Create company directory Alexa skill for your business - No coding required
Tags: wordpress, alexa, nocode
Published: 2022-05-25 18:19:15

People search the internet to get answers and voice search is steadily becoming a common way to get answers to questions. In fact, according to a <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/voice-assistants.pdf">PwC survey</a>, 71% of consumers would rather use a voice assistant to search for something rather than type it into a search engine.

Why not utilize voice further, and have a voice assistant directly answer those questions? The question and answer format of FAQs is suitable for the conversational nature of voice assistants and their applications.

On account of that, we created a <strong>Company Directory</strong> skill with placeholder Convoworks content that you can modify to answer your own company's frequently asked questions and increase customer engagement.

In the next sections, you'll learn how the skill works and how to modify it to suit your own needs.
<h3>What does the skill do?</h3>
<strong>Company Directory</strong> is primarily intended as an Alexa skill that lets your customers ask questions about your business or product.

We set up the service as a <strong>Convoworks Directory</strong>. We'll get to the part where you turn it into your company's FAQ later on in this post. First, let's touch on how the service works in its current state.

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-3705 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/first-time-user.png" alt="" width="506" height="142" />

After the introductory message, the user is asked what question they have. If the question is not matched to available questions, they are given an example of what they can ask. The user is also notified that they can ask for suggestions.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/returning-user.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3531 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/returning-user.png" alt="" width="493" height="125" /></a>

Note that the reprompt and fallback texts, as well as the introductory message, differ slightly depending on if it's the first-time user or a returning one.

After the user gets an answer to their question, they are asked what else they wanted to know. The user can always answer with 'nothing' and the service will exit.<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/what-else.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3533 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/what-else.png" alt="" width="491" height="228" /></a>

They can also answer with 'I don't know, 'I'm not sure' etc. and they'll be redirected to the <strong>Suggestions</strong> flow. There, they'll first be offered one suggestion, and if they refuse that one, the next two suggestions.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/i-dont-know.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3534 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/i-dont-know.png" alt="" width="495" height="190" /></a>

The questions that were already asked, or suggested in the current session are excluded from suggestions.

If the user still can't decide, the suggested information is picked for them and the service moves on to the facts flow. If, on the other hand, the user refuses all suggestions, the service plays a goodbye message and exits.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/learn-more-e1648052615592.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3536 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/learn-more-e1648052615592.png" alt="" width="481" height="380" /></a>

After the user has picked a suggestion, we proceed to the <strong>Facts</strong> flow. There, after the chosen suggestion is read first, the user is asked if they want to hear more. If the answer is yes, another company FAQ information is read out to the user, and so on until the system runs out of things to say. The user can then start over the<strong> Facts</strong> flow or exit the app. As is the case in the <strong>Suggestions</strong> flow, information that the user has already asked about is excluded from this flow.

If the user has answered 'no' to the 'Hear more?' question, the service exits after a goodbye message.

As you can see, the service can be divided into three flows, the main one being the<strong> FAQ</strong> flow, with the two supporting sub-flows there to help struggling users.
<h3>How do I set it up?</h3>
We'll provide a <strong>Company Directory</strong> service definition and you just need to follow these simple steps to set the service up.

<a class="download-now" style="width: 300px; text-align: center; display: inline;" title="" href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/company-directory.json" download="">Service definition</a>

Navigate to <strong>Add new service</strong> view in Convoworks WP and select <strong>Import from file</strong> option. Upload the service definition from the link above. After that, navigate to the <strong>Configuration</strong> view and publish it to Amazon.

If this is your first time using Convoworks you might want to check out our "Connect to Amazon and create your first Alexa skill tutorial" from <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9eUOVS2fICHc7FF48opQyOWUDVvNoNFD">Convoworks Basics</a> video series.

Lastly, after the changes have taken effect, you can test the service in the Convoworks <strong>Test</strong> chatbox to make sure it's good to go.

Now, let's take a look at how to make changes to the service.
<h3>How do I modify it?</h3>
<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/blocks-e1648052595472.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3538 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/blocks-e1648052595472.png" alt="" width="312" height="485" /></a>

As you can see from the image above, the service's flows are reflected in the block names. The main block is the <strong>FAQ</strong> one. The<strong> FAQ - home</strong> block leads to the <strong>Suggestions</strong> block when the user is not sure what they can't or want to ask. If the user accepts the first suggestion, they move on to the <strong>Suggestions - yes - facts</strong> block. And if they refuse the suggestion, they are given the next two suggestions in the<strong> Suggestions - no</strong> block. After they pick one of the two suggestions in the <strong>Suggestions - no</strong> block, they return back to the <strong>FAQ - home</strong> block.

Most of the modifications you'll have to make to the service will be limited to the JSON file we'll provide.

You'll have to upload that  JSON file and paste the URL link into the <span class="code">FAQ_FILE_PATH</span> variable value. The JSON needs to be in the following format:

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/JSON-e1649070213401.png"><img class="alignnone wp-image-3636 size-large" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/JSON-e1649070213401-1024x753.png" alt="" width="1024" height="753" /></a>

You can download it below.

