Conversational channels

A channel is the technology or application with which a user interacts with the Pega Platform application. A chatbot is the part of an application that handles natural language processing (NLP), case processing, and artificial intelligence to interact with a user in a conversational way. Different types of channels are supported. You add each channel separately to Pega Platform and configure and extend each channel as a channel interface to fit the needs and requirements of your organization.

Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) and Pega Email Bot extends Pega Platform to create conversational channel experiences for users. From the channel interface dashboard, you can build conversational interfaces for IVAs and Email Bots to carry out actions. Users communicate with IVA and indirectly with the application by using a simple question and answer form. Users communicate with Email Bot and indirectly with the application by sending emails. For example, a user of a conversational channel can open a case to report a problem or display a menu of options.

Conversational channels are a great fit for an organization that wants to reach additional users of their enterprise application. They add value to an organization because a user can interact with a Pega Platform application to report or solve an issue by using Facebook Messenger, Amazon Alexa, or email.

IVA for Facebook and IVA for Web Chatbot includes a built-in preview console. You use the preview console to test the configured chatbot during design time before moving it to a production environment. To help recognize the user's intent in responses more efficiently, you can also define text analyzer rules for a chatbot.

Note: Creating a Pega Platform application requires open rulesets, including when you design and develop an IVA or Email Bot conversational channel. However, once IVA or Email Bot is in a production environment, you can lock the rulesets. Only when you need to build models further or change the IVA or Email Bot channel configuration while in a production environment, you must unlock the rulesets.

Supported IVA and Email Bot channels

The following integration components are provided for and must be defined as IVA and Email Bot channel interfaces. You can communicate with a Pega Platform application by using the following components:

  • Amazon Alexa - Use voice commands to interact with IVA for Alexa.
  • Email - Send email messages to interact with Email Bot.
  • Facebook Messenger - Send text messages in Messenger to interact with IVA for Facebook.
  • Web Chatbot - Send text messages in an embedded chat window on a web site to interact with IVA for Web Chatbot.

For more information, see the Conversational channels Pega Community article.

Note: To use IVA for Facebook and IVA for Web Chatbot, you must obtain and install each channel component from Pega Exchange.