Below is a list of key concepts within SmartAssist:

Agent

An Agent or Conversational Agent is any dialogue automation system that not only conducts Natural Language Processing but also responds automatically to customer queries in a contact center, using human language, over call and chat channels. In SmartAssist, the term Agent also refers to a type of user – the human specialist who handles customer inquiries within a contact center, support team, etc.

Agent Transfer

The Agent Transfer feature designates SmartAssist’s ability to take a conversation from any channel and bring in a human agent. 

API

An API is a set of functions and procedures that allow you to create applications that you can use to access and exchange features and data between SmartAssist and other, external software.

Bot

A bot is a virtual assistant (VA) that acts as an intelligent intermediary between people, digital systems, and internet-enabled things. Bots are intelligent, thanks to machine learning, natural language processing, and other forms of advanced software that allow them to handle complex human conversations, learn from past interactions, and improve responses over time.

Channel

A Channel is a bi-directional medium of messaging or voice interactions between a customer and an organization where a Bot is connected. SmartAssist supports Chat, Voice, and Email channels.

Context

The information that the bot powering SmartAssist pulls from a customer conversation that it can leverage when performing tasks or when attending to other customers.

Console

The Console is the SmartAssist section where agents can handle omnichannel customer conversations on one screen.

Dialog Automation

Dialog Automations are advanced tasks that developers design with logic-driven business processes and pre-established workflows. Bots key off the primary request intent to accomplish the task at hand, then go above and beyond to execute sub-intents and additional workflows. This way, VAs can handle complex multi-turn conversational experiences that replicate the natural back and forth exchanges people have every day. In SmartAssist, Dialog Automations are called Experience Flows.

Digital Channel

Throughout SmartAssist, a Digital Channel refers to text-based communication channels, namely chat and email.

Entities

To fulfill a user intent, the Bot may require additional information or parameters. For example, to book a flight, it needs the source and destination city along with the travel date. In this case, for the user utterance Book me a flight to Orlando for next Sunday, Orlando and next Sunday are entities.

Entities are the necessary fields, data, or words for a bot to complete the user’s request. With the required entities in hand, SmartAssist can reach out to the web service and get the specific data or perform the action as per the user intent.

Here are a few example utterances, split into intents and entities:

SAMPLE UTTERANCE	INTENT	ENTITY
Book me a flight to Orlando	Book flight	City: Orlando
Schedule a meeting with Bill this Sunday	Schedule a meeting	Person name: Bill Date: April 22, 2018
Add two bottles of red wine to the cart	Add to cart	Item: Red Wine Count: Two

Experience Flow

In SmartAsssit, a Flow is the process that customers experience when contacting your organization. Flows can be customized step by step, using nodes that can, for example, guide customers through an automation or a virtual assistant; or transfer them to a live agent, as per the channel they have used to get in touch (voice or chat). 

Intent

A few essential words in the utterance that describe what the user wants the bot to do. It is usually a combination of a verb and a noun. For example, in the above user utterance Book me a flight to Orlando for next Sunday, the intent is Book me a flight.

Interaction 

Any text-based or spoken communication between a human and the SmartAssist-based bot; or between customers and agents.

IVR

An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is an automated technology that allows incoming callers to interact with a menu of pre-recorded messages via a touch-tone keypad or speech recognition. This reduces the need to speak to a live agent and helps route the call to specific agents or departments.

Natural Language (NL) 

The method by which users can talk to systems in everyday language like text and speech, rather than a programming language.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) 

The process by which a VA or any other system understands and processes requests in a common language, rather than a programming language. NLP is typically enabled via machine learning, but Kore.ai uses a multi-engine approach that includes intent recognition and entity extraction. NLP enables a VA to identify the user’s intention; extract useful information from their utterances and map the data (entities) to the relevant tasks. 

Node

A Node is used to build customer experience flow, step by step, and is meant to direct the flow towards a specific action or goal. Some example nodes include: IVR Menu, Check Agent Availability, Run Automation, Connect to API, Set Queue, etc. 

Queue

A queue is a holding area for customer conversations. Whenever customers contact you, they either speak to a live agent if one is immediately available; or they are placed in a queue. Agents will pick up customer queries in the order in which they have joined the queue. In SmartAssist, queues can be routed to specific agents according to their skills. Learn more about Queue Management.

Skill

In SmartAssist, Skills refer to the abilities that agents possess which they can use to assist your customers. Skills are organized into Skill Groups. For each skill, you can assign agents and specify their level – from Novice to Expert.

Use Cases

Use Cases are fundamental building blocks for SmartAssist. A use case is defined as the user intent that the application must address. .

Utterance

Anything that a user says to the bot is an utterance. For example, if the user types Book me a flight to Orlando for next Sunday, the entire sentence is considered as the user’s utterance.

Widget

A widget is an interface element that allows you to add SmartAssist features to your website or integrate external systems into the SmartAssist Console. 

XO Platform 

The XO Platform is an enterprise-grade VA development platform offered as a SaaS, by Kore.ai, which enables enterprises to design, train, deploy, analyze and manage AI-rich Virtual Assistants. SmartAssist works on top of and together with the XO Platform to provide rich customer experiences that combine AI-based virtual assistants and contact-center solutions. 

For an extended glossary, see the XO Platform’s Concepts and Terminology.