Introduction

NIAA is an education chatbot designed and programmed using artificial intelligence and natural language processing to simulate human conversation and provide personalized guidance, support, and counseling services to students.

Now let's see how our NIAA works and how we can configure it in any institute.

How Does a Session Work?

Web:

A session in NIAA is a timeframe when a user engages with the platform, commencing upon visiting the chat and concluding when the user logs out, closes their web browser, or reloads the website URL. Throughout the complete interaction, only one (variable) session is used and remains valid until the user closes the browser or reloads the website.

Auto-Popup: Once the website loads NIAA will auto popup on the screen but sessions will be not consumed until the user starts the chat.

Throughout a session, NIAA retains data about the user's actions and preferences, including inquiries for user details, lead generation, and more.

WhatsApp:

When a user interacts with NIAA on WhatsApp, they establish a session that lasts for 24 hours. During this period, the user can continue to send and receive messages.

However, if a user does not interact with the NIAA for 24 hours, the session will expire it's important to note that the 24-hour session validity period only applies to one-to-one chats.

Only one(variable) session will be consumed once the user initiates to chat and this session will be valid for 24 hours from the time we initiate the chat.

Facebook:

When a user interacts with NIAA on Facebook, they establish a session that lasts up to 11:59 PM a day. During this period, the user can continue to send and receive messages.

Only one(variable) session will be consumed once the user initiates to chat and this session will be valid until 11:59 PM from the time we initiate the chat.

Based on the integration we will divide this procedure into two parts.

1. Configuration
2. Technical Information

CONFIGURATION :

Once we receive the go-ahead for the implementation below are the following steps:

Step 1: NIAA Dashboard

Let's see the dashboard options and their use.

Assistant Name:

This name will reflect on the NIAA title bar as a counselor name. We can change it as per the client's requirement.

Example: Changing the name from NIAA to SANA.   

       TO     

Introductory Video: 

In this option, we configure the Youtube video link of the Institute.

Let's see how we do this.

1. Open the client YT link.

2. Click on the share button.                                           

3. Click on Embed.                                                       

4. Copy the src link highlighted in blue.                       

5. Paste the URL in the blank section     

CLICK ON THE SAVE CHATBOT BUTTON

Chat Window Open

Here we control how the NIAA will open on the client's website. It's categorized into two options.

a). On Page Load:

• Once the website loads NIAA will auto-pop on the screen as per configured time in the time slot.   
• Chatbot Delay Time:  We configure the time in secs. Once the time loop is finished NIAA will auto-pop on the screen. Example: If we want that NIAA will open after 1 minute of the website load we simply write 60 in the input area.

b). On Icon Click:

• In this NIAA will only open once the user clicks on the icon.

Chatbot Type

As we know we have three types of chatbots:

1. Web
2. WhatsApp
3. Facebook

Now, let's see how we create an NIAA web.

As discussed, above in the above document once we did the web configuration by selecting the Web module from the drop-down. We will get a dashboard as shown below.

Let's discuss the dashboard part.

Intent:-

Intent refers to the goal or purpose of the user's message or input. Essentially, it is the intention behind what the user is trying to accomplish or communicate.

For example, if a user types "I want to order a pizza," the intent behind the message is to order food. The chatbot's job is to identify the intent of the user's message and provide an appropriate response or take the appropriate action.

Identifying the intent behind a user's message is a crucial step in building a successful chatbot. It helps the chatbot understand what the user is trying to accomplish and respond appropriately, providing a better user experience.

In NIAA there are two categories for intent.

1) User Intent: Intent created by the user is known as user intent. We can perform CRUD operations in user intent.

2) System Intent: System intents are generated by themselves once we create a bot. These intents can be deleted but we can't create them.

Note: All the data which need to be shown to the user by NIAA are configured in Intents only such as,

Institute information, APIs, Logical flow, Custom code, and so on. 

Now, let's create an intent.

Click on Intent >>   

Click on create >>

Type the intent name >>

Click on the save >> Intent Created.

Note:- Intent names are always related to the info we are configuring in them. Here, the name of the intent is [about institute] then all the information related to the About college needs to be configured in about intent only.

Intent Training:-

Intent training is a crucial step in building a successful chatbot that can understand and respond appropriately to user input.

Intent training in a chatbot refers to the process of teaching the chatbot to recognize and classify different user intents by analyzing examples of user inputs.

Here we can see that the training data is 0 (zero).

So once we create the intent we will train them as per the data we configured in them. 

Example: The intent name is about the institute which means we will train the intent with the keyword or queries related to about.   

Intent Name:  About Institute >> Training Data:>> About, Tell me about the institute, about us, about college, and so on. 

