You can define custom IVA responses to fit the business needs of your organization and to extract the intent of users with natural language processing (NLP), decisioning, and text analytic capabilities. In the preview console, you can test whether the configured Unified Messaging channel works correctly before moving the channel to a production environment.

A chatbot works in one language because the conversational channel uses a template operator that is defined for a single locale. For more information, see Template operator for IVA channel.

1. Create a new channel interface in Pega Platform:
   1. In the navigation pane of App Studio, click Channels.
   2. In the Create new channel interface section, click Unified Messaging.
   3. In the Details section, in the Channel interface name field, enter a name for your channel.
   4. Optional: To describe the purpose of the channel, in the Description field, enter a short description of your IVA.
   5. In the channel, click the Connection tab.
   6. In the Template operator ID list, click the name of an existing Pega Platform operator to use as a template.
      The system uses this operator as a template to create all further accounts. Each account has a unique channel identifier set as its ID. The selected operator must at the minimum have the PegaRULES:User4 access role, taking into consideration the application settings, for example, providing access to the application's cases. For more information, see Template operator for IVA channel.
   7. Click Save.
2. Configure a Unified Messaging channel for a social messaging platform:
   1. To enable users to chat in Business Chat, configure the channel for Apple Messages for Business.
      For more information, see Setting up the IVA for Apple Messages for Business.
   2. To enable users to chat in Facebook Messenger, configure the channel for Facebook.
      For more information, see Setting up the IVA for Facebook Messenger.
   3. To enable users to chat with SMS or MMS, configure the channel for SMS/MMS (Twilio).
      For more information, see Setting up the IVA for SMS/MMS (Twilio).
   4. To enable users to chat in WhatsApp Messenger, configure the channel for WhatsApp.
      For more information, see Setting up the IVA for WhatsApp.
   You configure specific settings for a social messaging platform on the Connection tab using Digital Messaging Manager that is displayed on a separate page.

For example:

The following figure shows the available connections for a Unified Messaging channel:

The following video describes how to create best-in-class user experiences by unifying multiple messaging platforms into a single desktop with the Unified Messaging channel: