, chat will end.

Now let’s go back to Manager Dashboard > Pipelines. You should see list of chat pipelines again.

Step 2: Click on New Chat Pipeline button.

Step 3: Fill in the Title field and the Initial Pipeline Component field. For example:

  • Title: Prod Chat Workflow

  • Initial Pipeline Component: WelcomeCard

chatbot for microsoft teams

Deploy a simple chatbot in less than a day - using Microsoft Teams

The chat bot is designed to solve employee problems using FAQ lookups or route to service desk agents - you can also enable AI features

Step 4: Scroll to the bottom while still on the New Chat Pipeline page.

Step 5: Click on Edit tab.

Step 6: Click on the Add Item button dropdown and select Send AdaptiveCard Pipeline Item to use the adaptive card

send an adaptive card using our chat bot application

Use Microsoft Adaptive Cards with your chatbot

Adaptive Cards work great in Microsoft Teams and are a great chat UI - easily collect info and deliver chat replies using cards

Step 7: Set the Key of the adaptive card to be WelcomeCard.

add adaptive card to chat workflow example

Configure an adaptive card to collect the question - and then deliver some FAQs, route to an agent, or engage with AI

Microsoft Adaptive Cards are a great UI for chat sessions - and work great in Microsoft Teams

Step 8: Scroll down and update the Card Template.

use adaptive card designer to build chat bot

Launch the embedded adaptive card editor

Adaptive Card editor as part of our chat application

Step 9: Scroll down and click Publish.

Congratulations, you just created a new chat pipeline (chat workflow).

Workflow Flexibility: Remember, the chat workflow is highly versatile. As your needs evolve, you can expand the workflow to include advanced features such as ticket creation, AI assistance, and more.

Quickly deploy a chat service to solve employee problems

Chime ships with several great chatbot examples - or build your own. Use FAQ lookups and the CMS to update the bot based on problems

Enabling Chat Workflow in Chime V5 for Microsoft Teams Integration

After creating your chat workflow, the next step is to enable it within your Chime V5 tenant. This ensures that any chat originating from Microsoft Teams will be correctly routed to Chime V5. Below are the steps to accomplish this. Note that admin access is required to proceed.

Awesome chat pipelines - use a preconfigured chatbot to solve issues and route chats

Chat workflows are made up of chat components - including FAQ lookup, sending adaptive cards, routing to agents, and collecting feedback

Steps to Enable Chat Workflow:

  1. Access Tenant Settings: Start by going to Admin > Tenant Settings > Chat Pipeline in the Chime V5 interface.

  2. Find Chat Pipeline Dropdown: Within the tenant settings, look for the chat pipeline dropdown menu.

  3. Select Workflow: Choose "Prod Chat Workflow" from the dropdown, which is the chat workflow you previously created.

  4. Save Settings: To finalize your configuration, click the "Save" button.

By following these steps, you ensure that your newly created chat workflow is active and any chats initiated from Microsoft Teams will route to your Chime V5 tenant effectively.

Initial Testing

Test your chatbot from within Microsoft Teams

Use chat as a new channel for your service desk or HR department - solve common questions quickly!

Once you've successfully enabled the chat workflow in your Chime V5 tenant, it's crucial to conduct initial tests to verify that the integration with Microsoft Teams is working as expected.

Steps for Initial Testing

  1. Open Microsoft Teams: Launch the Microsoft Teams application on your computer or device.

  2. Navigate to Chime V5 App: Within Microsoft Teams, locate and open the Chime V5 app.

  3. Send Test Message: Type the word "hello" into the chat interface and send the text message.

  4. Verify Welcome Message: After sending the test message, look for a welcome text message in response. This confirms that the chat workflow is operational and that chats are being correctly routed to your Chime V5 tenant.

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Fikri Ghazi Fikri Ghazi

Modernize IT Help-Desk Management with Microsoft Teams

Add AI Chat Channel and Solve Employee Issues

Chat for Employee Issues

Chat is a great way to solve common employee issues. It’s quick, available everywhere, supports multiple languages, and can provide FAQs and answers fast. For more complex issues, it can route requests to service desk agents globally.

Innovations in IT Help-Desk Management

IT help-desks are changing thanks to tools like Microsoft Teams. Ticket systems are being replaced with real-time solutions. Teams make it easier for users to get help, manage incidents, and improve workflows.

