A Spreadsheet is enough to create and update your QnA bot. Check how!

A Spreadsheet is enough to create and update your QnA bot. Check how!

There is an update on this bot, and it is not available for new implementations. If you have implemented it already, it will work as expected. 
​​​​
Yes, now you can create and update your QnA bot with the help of a spreadsheet. 
We've built a Zobot that can answer FAQs with the help of Google Spreadsheet instead of scripts. Also, we have integrated the Zobot with Dialogflow to respond to other common questions that are not updated in the spreadsheet. 
 
For your benefit we're sharing the logic and scripts for the bot, do give it a try! 
 
Bot Requirements and Integration:   
  • Google Spreadsheet : To store main menu options, FAQs, and new questions that are handled neither in spreadsheet nor Dialogflow
  • Dialogflow  : To handle free-form questions that are not available in spreadsheet 
What does this bot do?
  • This bot will trigger a chat once the visitor hits your site, i.e. the bot is intended to be proactive. 
  • You should construct the main menu, questions and answers to the FAQs using the Google spreadsheet and the bot can dynamically respond according to the queries received. The bot can search the queries received from the visitors in the spreadsheet and assist the visitors with the exact answer.
Note:  The Google spreadsheet where the Question and answers are stored should be named as ‘ SalesIQ-ZobotSheet '. And the columns should be populated in the following order:                                                                   
  • Column 1: Question department (the menu option)
  • Column 2: Question
  • Column 3-7: Response 
  • If the bot doesn't find the question in the spreadsheet, then it automatically takes the help of Dialogflow integration to respond. 
  • If the queries received from the visitor is not available neither in the spreadsheet nor in the Dialogflow, then the bot will collect the queries in a separate google spreadsheet. So, you can write an answer and add them to Q&A bot spreadsheet later. Any response obtained from  Default Fallback Intent in Dialogflow will be treated as an unknown question and prompt the user to re-enter the question. The unknown question will be saved to another spreadsheet. 
Note : You should create a separate spreadsheet to collect the unknown question and name the sheet as ' SalesIQ-ZobotSheet-UnknownQuestions' . The sheet will be populated in the following order: 
  • Column 1: Unknown question
  • Column 2: Date and time in which the question was asked 
  • If you wish to add more questions to the bot or to remove the existing question, you don't have to make any changes to the code. You can just reflect the changes in the google spreadsheet or your Dialogflow account.
  • We have constructed this bot to read only the first 26 rows of the synced spreadsheet (SalesIQ-ZobotSheet.) If you wish to add more questions to the spreadsheet you can extend the limit by changing the upper limit in each Google spreadsheet connection URL.
Bot flow:

The bot initiates the chat with a welcome message and the main menu. Once, the visitor responds by choosing an option, and the flow continues as depicted



How to create the bot? 
  • Navigate to  Settings > Zobot > Add . Provide the required information and choose the  SalesIQ Script platform. 
  • Now, copy the script from  here  and paste in the Message Handler section.
To integrate with your  Dialogflow account  and Google spreadsheet you've created, make the changes marked in red in the message handler code:       
  • Replace the link of your  SalesIQ-ZobotSheet  spreadsheet in the URL
  • Replace your  Connection name
  • Replace the link of your  SalesIQ-ZobotSheet-UnknownQuestions  spreadsheet in the URL
  • Replace your  Connection name
  1.             apiresponse = invokeurl  
  2.             [ 
  3.                  url:"https : // sheets.googleapis.comv4/spreadsheets/ your-sheet-id-goes-here /values/SalesIQ-ZobotSheet!A2:A26?majorDimension=RO
  4. WS" 
  5.                   type :GET 
  6.                   connection:" your-connection-name-goes-here " 
  7.              ]; 
  8.  