Similarly, 

Intent Name: Placement >> Training Data >> Placement, about placement, tell me about placement, placement ratio, and so on.

Now, below is the steps to configure data in intent and train them.

Click on the three-dotted button & select edit intent. >>

We will add the data in the description box only. Click on the save or save and exit button once we add the data.

So here we have some more options like 

Text & Input:

• If we are adding some information about the intent in text format then we use this option.
• Also, if we want to take some input from the user then we will select this option only.

Carousel: 

• If we have to show the data in card slider format with images and videos OR only images and videos then we use this option.
• We can also select this one for multiple images or videos.

Video:

• We select this one when we need to add a single video with a description or without a description.

Image:

• We select this one when we need to add a single image with a description or without a description.

After the data configuration, we start training the intent.

To train the data, we simply click on the Add training phrases from the dotted button.

Click on the blank area and type the keyword.

Once we typed the training keyword we click on the create.

We need to add at least 3 training keywords in an intent to perform a perform action.

Click on save after adding the keyword. 

The number of keywords trained in intent will be shown under the training. Here we have added 3 keywords in training.

Once we perform the crud option the bot will get automatically untrained. So we will train the bot by clicking on the button Train.

Once the bot gets trained we will get a pop-up message. And in the down menu bar chatbot is not trained message will be removed.

Button & Hyperlink Creation

Let's discuss how we can create Hyperlinks & CTA buttons in NIAA:

As discussed earlier all the actions which need to be performed can be done under the intent only.

So we create an intent and name it a Button.

Click on edit intent >>

Now here we see, there are two accordions with a toggle button.

1. Hyperlink Button:

This button is used to redirect to a page.

To configure a hyperlink button  we click on yes first then after,

Add the button name in the button title and the URL link in the Button URL.

Then click on the (+) plus icon given next to the box.

Similarly, we can add multiple hyperlink buttons in the same we did above.

2. User Input

This option is used to take input from the user either in the button format or in the text format. We can configure the format as required.

Once we click on yes from the toggle button we get an option as given below.

As we can see here, there are multiple options to take input from the user. Let's know about them one by one.

Button:

This option is used to configure the CTA button such as About, Placement, and so on.

Select the button>>

Add the button name in the button title >>

Add the button value in the button value option:-

Here button value plays an important role. So we will add the button value here from the training data because this value is going to fall in that intent where we have added training phrases.

Example: We create a button name Placement and add the value placement then once the user clicks on the placement button then the value behind the button will take place and look for the training data.  Placement training is done in the placement intent so this value falls here and shows the placement data to the user.

In the same way, we can add multiple types of buttons from here.

This is how a CTA button works.

Dropdown

We select the option when we need to create a dropdown menu with options.

Numeric: 

We select this one when we need to take the input from the user in numeric format only.

Alphanumeric:

We select this one when we need to take the input from the user in alphanumeric format only.

Alphabet:

This option is used when we want to take the input in alphabets like name, person, and place.

Email:

This option is used to take the email from the user.  In this format, the character value lies between 254 bytes.

Mobile:

By selecting this option we enable to take the input from the user in a numeric form which depends on the field of mobile.  Here the character value lies between 6 to 14 digits.

Technical Part:

Now, let's discuss the technical part.

APIs Configuration.

Here API is the most important part when it comes to capturing the lead or any details through NIAA.

Here we have different types of APIs.

New E-mail:

This API will fetch the data from the system, if the email exists in our system then it will be shown a message to the user and ask for the OTP to verify the same. If the email is new or not existing then in this case NIAA will ask for some other details like mobile or name as per the logic we create.

Here we configure our email API.

Select the redirect to API option and Get method from the dropdown.>> Paste the Email API.

New Mobile:

This API will send an OTP on mobile if the DLT is approved for the institute. Once the user enters the OTP and verifies it, NIAA follows the next step i.e asking for the name of the user.

If the DLT is not approved then we don't receive the OTP so, in this case, we bypass the mobile verification and instead of redirecting to API, we select the redirect to intent option.

Here we configure the mobile API with this intent.

Select the redirect to API option and paste the mobile API by selecting the get method.

Verify Email OTP: 

This API is used to verify the OTP entered by the user. Once the user enters the OTP and clicks on verify then from the backend the API will be triggered and check for the entered OTP.

This intent is used to configure the verify email OTP API.

Verify Mobile OTP.

This API is used to verify the OTP entered by the user via mobile.

This intent is used to configure the verify mobile OTP API.

Create Lead:

This API is a post API and it plays a very important role in creating the lead through NIAA.

Once we asked the details from the user such as Email, Mobile, and Name then one more API will be triggered i.e the create lead API. This API grabs all the details in a JSON key-value format and pushes the data into the system.