Using Microsoft Teams

Accessibility: Microsoft Teams makes it easy for users to get help. Instead of complicated processes, users can start a chat in the app to get help quickly.

Incident Management: Microsoft Teams integrates with systems like JIRA, ServiceNow, and SolarWinds. This makes logging, tracking, and resolving issues simpler.

Managing High Demand: Microsoft Teams can handle high volumes of requests by automating support tasks. It routes queries to the right channels or agents, which is crucial for large or fast-growing organizations. Chime aims to provide self-service and deflection opportunities for inbound chat sessions, including:

Driving Digital Transformation with Microsoft Teams

Digital transformation in IT help-desk management means using advanced analytics, continuous feedback, and strong integration capabilities. Microsoft Teams enables a culture of constant improvement, allowing IT operations to keep up with technological changes.

Proactive Monitoring and Issue Resolution

Your IT help desk in Teams can monitor live conversations to detect and resolve issues immediately. Conversations can be organized into reports for better insights and future planning.

User Self-Help with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams supports user self-help with an intuitive design and AI-powered bots that answer basic queries. This reduces the number of trivial issues that need human intervention, letting support staff focus on more complex tasks.

Unified Help-Desk Experience

Microsoft Teams acts as a hub that integrates various IT support functions. It creates a seamless user experience, centralizing tools and functionalities to simplify interactions and speed up resolutions.

Future Directions and Innovations

Microsoft Teams continues to evolve with new features and integrations. This ensures that platforms like Chime V5 stay at the forefront of IT help-desk management, providing efficient support that aligns with business goals.

Conclusion

Traditional IT help-desks are being replaced by more modern platforms. These platforms automate tasks, enable real-time collaboration, and offer comprehensive IT support. Now is the time to integrate Microsoft Teams into your IT help-desk strategy for faster and more effective support.

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Fikri Ghazi Fikri Ghazi

Introduction to Enterprise Service Desk

The objective of this document is to provide IT managers with an introduction to enterprise service desks and their key features. It aims to explain the purpose and benefits of an enterprise service desk solution, as well as highlight the important features that can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of IT support within an organization. However, Chime is 100% on proving a real-time chat channel to your service desk - using Microsoft Teams, a we chat client, or other Microsoft DirectLine channels. Of course, Chime V5 provides integration with ChatGPT, language translation, integration with ticketing systems, and real-time routing to agents.

Table of Contents

  • Definition and Purpose of Enterprise Service Desk

  • Key Benefits of Enterprise Service Desk

  • Key Features of an Enterprise Service Desk Solution

  • Conclusion and Summary

What is an Enterprise Service Desk?

Definition and Purpose

An enterprise service desk is a centralized system that manages and resolves IT-related issues, service requests, and inquiries within a large organization. Its purpose is to streamline communication between employees, customers, and various IT support teams, ensuring timely and effective support for technical and non-technical issues.

Key Benefits

  • Improved operational efficiency: By automating routine tasks and workflows, the service desk solution reduces manual intervention, increases productivity, and streamlines processes.

  • Quicker issue resolution: With a centralized ticketing system and self-service portal, users can easily report issues and find solutions, leading to faster issue resolution.

  • Reduced support workload: The self-service portal and extensive knowledge base empower users to troubleshoot common problems independently, reducing the number of support requests and easing the workload on support agents.

  • Better visibility and control: Reporting and analytics features offer insights into service desk performance, agent productivity, and user satisfaction, enabling organizations to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

  • Integration capabilities: Seamless integration with other IT management tools and systems allows for a more comprehensive and efficient IT support infrastructure.

  • Enhanced security and compliance: The service desk solution should incorporate security measures, such as user authentication and data encryption, to protect sensitive user information and comply with relevant regulations.

  • Customization and personalization: The solution should be customizable to match the organization's branding and requirements, providing a personalized experience for users.

  • Scalability: As the organization grows, the service desk solution should be able to scale without compromising performance and user experience.

Key Features of an Enterprise Service Desk Solution

Centralized Support System

A centralized support system is a core feature of an enterprise service desk solution. It serves as a single point of contact for users to submit their requests, report issues, and track the progress of their inquiries. This centralized approach ensures that all communication and support activities are efficiently managed and coordinated.

