{"id":4051,"date":"2018-12-19T11:29:29","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T16:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisa.rushworth.us\/?p=4051"},"modified":"2018-12-19T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T19:00:57","slug":"microsoft-teams-creating-a-bot-no-code-method","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/?p=4051","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Teams: Creating A Bot \u2013 No Code Method"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you want to create a simple bot that uses natural language processing training to allow users to ask questions that aren\u2019t exactly<\/em> what has been attached to the answer (i.e. I could say \u201cI forgot my password\u201d, \u201cI don\u2019t remember my password\u201d, or \u201cwhat\u2019s my password\u201d and be directed to the password portal URL without anyone having to come up with every possible iteration of the query),you can create one without actually programming a bot. You\u2019ll need to enter some questions and answers \u2013 and it\u2019s best to have a few questions associated with each answer so the bot can \u2018learn\u2019 what a real user might ask. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we start, understand how the billing works for Microsoft\u2019s cloud services. There are generally free tiers for selections, but they are resource limited. When you first start with the Azure magic cloudy stuff, you get a 200$ credit. A message indicating your remaining credit is shown when you log into the Azure portal. Pay attention to that message \u2013 if you think you are using free tiers for everything but see your credit decreasing \u2026 you\u2019ll need to investigate. Some features, like usage analytics,cost extra too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of programming a bot, you can use a pre-built bot and a question\/answer knowledgebase maintained at https:\/\/www.qnamaker.ai\/<\/a> Sign in to your company account<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Select \u201cCreate a knowledge base\u201d to start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click the button to \u201cCreate a QnA service\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A tab will open to the Azure portal, and you\u2019ll see a wizard to create a QnA Maker resource. Provide a name and select your subscription \u2013 you may be walked through creating a new trial subscription. For the management pricing tier and search pricing tier, select the free plans unless you expect high usage or need to store a lot of documents. The selections below are the free tiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Disable app insights unless you want to study usage of the q&a \u2013 app insights is a paid add-on. Click create to create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Return to the Azure Portal dashboard and click \u201cRefresh\u201d in the \u201cAll resources\u201d section. Eventually, you will see your knowledge base appear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Return to the QnA Maker tab. In \u201cStep 2\u201d, click the drop-down arrows to select the Azure Directory (you should<\/em> just see our company), the subscription (again, probably just the one), and the knowledge base we just created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In \u201cStep 3\u201d, provide a name for your knowledge base. If you have an existing Q&A file, or a URL with Q&A pairs, you can import them here. I will enter question\/answer pairs manually later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Optionally, add \u2018chit chat\u2019 \u2013 this allows your bot to respond to common things users type like \u201cdo you know Siri\u201d or \u201chow are you\u201d. It isn\u2019t needed, but it saves adding answers to \u201care you there\u201d manually. This imports question sets to your KB, so you can remove any you don\u2019t feel are appropriate for your implementation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click \u201cCreate your KB\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And wait a few minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once the KB has been created, click \u201cAdd QnA pair\u201d to begin adding questions. You can also scroll through the imported \u201cchit chat\u201dquestions and modify\/remove any you don\u2019t like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Answers use markdown<\/a> formatting, so you can add hyperlinks, italics, bold, numbered lists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once you have added your question\/answer pairs, click \u201cSave and train\u201d \u2013 training allows the bot to respond with an appropriate answer when the question isn\u2019t exactly<\/em> one of the questions provided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wait again \u2026 when you are returned to the q&a pair screen, click \u201cPublish\u201d \u2013 this implements your changes in production. You can stage changes, allowing others to review them, by waiting to click Publish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read the warning \u2013 assuming you actually<\/em> want your changes to be in production, click \u201cPublish\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wait some more, and you have an endpoint!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copy the \u2018stuff\u2019 from the box into a text file somewhere. Find your QnAEndpointHostName, QnAKnowledgebaseId, and QnAAuthKey<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unless you are going to be the *ONLY* person editing your KB (and never go on holiday, never ring up sick), you\u2019ll want to share access with others. Log into https:\/\/portal.azure.com<\/a> and locate your \u201ccognitive service\u201d. Click on its name to edit it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click on \u201cAccess control (IAM)\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the \u201cAdd a role assignment\u201d section, click \u201cAdd\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Select either \u201cCognitive Services Contributor\u201d or \u201cOwner\u201d as the role (owners are allowed to manage all settings, including permissions whereas service contributors can only manage data within the knowledge base). Enter an Active Directory group name \u2013 you can<\/em> enter individual people, but then someone will need to manually edit the permissions as people join and