Select this intent to configure the create lead API.

Here we select the post method and then paste the API.

Resend Email OTP:

This API is used to resend OTP on the email once the user clicks on resend OTP then this API will be triggered and send email OTP again to the user's registered email ID.

This intent is under the system intent.

Resend Mobile OTP:

This API is used to resend OTP on the mobile once the user clicks on resend OTP then this API will be triggered and send mobile OTP again to the user's registered mobile number.

This intent is under the system intent.

Callback Request:

This API is used to get a callback request from the user. Once the user request for a callback and accept the confirmation then this API will be triggered and we will get the value in form date and time in our system, 

Note: It will take 5 minutes to reflect in our system once the user request for a callback.

We select this intent to configure the API. 

This is also a post request so we select the post method here.

Rules of Configuring an API.

Let's see an example here.

Suppose there is an ABCD college with institute ID: 10 and Webservice Secret Key: XXcdkliool. We need to create the API for this institute.

Demo API: API will be in this format.

http://services.nopaperforms.com/bots/v1/type of API/Institute ID/Webservice Secret Key/{type of API key name token}.

For the above example the API will be:- 

http://services.nopaperforms.com/bots/v1/checkApplicantExistanceByEmail/10/ XXcdkliool/{registration_field_email}

RULES:

R1: Institute ID and Webservice key is the most important part while creating an API.

R2: The environment is also very important while creating an API such as In5, In6, In7, etc

R3: All the APIs must have the same key value and format.

R4:  Each college contains unique APIs only. We can't configure different inst. id or key while creating the lead.

So this is all about the API configuration.

Now let's see some more about the NIAA technical configuration.

Capturing details:

To capture details like email, mobile, name, state, or courses, the key name is very important to configure. The key name is a kind of variable or field that stores the data as input from the user and perform an action as we configured.

From here we select the input type and then configure the key name accordingly.

Here we select the input type email and want to capture the email then we pass the key value here as:

registration_field_fieldname so here we are capturing email so add registration_field_email

Similarly, we can capture the details like mobile name and courses in form of:-

Mobile: registration_field_mobile

Name: registration_field_name

Course: registration_field_course

Fields are of two types: 

1. Static or Standard field: These fields are known as the default field which is created with a default value. Example: Email, Mobile, Name, State, and Course.
2. Dynamic field: These fields are created by the user and they do not have any default value. We pass the field value during the creation as per requirement. Example: Callback Request.

NIAA WhatsApp:

NIAA WhatsApp works 24/7 and can have multiple conversations with different persons, at the same time. They are often used to automatically answer questions and provide information about an Institute and queries answer asked by a student.

For NIAA WhatsApp the WABA integration is a must for any college before initiating the NIAA WP creation. 

Once the WABA configuration is done by the WABA team after that NIAA WhatsApp came into action.

Configuration:

The configuration is the same as the Web, all we need to select WhatsApp from the dropdown menu while creating the chatbot OR we can import the chatbot with the help of a JSON file.

All the data configuration process is the same as we have done on the NIAA web. 

Here we do not configure any API until and unless it is required to capture some other details by NIAA.

Let's see how we configure a WhatsApp chatbot.

Select create a chatbot & from the dropdown, we select the WhatsApp module. 

In WhatsApp, we set the threshold frequency between 0.1 to 0.3.

Create an Intent >>Click on Edit Intent >> Add data in the description box

So here while adding the data in the description box we need to take of the below-mentioned rules.

• We do not use any special symbols such as [ ' " & ~] these symbols will appear in code format value at the frontend view.
• Always click on the source then paste the data in the description box.

Important Symbols:

$$$:- We use the three-dollar symbol to break a line in NIAA WhatsApp.

$$$$$$:- We use six dollar symbol to change a paragraph or we can say double line break.

###:- We can use the hash symbol to change the message box.

*:- We use the star symbol to make any text bold. Example: Hello I am *NIAA* here, NIAA appears in bold format.

Now let's see about the active functionality in WhatsApp.

Since WhatsApp is the platform of META so we have limitations here such as we can't add any code in source code, we can't change the UX/UI we can't add CTA buttons & so on. 

As per the recent release we get some features:

• We can add a list button in WhatsApp but we can only 10 list buttons with a character limit of 20 per button.
• We can add 3 CTA buttons with a character limit of 24 per button.

So now we create a list button here.

Create an intent and name it Menu (Any Name)

Click on edit intent >> Click user input yes>> Select input type list>>

Enter some text in the description box >>Enter List Click Text >> Enter Option Title >>

Enter the title in the title box>>

Note: We do not any text in the description box next to the title.

Click on the plus (+) button >> Button created

Similarly, by following the same steps we can add 10 list buttons.