By having a centralized support system, organizations can streamline their support processes, avoid duplicate efforts, and eliminate the need for users to contact multiple support teams or departments. This improves communication and collaboration among IT support teams, leading to faster issue resolution and increased customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, a centralized support system enables support agents to have a holistic view of all support requests, allowing them to identify patterns, track trends, and provide proactive support. It also facilitates effective escalation and delegation of internal issues to the appropriate teams or individuals, ensuring that requests are addressed by the most qualified personnel.

Multi-Channel Support: Web chat and Microsoft Teams

Multi-channel support allows users to access support and communicate with IT teams through various channels, ensuring flexibility and convenience. Two popular channels for multi-channel support are web chat and Microsoft Teams.

Web chat is a real-time communication channel that enables users to interact with support agents directly through a website or a dedicated chat widget. This channel provides instant assistance and allows users to ask questions, report issues, and receive timely responses. It eliminates the need for users to wait for email or phone support, resulting in faster issue resolution and improved customer satisfaction. Web chat also allows support agents to handle multiple conversations simultaneously, increasing their efficiency and productivity.

Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is a collaboration platform that integrates various communication and productivity tools into a single interface. It provides a centralized hub for teams to collaborate on projects, share files, and communicate in real-time through chat, voice, and video calls. By incorporating Microsoft Teams into the enterprise service desk solution, users can access support directly within their collaboration workspace. They can initiate chats with support agents, share screenshots or files, and receive assistance without leaving the platform they are already working in. This integration enhances productivity and streamlines communication, resulting in faster issue resolution and improved user satisfaction.

Both web chat and Microsoft Teams offer advantages in terms of accessibility and convenience. Web chat allows users to access support from any device with internet access, while Microsoft Teams provides a seamless experience for users already using the platform for their daily work. Furthermore, the integration of web chat and Microsoft Teams within the enterprise service desk solution enables users to choose the channel that best suits their needs and preferences, ensuring a personalized and efficient support experience.

Self-Service Portal Powered By Microsoft Azure ChatGPT

One of the key features of an ideal enterprise service desk solution is a self-service portal. This portal empowers users to find solutions to common issues and request services without the need to contact support. To further enhance the self-service experience, many organizations are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions like Microsoft Azure ChatGPT.

Microsoft Azure ChatGPT is a powerful AI-powered chatbot that can be integrated into a self-service portal. It uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to understand user inquiries and provide accurate and relevant responses. With its advanced language capabilities, Azure ChatGPT can understand complex questions, provide step-by-step instructions, and even offer personalized recommendations based on user preferences and past interactions.

By integrating Azure ChatGPT into the self-service portal, organizations can offer their users a more intuitive and interactive support experience. Users can simply type their queries into the chatbot interface, and Azure ChatGPT will provide instant responses, guiding them towards the right solutions. This reduces the dependence on human support agents and allows users to find answers to their questions anytime, anywhere.

Azure ChatGPT can also be customized and trained to understand specific technical terms, industry jargon, and company-specific processes. This ensures that the chatbot provides accurate and contextual information to users, further enhancing the self-service experience. Additionally, Azure ChatGPT can learn from user interactions and continuously improve its responses over time, making it even more effective in addressing issues and providing accurate information and assistance.

FAQ Articles

FAQ articles provide users with a centralized knowledge base of frequently asked questions and their corresponding answers, helping them troubleshoot common issues independently. By incorporating FAQ articles into the self-service portal, organizations can reduce the number of support requests and improve user satisfaction.

FAQ articles should be comprehensive, well-organized, and easily accessible. They should cover a wide range of topics, including common technical problems, software usage guides, service request procedures, and other relevant information. Each article should provide clear and concise instructions, with step-by-step guides if necessary, to help users resolve their issues without assistance.

To create effective FAQ articles, organizations should consider the following best practices:

  1. Identify common user queries: Analyze support tickets and user inquiries to identify recurring issues and questions. These will serve as the basis for the FAQ articles.

  2. Organize articles in a logical manner: Categorize the FAQ articles into relevant topics or sections to make it easier for users to navigate and find the information they need.

  3. Use clear and concise language: Write the articles in simple and easy-to-understand language, avoiding technical jargon as much as possible. This ensures that users can comprehend the instructions and follow them accurately.

  4. Include visuals if necessary: Use screenshots, images, or videos to illustrate complex procedures or concepts. Visual aids can significantly enhance user understanding and facilitate issue resolution.

  5. Regularly update and maintain the FAQ articles: As technology and user needs evolve, it's crucial to keep the FAQ articles up to date. Perform reviews to ensure that the information provided remains accurate and relevant. This involves verifying the solutions, updating any changed steps or interfaces, and incorporating new queries that arise over time.

Automation

One key area where automation can be applied is in ticket creation. Rather than relying on manual ticket creation by support agents, organizations can leverage automation to automatically generate tickets based on predefined triggers or events. For example, when a user sends an email to a designated support email address or fills out a form on the self-service portal, an automated workflow can be triggered to create a ticket and assign it to the appropriate team or agent.

By automating ticket creation, organizations can eliminate the need for manual data entry, reduce the risk of human error, and ensure that every request is captured and properly tracked. This not only saves time and effort for support agents but also enables faster response and resolution times for users.

Custom Workflows

In addition to ticket creation, organizations can also create custom workflows that align with their specific service desk requirements. Custom workflows define the sequence of actions and tasks that need to be performed for different types of requests or issues. For example, a custom workflow for a hardware issue might involve steps such as initial diagnosis, checking warranty status, coordinating with procurement for replacement parts, and scheduling a technician visit.

By defining custom workflows, organizations can ensure that requests are handled consistently and efficiently, with clear guidelines for support agents to follow. This reduces the risk of errors, ensures timely escalation and resolution of issues, and enhances overall service quality.

Integration Capabilities

An ideal enterprise service desk solution should have seamless integration capabilities with existing enterprise ticketing systems such as ServiceNow, Cherwell, Jira, SolarWinds and more.

By integrating with existing ticketing systems, the service desk solution can automatically create and update tickets, ensuring that all requests and issues are properly tracked and managed. This eliminates the need for manual data entry and reduces the risk of errors or missed tickets.

Integration also enables the service desk to access and leverage information from other systems, such as asset management or incident management tools. This provides support agents with a comprehensive view of the user's environment, allowing for faster and more accurate troubleshooting.

Custom Reporting and Analytics

Reporting and analytics provide valuable insights into the performance of the service desk, agent productivity, common issues, and user satisfaction. However, relying solely on pre-built reports may not fully address the unique reporting needs of every organization. That's where the importance of creating custom reports comes in.

Custom reports allow organizations to tailor their reporting capabilities to their specific requirements and goals. They can be designed to capture and analyze data points that are most relevant to the organization's operations and objectives. For example, a custom report may focus on tracking the resolution time of high-priority tickets or measuring customer satisfaction scores for different support channels.

Creating custom reports enables IT managers to gain deeper visibility into the performance and effectiveness of their service desk. They can identify trends, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement, which can inform decision-making and drive operational efficiency. Custom reports also facilitate data-driven conversations with stakeholders, such as upper management or other departments, to demonstrate the value and impact of the service desk.

Moreover, custom reports can help organizations meet compliance requirements and demonstrate adherence to service level agreements (SLAs). They can track and measure SLA metrics, such as response and resolution times, and provide evidence of compliance with contractual obligations.

Live Agents Assistance: Ensuring Efficient Issue Resolution through Skilled-Based Routing

While AI-powered automation can handle a wide range of requests and issues, there are instances where the expertise and problem-solving abilities of live agents are crucial. That's where the ability to route issues to the right agents with the necessary skills becomes essential.

With an enterprise service desk solution, IT managers can configure intelligent routing rules to direct employees looking for help to the most qualified agents. This ensures that the right people are assigned to handle specific types of issues.

Agent grouping based on skills allows organizations to create teams or departments with specialized knowledge in different areas. For example, there could be a team focused on network-related issues, another specializing in software troubleshooting, and so on.

By routing issues to agents with the appropriate skills, organizations can provide a higher level of support and ensure that complex or critical problems are handled by experts. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also reduces the need for escalations or transfers between agents, saving time and effort for both users and support staff.

Moreover, the ability to route issues based on agent availability and workload helps distribute the workload evenly, preventing bottlenecks and ensuring a balanced distribution of issues among agents.

Customization and Personalization

Branding and Logo: Adding branding elements, such as a company logo and colors, to the service desk interface helps create a cohesive and familiar user experience. It reinforces the organization's identity and promotes brand recognition. Users will feel more connected to the organization when they see familiar branding elements, which can enhance their overall satisfaction with the service desk.