leave your group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you didn\u2019t select owner, make sure you add some other owners (either a group or a few people)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now we\u2019re ready to set up a bot \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Microsoft Teams uses Azure bots \u2013 so you\u2019ll need to create an Azure bot. From https:\/\/portal.azure.com<\/a>, click on \u2018Create a resource\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Search for \u201cbot\u201d and find the bots you are looking for. Either \u201cFunctions Bot\u2019 and \u201cWeb App Bot\u201d can be selected \u2013 I am using a WebApp bot because that\u2019s what I\u2019ve used for other bots I\u2019ve coded. Functions bots use Azure functions, which are C# scripts, for logic processing; WebApp bots use WebAPIApp Service for logic processing (C# or NodeJS). If you\u2019re not planning on tweaking anything \u2026 doesn\u2019t much matter. Click \u201cCreate\u201d to create the bot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Give your bot a name \u2013 this needs to be unique. In the pricing tier, click on \u201cView full pricing details\u201d to see the options. Again, I am selecting the free tier. Don\u2019t forget to hit \u2018select\u2019, or your selection will not be updated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you get to the bot template section, you can pick either C# or NodeJS \u2013 again, if you don\u2019t plan on tweaking anything \u2026 doesn\u2019t much matter. I am using C# because I know<\/em> C#. Select the SDK v3, then find the \u201cQuestion and Answer\u201d bot template. Again, don\u2019t forget to click \u201cSelect\u201d or your selection won\u2019t be saved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Create a new storage location, disable application insights (it\u2019s a for-fee add-on), and click \u201cCreate\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wait for it \u2026. You\u2019ll see a blue bar running under the bell icon in the upper right-hand corner of the site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Soon, you\u2019ll see a success message in the upper right-hand corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Refresh the resources on the dashboard and select the \u201cWebApp Bot\u201d. Under \u2018App Service Settings\u2019, go into \u201cApplication Settings\u201d. Here\u2019s where you enter the QnA information we saved after your knowledge base was published. Click in the \u201cValue\u201d column to paste in the values for QnAAuthKey, QnAEndpointHostname, and QnAKnowledgebaseId. Don\u2019t have them? No big \u2013 go back to QnA Maker, open your KB, and select the \u201cSettings\u201d tab. There it is again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click \u201cSave\u201d to commit your changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Return to the Dashboard and select your \u201cWeb App Bot\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the left-hand navigation column, select \u201cChannels\u201d. Click on the Teams logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The \u201cCalling\u201d tab will enable IVR or real-time media interaction with your bot \u2013 I have never done this, it may not be possible with our product set. \u201cPublish\u201d is to publish your Bot in the Microsoft store \u2013 not something I want to do with a bot designed to answer employee-specific questions, but I could see creating a Enterprise Customer Q&A bot that enterprise customers can add to their Teams spaces \u2026 in which case, making the bot available in the Microsoft Store would be convenient. Click \u201cSave\u201d to create a Teams channel for communication with your bot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read the publication terms and privacy statement. If you agree, check the box and click \u201cAgree\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the Channel section, click the \u201cMicrosoft Teams\u201d hyperlink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This will open a new browser tab. Click \u201cCancel\u201d so you can copy the URL. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once you\u2019ve copied the URL, click \u201cOpen in Teams web app\u201d to interact with your bot using the Teams web client (or \u2018launch it now\u2019 for Teams desktop client)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s alive! Ask some questions and verify that your answers are being delivered. Check for formatting problems or bad hyperlinks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I don\u2019t want a bunch of people attaching to my test data, so the resources created above have been deleted. I\u2019ve created a new bot with different details. Open https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/dl\/launcher\/launcher.html?url=%2f_%23%2fl%2fchat%2f0%2f0%3fusers%3d28%3aab23fc5a-3151-495c-a02c-592b38148599&type=chat&deeplinkId=64b01c1e-5a2a-4456-a673-c02c3e04b532&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true<\/a> in Teams, you\u2019ll be able to interact with my bot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q&A Maintenance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone you have set as \u201cCognitive Service Maintainer\u201d or\u201cOwner\u201d should be able to use QnA Maker to maintain the question and answer set. Log in to https:\/\/www.qnamaker.ai<\/a>, select the \u201cMy knowledge bases\u201d tab, and click on the knowledge base name. Modify\/add question\/answer pairs, then click \u201cSave \u00a0and train\u201d, then \u201cPublish\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want to create a simple bot that uses natural language processing training to allow users to ask questions that aren\u2019t exactly what has been attached to the answer (i.e. I could say \u201cI forgot my password\u201d, \u201cI don\u2019t remember my password\u201d, or \u201cwhat\u2019s my password\u201d and be directed to the password portal URL …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677],"tags":[728,666,665],"class_list":["post-4051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-office-365","tag-azure-bot","tag-microsoft-teams","tag-teams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4093,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4051\/revisions\/4093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushworth.us\/lisa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}