Let's have look at adding a Button.

As discussed we can add only 3 buttons here.

Enter button title>> Click on add >> Button created

Once we create the list buttons and add the data with all required intents. We move forward with the WhatsApp integration with NIAA.

Click on the channels.

Click on WhatsApp >>

Click on the connect button>> Select the WhatsApp bot from the dropdown.

Click on confirm >>

Now, WhatsApp is integrated with the mentioned mobile number or we can say NIAA WhatsApp is activated.

So this is how we configure NIAA WhatsApp. To test the bot we simply save the mobile number in our cell phone and text HI. 

Note:

Once the user type Hi through their WhatsApp number, NIAA will take over the complete chat process and start replying to all the queries asked by the user.

NIAA FACEBOOK

The configuration of NIAA Facebook is the same as we did for NIAA web and WhatsApp. We can create a Facebook bot manually or through the JSON file.

Since we're already well-versed in various configurations, let's begin crafting a Facebook chatbot.

Watch this video for a detailed session on How to configure niaa in Facebook?

Once we import the JSON file our NIAA Facebook will be ready to use for further implementations.

Here is our facebook dashboard>>

Let's configure the APIS first.

Click on email >> Click on edit intent >> paste the API here by selecting the get method

Paste the API>>

Similarly, we will do other API configurations.

We configure mobile API in mobile intent>>

Verify email OTP API in verify email OTP

Verify Mobile OTP Api in verify OTP

Resend Email OTP API in 

Resend Mobile OTP in

Create Lead API in

Callback API in

Note:

If we import the JSON then all logic will be enabled all we need to do is configure the API and the intent information.

Once we did the configuration of API and data, we start the integration process with Facebook.

Steps for the integrations.

Click on the channels>>

Click on the Facebook>>

Click on connect>> Click on login>>

Once we enter our login details we see a pop-up dashbpoard>>

Click on the NIAA Demo ( Your account name will be shown here)>> Wait for 10-15 secs NIAA will fetch the page details associated with your account or client;'s account>>

We see a dashboard, as shown above,>> we click on connect on the respective page where we want to enable or connect the NIAA.

Select the Facebook chatbot from the dropdown>> Click on confirm>> We can see the selected page is now connected with the NIAA>>

Now we go back to our Facebook account, the Main account not the NIAA account>>

Click on profile>> And select the page were we have enabled the NIAA>>

We can see our facebook page here>.

Click on manage>>

On the professional dashboard>> Click on the inbox>>

Click on the automation>>

Slide down the page >> Click on frequently asked questions>> On the toggle button i.e status >> then click on edit>.

Select the channel as messenger>>

Click on add questions>> Click on the pencil button stepped in question button>>

We add the question here >>About instiitute>> Do not configure the message in the message box. Answer of this question will be given by NIAA>>

Click on save changes>.

Now go back to your Facebook profile and switch the account to your Facebook>> then click on pages>>

Select your NIAA intregated Page>>

We open the page>>Click on the message button>.

We get a messenger box>> The button are the FAQs button which we have configured above>>

From here we can initiate the conversation and test the complete flow.

Follow the same steps to integrate the client account with the NIAA once you reached this menu that means NIAA is now live on the client pages. Hence, the Facebook configuration is completed.

Frequently asked questions and answers.

• How to copy Niaa from one institute to another(To be Used for NIAA WEB only, for NIAA Whatsapp create from scratch)

Ans: Click on the copy chatbot option and select the institute in which we want to create a replica of the bot. The screenshot is attached for your reference.  

• How to Import and Export Niaa

Click on the bot three dots and click on the export button. One file will be downloaded in JSON Format.

Use the same JSON File that you have downloaded to import into another institute. Screenshot is attached for your reference.

Upload the JSON file and the bot is now uploaded.

How to place Niaa on the website

• Ideally, the code is placed by the college on their website by their technical team, we just have to advise them to place the code right before the close of the body tag.
• Make sure no old or previous code is present on the website. In Case it is present, share the code by copying it from NIAA module for the particular institute .
• We can place the code on the testing landing page on a Meritto and showcase the same to the client  for demo.

What is contextual chat History?

Let us understand with one example wherein one child has selected a one-course B.tech while checking for a course. So any question related to the course will be provided by NIAA with wrt to the course  that he has selected at the start of the course. In case he has to want to know about another course he has to again select the course.

In case the student comes again, NIAA will respond with the "btech" value.

NIAA is not opening on the website.

1. Check if the credits are present on the app calling configuration.
2. Check if NIAA has been published from the NIAA module for a particular institute.
3. Check if the code is correctly placed on the website and there is no duplicity of NIAA codes other than div and script code.

Thank you!