<a class="download-now" style="width: 300px; text-align: center; display: inline;" href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/CONVO_FAQ.json" download="">Company FAQ JSON</a>

The JSON file is loaded and separated into two arrays at the beginning of each session in the <strong>Pre-Dispatch</strong> flow of the <strong>Session start</strong> block. The <strong>body</strong> array, contains both the <span class="code">suggestions_no</span> and <span class="code">all</span> values, while the <strong>FAQ_array</strong> contains only the <span class="code">all</span> category values.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PRE-DISPATCH.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3645 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PRE-DISPATCH.png" alt="" width="625" height="591" /></a>

The next step is to replace all the values (except <strong>id</strong> values) with your own. You can also delete groups of values sorted by <strong>id</strong> or add additional groups, just keep in mind that for each group you delete in the <strong>all</strong> category, you'll need to delete the corresponding intent later on. Or if you add additional groups with new <strong>ids</strong>, you'll also need to create and add intents for them.

Most of the data is in the <strong>all</strong> category. <span class="code">faq_suggestion</span> belongs to the <strong>FAQ - home</strong> block where if the user question is not recognized, an appropriate suggestion will be offered in the block <strong>fallback</strong>.

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-3688 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/suggestion-e1651573395823.png" alt="" width="555" height="821" />

&nbsp;

<span class="code">answer</span> values are used in the <strong>Service processors</strong> <strong>Questions</strong> fragment to connect JSON <span class="code">id</span> with intent<strong> faq_id</strong> and give the appropriate answer to the user question.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/reads-out.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3652 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/reads-out.png" alt="" width="594" height="541" /></a>

They are also used to form the <strong>facts</strong> array for the <strong>Suggestions - yes - facts</strong> block

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/facts.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3643 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/facts.png" alt="" width="599" height="560" /></a>

The values with the <span class="code">suggestion</span> prefix are used in the <strong>Suggestions</strong> block only. As you can probably guess, <span class="code">suggestions_no, </span>which has a separate category, is only used in the <strong>Suggestions - no</strong> block. <span class="code">suggestions_no</span> stores two <strong>ids</strong> that correspond to the two suggestions that are offered to the user.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/suggestions_no.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3655 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/suggestions_no.png" alt="" width="600" height="619" /></a>

After you've prepared the JSON file, you'll need to upload it and paste the link to the <span class="code">FAQ_FILE_PATH</span> variable value. On the <strong>Variables</strong> panel, you'll also find all the variables used in the text. You should change their values as well.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Variables.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3542 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Variables.png" alt="" width="658" height="469" /></a>

The second step would be modifying the FAQ intents. You can see them gathered in the <strong>Questions</strong> fragment. Each intent has a<strong> faq_id </strong>value that corresponds to the <strong>id</strong> value in the JSON. If you've added new groups with corresponding <strong>ids</strong> you'll need to place a new intent with the corresponding <strong>faq_id</strong> there as well.

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/faq_id.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3544 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/faq_id.png" alt="" width="657" height="682" /></a>

Head over to <strong>Intent Model</strong> to view all the available intents. You should rename intents to suit your own company, and change, delete or modify their utterances as well. After you've modified the intent name, you'll need to update it in the <strong>Questions</strong> fragment too. Lastly, you'll need to propagate the service in order for the changes to take effect. One more thing concerning the intents, if you experience any issues with intent overmatching because of the sheer number of intent and similarity in utterances, if paring down doesn't work, we recommend experimenting with the <strong>Interaction Model Sensitivity </strong>in the <strong>Configuration </strong>settings.

The last step will require a bit more service editing, as you'll need to make some minor changes to the text not listed in JSON. To make things easier, you can find the compiled locations of all the text that potentially requires modification below.

<strong>Session start</strong> block -<strong> Read Phase</strong>

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/session-start-greeting.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3646 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/session-start-greeting.png" alt="" width="610" height="692" /></a>

<strong>Session start</strong> block - <strong>Fallback</strong>

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/suggestions-fallback.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3647 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/suggestions-fallback.png" alt="" width="627" height="514" /></a>

<b>FAQ</b> block - <strong>Read Phase</strong>

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/product-name.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3648 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/product-name.png" alt="" width="595" height="399" /></a>

<strong>FAQ </strong>block - <strong>Fallback</strong>

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/first-call.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3649 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/first-call.png" alt="" width="592" height="314" /></a>

<strong>Service processors </strong> block - <strong>Help</strong>

<a href="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/help-e1649083798425.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3650 size-full" src="https://convoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/help-e1649083798425.png" alt="" width="594" height="520" /></a>

What improves the skill's user experience, but makes it more time-consuming to make modifications to, are those many variations in suggestions and responses. Hopefully, we've managed to make the process of adding your own text easier.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
This post showcases a skill that makes use of the classic FAQ and adapts it for use with Alexa. The <strong>Company Directory </strong>skill lets your customers ask questions about your business or product with additional flows helping struggling customers.

The service preset we offer for download is a <strong>Convoworks Directory</strong> skill, but with modifications, it can become your business' or company's skill, going beyond the classic FAQ format, and thus increasing your customer engagement.