Custom Workflows: A customizable service desk solution allows IT managers to design workflows that align with their organization's unique processes and requirements. They can create custom forms, fields, and workflows, enabling users to submit requests or report issues in a way that makes sense for their specific needs. Custom workflows ensure that the service desk solution adapts to the organization's existing processes, rather than forcing users to conform to a rigid system.

Tailored Responses (Custom Adaptive Cards): Personalized responses from the service desk, such as automated email notifications or chatbot interactions, create a more engaging and human-like experience for users. IT managers can customize the language, tone, and messaging of these responses to match their organization's voice and style. This personal touch can help build trust and rapport between users and the service desk, making them feel valued and understood.

Conclusion

As the number of users and support requests increases, the solution should be able to handle the additional workload without sacrificing performance or user experience.

Summary:

  • AI capabilities in a service desk solution streamline ticket routing and automate self-service, improving efficiency and reducing the burden on support staff.

  • Custom reporting and analytics provide valuable insights for continuous improvement and optimization of IT support processes.

  • Custom chat workflows within Microsoft Teams enable seamless collaboration and communication between support agents and users.

  • Live agents play a crucial role in a service desk solution, providing personalized support and expertise to users who require direct assistance.

  • By leveraging these capabilities, IT managers can transform their help desk into a proactive and efficient support system that meets the needs of their organization and contributes to overall business success.

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Fikri Ghazi Fikri Ghazi

Improve Support Workflow With Microsoft Teams

Integrate Your AI-Driven Help Desk With Teams

Enterprise service desk displays welcome card within the Teams application

Enterprise service desk displays welcome card (adaptive card) within the MS Teams application

Chat with your service desk using Microsoft Teams and build chatbots, FAQs, and route to agents - all using a SaaS application

Introduction: Exploring the Benefits

Many of our customers come to us with the requirement ‘our employees spend a lot of time using Microsoft Teams, can we also use Microsoft Teams to allow our employees to chat with our service desk?’ Chime V5 is designed to allow employees to use Microsoft Teams to quickly connect to your enterprise service desk - and use AI to help with common questions.

Before delving into the details of how to use Microsoft Teams as a help desk, let's first understand the reasons behind utilizing this platform. Microsoft Teams offers some advantages, including:

  1. Seamless integration: By using Microsoft Teams, employees can seek support without having to switch to a different application. This is particularly beneficial as Teams is already widely utilized for chat, meetings, and collaboration.

  2. Simplified ticketing process: Unlike traditional methods, employees no longer need to create tickets and wait for help. Instead, they can initiate a chat to receive immediate assistance. The service desk will then handle the routing process, directing queries to appropriate agents or providing self-service options through artificial intelligence.

  3. Ease of deployment for IT managers: The integration of the service desk within Microsoft Teams simplifies the deployment process for IT managers. Service desk solution can be deployed to Teams environment to all employees within organization quickly from Teams Admin Dashboard. Pin the service desk app to Teams navigation to make accessing it just one click away.

  4. No training required for end users: Another benefit of using Microsoft Teams as a help desk is that end users do not need any additional training. Since Teams is already a familiar platform for most employees, they can easily navigate and use the service desk without any learning curve. This eliminates the need for extensive training sessions, saving time and resources for IT managers.

How to use Microsoft Teams as help desk for your organization

Design your help desk workflow

Picture a scenario where a user seeks assistance. What happens afterwards? The key to providing effective support lies in having a well-structured help desk workflow. The task is to establish a system that seamlessly handles questions, directing them to the appropriate agents or providing self-service alternatives. It might be beneficial to collect essential information before redirecting to AI or live agents. The capability to personalize this procedure is crucial, guaranteeing that it perfectly matches the needs of your organization.

Integrate your help desk with your ticketing system

Typical ticketing procedures usually require manual actions, which can cause delays. The objective is to smoothly combine your customer support platform with your ticketing system. The aim is to make it extremely easy to create tickets, whether it occurs before a chat or automatically following a conversation. As a result, customers receive faster assistance without the inconvenience of manually inputting data.

Connect employees to designated service desk agents

One important aspect that your help desk should offer is the ability to direct users to the appropriate support agents. It is essential to have skilled agents who can effectively handle specific issues. Your help desk will have the capability to direct users to agents based on their expertise. For instance, when it comes to inquiries about resetting passwords, they will be connected to agents with expertise in "IT Problems," or users should be connected with agents who can communicate in their preferred language. This efficient routing system guarantees that users receive prompt and best assistance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, integrating help desk with Microsoft Teams can greatly improve your organization's help desk system. By utilizing the familiar platform of Teams, employees can easily navigate and use the service desk without the need for extensive training.

To effectively use Teams as a help desk, it is important to design a well-structured conversational chat workflow that seamlessly handles user questions and directs them to the appropriate agents or self-service options. Additionally, integrating the help desk with your ticketing system can eliminate delays and make it easy to create tickets.

Lastly, connecting employees to designated support agents based on their expertise or preferred language ensures that users receive prompt and efficient assistance. Overall, ChimeV5's integration with Microsoft Teams provides a streamlined and efficient help desk solution for IT managers looking to improve their organization's support system.

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Ben Morris Ben Morris

Using Chat Reporting API For V5

Tips, Tricks, and Additional Resources

Our application provides a chat based application to solve employee problems. Our chat application can display a list of helpful FAQs, connect with AI and ChatGPT, display a list of open tickets, or integrate with professional training videos. All of the chat sessions, FAQ searches, tickets, and routing to agents, are monitored and collected in a database.

Our reporting system displays reports to monitor KPI (key performance indicators), SLAs (service level agreements), and other key metrics that enable the chat system to provide value to the business.

In today's fast-paced business landscape, data is the key to success. Understanding the performance of your communication platform is crucial for making informed decisions and ensuring your operations run smoothly. That's where the Chime V5 Reporting API comes into play. In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know to unlock the full potential of Chime's reporting capabilities.

Accessing Chime Metrics and Reporting

We're thrilled to introduce the Chime V5 Reporting API, a powerful tool that empowers our partners and internal developers to access Chime metrics and reporting data. Whether you want to integrate Chime data into your external dashboards, automate report collection, or simply gain deeper insights into your Chime communications, this API has you covered.

Getting Started with the Postman Workbook

To kick start your journey into Chime reporting, we've prepared a comprehensive Postman workbook that includes all the essential GET requests for currently listed reports as of October 10, 2023. This workbook is your gateway to accessing vital data within Chime. And the best part? Any additional reports we add in the future can be easily discovered using the request links provided in the Report URLs section.

Link to example postman setup and example

Reporting API testing with Postman

It’s helpful to use PostMan to inspect and test the reporting API end points

We also include a reporting API sandbox to experiment with using our chat session information via the reporting API - typically with PowerBI

Managing API Keys

The Chime V5 Reporting API uses user-based API keys, ensuring that data access is controlled and tailored to each user's permissions. This granular approach to API keys means that users can only view data related to the tenants they have permission for. This level of control ensures data security and accuracy.

Creating an API Key for a User

To create an API key for a user, follow these simple steps:

  1. Navigate to the Chime User Management or Manage Users section.

  2. Find the user for whom you want to create an API key.

  3. If the user doesn't already have an API key, click the "Generate New API Key" button.

It's important to note that clicking this button when a user already has an API key will invalidate the old key and generate a new one, helping you maintain the security of your data.

Create an API for helpdesk reporting

Collect the chat metrics: specify a reporting API key at a user level - so your reporting application can access the same information as the user

Reporting on chatbot performance: So, if a user has limited permissions, then the reporting API key will use these same permissions

What You Need in a Request

To interact with the Chime V5 Reporting API effectively, you should understand the three key components of each request:

1. The URL of the Report: This specifies the report you want to access.

2. Query String Parameters: These parameters ensure that your request is processed correctly. While the zone parameter is optional, you'll typically need to include the following:

  • startDate: The start of the time interval for the report in ISO-8601 date/time string format.

  • stopDate: The end of the time interval for the report in ISO-8601 date/time string format.

  • format: The format in which you want the report data returned (CSV or JSON).

  • reportId: The unique contentItemId assigned to a report for each tenant - ${reportId}

3. Authorization Header (API Key): To authenticate your request, you'll need to include the API key in the Authorization header. The format for the authorization header should be: "Bearer {API Key}" under the value column in the headers menu.

