Microsoft Teams COVID-19 Response Bot

Microsoft Teams COVID-19 Response Bot

Using an Information BOT to enable companies to build out a knowledge base and FAQ to interact and communicate to their employees.

 

 

Target Audience: COVID-19 Company Response Teams

Every group who is reacting to an unforeseen situation like: Communications, Help Desk, Human Resources, and Operations teams.

 

Technical Requirements: Azure subscription; QnA Maker account; No experience with coding required.

 

The Problem: Many companies have been struggling to provide communications and resources in an automated way.

 

Microsoft Teams COVID-19 Response Bot adds value!

In a pandemic situation, many companies that have not completed or started their digital transformation tend to struggle with high volume of inquiries being directed to their front line response teams. Azure Web Bot services can help reduce the overhead of the front-line response teams by inserting an automated layer and interactive for employees to engage your resources.

 

We will show you below how to create a COVID-19 response bot and connect it to Microsoft Teams, a website (Intranet / Internet), and as an email responder in 12 easy steps that does not require any previous coding experience.

 

Microsoft Teams: Employees want an interactive experience to communicate in a chat and ask questions about company resources and frequently asked questions.

 

 

 

Intranet / Internet Communication: Employees are expecting crisis communication and interaction on the home page of the intranet to feel connected.  Providing a real-time chat bot to allow employees to get company-specific information immediately.

 

 

 

Bot used as an Email Responder: Companies can create a mailbox for crisis communication that provides valuable and relevant automated responses.

 

 

 

 

 

Deploy Microsoft Teams COVID-19 Response Bot:

1. Open Edge and navigate to https://qnamaker.ai on the top right corner click “Sign in” and sign in using your Microsoft Account.

 

2. Once you have signed into your account, click on “Create a knowledge base” from the top menu.

 

3. Once you clicked on Create a knowledge base, you will be required to create a QnA service in Microsoft Azure, click on the blue button that says “Create a QnA service".

 

4. This will redirect you to your Azure portal and directly into Cognitive Services (QnA Maker). Fill the form and click on “Create” at the bottom:

 

5. Once your deployment has been successfully implemented, go back to QnA Maker portal and click on “Refresh” and select the correct Azure QnA service from the drop downs.

 

 

6. It is time to select a name for your Knowledge Base.

 

7. Now it is time for us to populate the content for our bot, we will choose the URL for the FAQ the CDC has available (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html) and we will enable multi-turn, which will allow to present multiple potential matches for a single question, and for personality we will choose professional.

 

 

 

8. Once you have the form filled, click on “Create your KB” this will take few minutes to parse all the questions on your FAQ URL or files (if you uploaded any).

 

9. Once you are redirected to your knowledge base, click on “PUBLISH” to continue creating the bot

 

10. A New page will be displayed, you will need to click on “Publish” at the bottom to be able to use this knowledge base to your bot in Azure.

 

11. Once this task is completed, it will redirect you to the last page we need in QnAMaker.ai, which has a button to “Create bot”, this will redirect you to your Azure Portal again to create a bot.

 

12. On the Web App Bot section of Azure, verify all the information has been filled and click “Create”, once the task is completed, your bot is live and ready to be used by deploying it on the channel of your preference (Teams, Email, Facebook, GroupMe, Kik, LINE, Skype, Slack, Telegram, Twilio, Cortana, Web Chat, and Direct Line).

 

Deploying your bot on Microsoft Teams

 

1. Go to your bot and click on "Channels".

 

2. Click on the Microsoft Teams icon in the center of the page.

 

3. Click Save and your bot will be ready to be used on Teams.

 

 

 

Deploying your bot on a web site

 

1. Go to your bot and click on "Channels".

 

2. By default Web Chat is always enabled, click on "Edit" on the far right side.

 

3. Copy the HTML code into the page you are going to implement the bot by clicking “Copy” in the “Embed code” section, and your bot will be available in the URL you pasted the code.

 

 

Deploying your bot on an email:

1. Go to your bot and click on "Channels".

 

2. Click on "Email".

 

3. Enter your Office 365 email credentials for the mailbox the bot is going to use and hit "Save", and your bot will be able to respond email messages that arrive to that specific mailbox.

 

Bot Solutions Going Forward: HR Benefits, Help Desk, Office 365 Journey Advisor, Adoption Projects, Company branding materials, On-boarding mentor, and more.

 

Contributors:

Michelle Gilbert michellegilbert 

Daniel Lopez DanLopez