Creating a dialogue

A dialogue handles one subject from start to finish. Building one is mostly deciding what it does when things go sideways.

A dialogue handles one subject from start to finish. Building one is mostly deciding what it does when things go sideways.

Create one

1. In the AI agents workspace, select the agent, click Content in the sidebar, select Use cases, open the use case and go to the Replies tab.
2. Click Add reply. The dialogue builder opens with one AI agent message block already in place. Write the opening message there.
3. Add blocks with the plus icon, before or after any block. The types are AI agent message, Customer message, Generative replies, Conditional, Integration or action flow, Carousel, Link to, Availability and Escalation.
4. Join blocks with the link icon underneath a block. One rule to remember: a customer message block cannot link straight to another customer message block, because something has to happen in between.
5. Check it with Validate dialogue in the options menu, then run it with Test dialogue at the top right. Hovering over a block gives a test icon for that branch alone.
6. Click Publish, or Publish with note if you want to record what you changed. A logic check runs first and anything blocking it is marked in red.

Hovering over a block also offers Collapse branch, Move, Copy, Paste block, Paste branch, Actions and Delete. Copy and paste of a whole branch is what makes a second, similar dialogue quick.

Where a dialogue sits

A dialogue is a scripted conversation flow that uses branching logic to decide the agent's responses and actions. It does not stand alone: each dialogue is linked to a specific reply, and each reply is linked to a use case. So the use case decides when it runs, and the dialogue decides what happens.

The alternative is a generative procedure. Dialogues give you a lot of control and cost more setup and maintenance; procedures need less of both and give up some control over fine detail. Email AI agents cannot use dialogues at all and use generative procedures instead.

One subject per dialogue

"Where is my order" is a dialogue. "Orders" is three or four. A dialogue covering several subjects has to work out which one applies before it can help, which is exactly the delay you are trying to remove.

Describe the trigger in customers' words

The dialogue itself is not what the agent matches on: the use case above it is. So the phrasings people use, including the vague ones, belong in that use case. "My package has not arrived", "where is my stuff", "shipping late".

Plan for the unexpected answer

Ask for an order number and you will get an email address, a question, or nothing. Decide in advance: ask once more, or hand over.

Dialogues that only handle the expected answer are where customers get stuck, and stuck is the state that generates complaints.

Give it an ending

Confirm the answer helped, and offer a person if not. A dialogue that delivers information and stops leaves the customer wondering whether anything happened.

Test with a colleague

Somebody who does not know the intended path. They will answer the questions differently from you, which is the point.

See also

• Creating and managing replies
• Conversation design: how to build a good exchange
• Creating use cases