Report URLs

Every Chime report has a specific API route, subject to change and constant expansion. To discover these routes, you can refer to the API used by the Chime UI itself. Below is an example link to get a list of current reports and their contentItemIds for the tenant.

  • Get Available Reports: {{baseUrl}}/api/reporting/AvailableReports

  • Example Report: {{baseUrl}}/api/reporting/report/${reportId}?format=${format}&startDate=${startDate}&endDate=${endDate}

Exploring Chime's Report API Playground

Chime V5 Reporting API introduces a valuable feature called the "Report API Playground." This tool serves as a playground where you can experiment and interact with Chime's reporting capabilities. It's an essential resource for those who want to gain insights, discover contentItemId for specific reports, and generate JavaScript code for making API requests.

Key Features of the Report API Playground

In the Report API Playground, you can:

  1. Get Available Reports: Easily discover all the reports available for your Chime instance. This is the first step in understanding what data you can access.

  2. Generate JavaScript Code: Once you've identified the reports you need, the Report API Playground allows you to generate JavaScript code to retrieve these reports. You can specify the report, start date, end date, and output format (CSV or JSON).

  3. Execute Code and Receive Responses: The playground allows you to execute the generated JavaScript code, sending your request to Chime's reporting API. You'll receive responses in the specified format, making it easier to understand the data structure and content.

  4. View ISO-8601 Formatted Dates: The generated code will display the start and end dates in ISO-8601 format, ensuring consistency and accuracy in your requests.

How the Report API Playground Enhances Your Workflow

The Report API Playground is an invaluable tool for Chime users. Whether you're an experienced developer or someone new to working with APIs, this feature streamlines the process of gathering vital data from Chime. It simplifies the generation of JavaScript code for making requests, saving you time and effort.

Additionally, by exploring the reports and executing code in the playground, you can identify the contentItemId for specific reports. This contentItemId is crucial when crafting GET requests in the Postman workbook, ensuring you fetch the exact data you need.

To access the Report API Playground and take full advantage of this feature, simply log in to your Chime account and navigate to the Reporting section.

With the Report API Playground at your disposal, you're well-equipped to harness the power of Chime V5 Reporting API. It's a pivotal resource for those looking to make data-driven decisions and gain deeper insights into Chime communications.

We built the chatbot reporting API playground to provide an easy to use UI to experiment with our reporting system

Use the reporting API playground to verify your requests - and then call the API from your application

Define Your Base URL

For seamless API interaction, it's essential to define your base URL in the collection variable section. This allows you to adapt the API endpoints to your specific Chime instance. Please contact us with any questions or if you need help configuring this.

Updated on May 31, 2024

{{baseUrl}} – {{https://<Your Chime Instance>.com}}

Test service desk api reporting with Postman

Postman is a good application to use as your experiment with, and mockup, the data that you will want to collect

All of the reports that we create, and even custom reports, are available using the reporting API.

Related Items

Explore these additional resources to enhance your understanding of Chime's reporting capabilities and make the most out of the Chime V5 Reporting API.

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Fikri Ghazi Fikri Ghazi

Reduce Response Time With AI-Powered Support

Integrate Service Desk Chat With Chat GPT Support

Chime provides a chat based service desk - and many of our customers would like to deflect ‘simple’ questions to a chatGPT chat bot. This chatGPT instance may be either ‘private’ (indexing internal data), or public where the generic chatGPT service is used. Chime V5 can handle both of these conditions.

With this integration, Support Agents can now access the power of ChatGPT AI (via Azure OpenAI) to elevate their capabilities and deliver even more efficient customer support. Agent AI Assist provides an integrated AI assistant for the service desk agent. The service desk agent can request help, using agent assist, directly from the chat UI and one, or more, suggestions will be provided to the agent.

  • Expanded Knowledge: Azure OpenAI with ChatGPT provides access to a broad knowledge base and advanced problem-solving tools.

  • Faster Responses: AI-powered support streamlines troubleshooting, reducing response times and boosting satisfaction.

  • Reliable Solutions: AI effortlessly retrieves relevant knowledge and interactions, ensuring consistent responses.

  • Personalized Conversations: The AI's natural language understanding creates personalized and context-aware interactions.

Check out our short video above to see a demo on a password reset issue assisted by AI. More information on features, demos, and technical articles are available on our blog

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