  10.              apiresponseForInput = invokeurl 
  11.              [ 
  12.                   url:" https : //  sheets.googleapis.comv4/spreadsheets/y our-sheet-id-goes-here /values/ SalesIQ-ZobotSheet-UnknownQuestions!A2:E2:append?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED"  
  13.                    type :POST  
  14.                    parameters:paramsSheet.toString() 
  15.                    headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json"} 
  16.                    connection:" your-connection-name-goes-here " 
  17.              ]; 

To connect your dialogflow account, replace the Authentication Id in the message handler: 
  1.                         headersMap = {"Authorization":"Bearer  your-dialogflow-client-id-goes-here ","Content-type":"application/json"}; 
  • Copy the script from  here , choose Context Handler from the drop-down and paste there.
  • Now, copy the script from  here,  then choose Trigger Handler from the drop-down and paste.    
To integrate with your Dialogflow account and Google spreadsheet you've created, make the changes marked in red in the Trigger Handler code: 
  • Replace the link of your  SalesIQ-ZobotSheet  spreadsheet in the URL 
  • Replace your  Connection name 
  • Replace the link of your  SalesIQ-ZobotSheet-UnknownQuestions  spreadsheet in the URL 
  • Replace your  Connection name
  1.             apiresponse = invokeurl 
  2.             [ 
  3.                  url:" https : // sheets.googleapis.comv4/spreadsheets/ your-sheet-id-goes-here /values/SalesIQ-ZobotSheet!A2:A26?majorDimension=RO
  4. WS" 
  5.                  type :GET 
  6.                  connection:" your-connection-name-goes-here " 
  7.             ]; 
  8.              
  9.              apiresponseForInput = invokeurl 
  10.              [ 
  11.                   url:" https : //  sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/ your-sheet-id-goes-here /values/SalesIQ-ZobotSheet-UnknownQuestions!A2:E2:append?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED"  
  12.                    type :POST 
  13.                    parameters:paramsSheet.toString() 
  14.                    headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json"} 
  15.                    connection:" your-connection-name-goes-here " 
  16.             ]; 
 
 To connect your dialog flow account, replace the Authentication Id in the message handler: 
  1.       headersMap = {"Authorization":"Bearer  your-dialogflow-client-id-goes-here ","Content-type":"application/json"};   
  • Finally, Publish the bot.    
  Heads up!
  • Each option in the main menu/Question department can support a maximum of 30 characters. Hence the values in Column-1 of the SalesIQ-Zobot spreadsheet should not exceed 30 characters
  • To go to the next line, you can use the ‘ \n ’ in Dialogflow. In Google spreadsheet, you don't have to mention any next line char as the indentations explicitly and special chars in the cell will be reflected as it is in the chat.
  • To configure multiple responses in Dialogflow, you should create separate t ext respons  for each message.
  • To configure multiple responses in Google spreadsheet, you should configure each message as a separate column in the same row (maximum five responses.) 

To learn more about Zobot and its integrations, please visit our  Resources Section . 
Here is a brief visual on how the QnA bot works.



Happy Zoboting !!! 


Regards,
Fiaz 


    • Recent Topics

    • Function #48: Manage fixed installment payments using Zoho Books

      Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Businesses offer installment payment options to their customers, particularly for expensive purchases, to ease the financial burden on them. By breaking down the total cost into smaller, more manageable

    • Function #18: Associate invoice templates automatically based on customer language

      For businesses dealing with a diverse linguistic clientele, it becomes crucial to send out invoices in the customer's preferred language to ensure effective communication. This requirement can be handled in Zoho Books by creating invoice templates in

    • Function #1: Convert an accepted Estimate to Sales Order automatically in Zoho Books

      As you’re aware, Zoho Books provides a default option to have the estimates automatically converted to invoices once your customer accepts them. Many of you wanted a similar option for sales orders, so here’s a workflow that converts accepted estimates

    • Spotlight series #6: The Show app for Android TV has a new look!

      Hello everyone! We are delighted to introduce our revamped and redesigned Show app for Android TV.  Smart TVs are exploding in popularity. Android TV alone has over 110 million active monthly devices. Zoho Show, as part of a constant effort to improve

    • Employee Appraisal Applicability - Why is Date of Joining Hard-Coded?

      In the new (to me, at least) Performance Appraisal Cycle wizard, it's possible to set criteria to determine for whom the appraisal process should apply. This makes sense on its face. However, one MUST use the Date of Joining criterion as a filter. Why

    • WorkDrive for Excel Add on

      Dear Sir/Madam Have installed Workdrive for Microsoft add on But unable to view the same added in Excel

    • CRM x WorkDrive: We're rolling out the WorkDrive-powered file storage experience for existing users

      Release plan: Gradual rollout to customers without file storage add-ons, in this order: 1. Standalone CRM 2. CRM Plus and Zoho One DCs: All | Editions: All Available now for: - Standalone CRM accounts in Free and Standard editions without file storage

    • Zoho Books integration sync from Zoho CRM does not work

      Hi Zoho Community & Zoho Support We just tried to get a sync some products into Zoho Books from CRM using the native sync and we're getting an error: "It looks like some mandatory fields you're trying to map are empty. Please provide valid field names

    • Appraisals - Order of Previous Reviews Should Be Newest to Oldest

      The new Zoho People layout generally does a decent job at providing the necessary information for performing appraisals of employee performance. One example of this is the Previous Reviews section: This information is helpful when conducting a review.

    • Is it possible to remove filtering options?

      My CRM has a lot of custom fields that should not be used in filters or views. Fields that are automated and exist only to store temporary values that get used in functions. These create a lot of noise in the list of fields to filter. Isn't there any

    • auto close automated alert tickets which are similar

      Hello ZOHO Community, we are using ZOHO Desk to process automated monitoring alerts. Scenario: Our monitoring system creates a ticket when a threshold is exceeded, e.g. Subject: Computer 1 – CPU usage 100% – Error A few minutes later, once the issue resolves

    • Paging through API results. a major gap in your documentation.

      There is no way for me. to get all of my data through a single API call. Typically REST APis have mechanisms for paging through API results. But the documentation for the API I am using: https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Introduction Has no mention

    • RouteIQ for Zoho FSM

      Beste, Zou wel top zijn dat we een RouteIQ hebben voor FSM aangezien we constant moeten zien wat de beste route is voor onze monteurs. Nu moeten we een speciale aparte programma hebben om de beste route te berrekenen voor onze monteurs aangezien de planning

    • How do people handle using Outlook and Zoho Project calendar at the same time?

      We have an ongoing problem in our organisation where we use Zoho Projects to plan all of our projects tasks and that also allows us to look forward using the workload report to see which of our consultants are overstretched etc and which are available.

    • Knowledgebase SEO

      We have a custom-domain mapped help center that is not restricted via login. I have some questions: a) will a robots.txt file still allow us to control indexing? b) do we have the ability to edit the sitemap? c) do category URLs get indexed by search

    • Please, make writer into a content creation tool

      I'm tired of relying on Google Docs. I'm actually considering moving to ClickUp, but if Writer were a good content creation tool instead of just a word processor, I would finally be able to move all my development within the Zoho ecosystem, rather than

    • Changing field types

      Question im a Zoho CRM user and curious, if I change a flied type from single or multi line text to a URL field type will i lose the data in the field or will it be converted to website link automatically. Thanks

    • How do I associate pricebooks to a customer?

      I setup a few pricebooks, that worked fine. But now the only thing I can do with it, when I enter a quote or sales order, I can select which pricebook to use, but I have to do this product by product every time I add one. Is there a way to connect a pricebook

    • Write-Off multiple invoices and tax calculation

      Good evening, I have many invoices which are long overdue and I do not expect them to be paid. I believe I should write them off. I did some tests and I have some questions:  - I cannot find a way to write off several invoices together. How can I do that,

    • Leave Report Emailed Weekly

      I am wondering if someone knows how to have a report generated either weekly or monthly or both for department heads and ownership of upcoming employee leave. For instance, it would be nice to get an emailed report on Friday for the upcoming week of who

    • Zoho desk desktop application

      does zoho desk has a destop applicaion?

    • Tip #54- Exploring the Files Icon in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'

      As we’re already in mid-December, it’s a good time to take a closer look at one of the most useful options in the Zoho Assist remote support dashboard—the Files icon. To get started, log in to Zoho Assist using your credentials. Once you’re in, navigate

    • Tip#47: Estimation planner

      Sprint planning becomes easier, smoother, more collaborative and more accurate with the Estimation Planner extension. Most work items involve multiple users, and each user's role and effort vary. To provide an unbiased and fair estimation point to the

    • Painfully Slow Zoho mail

      Since yesterday Zoho Mail seems to have starting functioning very slowly and having a few bugs. It's slow to open mails, slow to send, slow to change between email accounts. Sometimes clicking on a particular folder (eg Sent folder) stops working and

    • Upcoming update to Google Drive integration in Zoho Creator

      Hello everyone, We're writing to inform you about an upcoming update to how Zoho Creator integrates with Google Drive. In Zoho Creator, during actions like importing files to create an app or attaching files to fields, you can choose files directly from

    • Changing Default PDF Name

      Is it possible to change the default name of a PDF? As of right now, all of my quotes are named 'QT_$QuoteNumber' (i,e: 'QT_19803471298374) - would it be possible to change this to: '$CompanyName - $AccountName - $QuoteNumber' for instance?

    • Time Tracking on Iphone doesn't stop

      When I start a time tracking session the timer starts as expected. However when I hit stop, the timer remains on that project. The only buttons available are discard and start. Start runs the timer more and discard says it will throw away the data from

    • Zoho Sign - Zoho CRM extension upgrade

      Hi everyone, We've updated Zoho Sign extension for Zoho CRM with significant internal changes. Impact on existing Zoho Sign extension users Users using the extension without customization If you are using the integration without implementing Zoho Sign's

    • Zoho Books blocks invoicing without VeriFactu even though it is not mandatory until 2027

      I would like to highlight a very serious issue in Zoho Books for Spain. 1. The Spanish government has postponed the mandatory start of VeriFactu to January 1st, 2027. This means that during all of 2026 businesses are NOT required to transmit invoices

    • Group by Owner/ Owner Kanban /Group by Custom Field

      Hi, We are missing the option of viewing Tasks grouped by their owner, as it is an essential function for us to manage our employees' working tasks. We find it hard to inspect what are the tasks that our employees are working on.  We are seeking an option

    • Flow using way too many tasks

      I built a flow that is using way too many tasks for what it is doing. I reached out to support a week ago but never heard back so hoping the community can help. Does a filter count as a task? I am seeing tons of records filtered with < 1 Sec Time Taken

    • Regarding the integration of Apollo.io with Zoho crm.

      I have been seeing for the last 3 months that your Apollo.io beta version is available in Zoho Flow, and this application has not gone live yet. We requested this 2 months ago, but you guys said that 'we are working on it,' and when we search on Google

    • Start Workflow from Deluge Script

      I have developed a customized process from our CRM that leverages a deluge script to create a statement of work document. Once the document has been created via the merge and store function, I would like the ability to start a workdrive review & approve

    • Saved Sections?

      In sites editor, the + button reveals options to add a section, element, etc. It includes Saved Sections, but I can find no way to save a section I've already created. Otherwise, is there a way to copy a section from one page to another?

    • Marketer's Space: Unable to select a sender address? Here's the fix

      Hello Marketers, Welcome back to yet another post! So you've added a sender address in Zoho Campaigns and later found that you're not able to select it while creating an email campaign. Has this ever happened to you? If so, don't worry—you're not alone.

    • Loading Project Balances in ZOHO Books for each project

      Hello, What is the best method for loading project balances actual and budget into ZOHO books to provide tracking to our project managers. We have projects and federal awards (also treated as projects) which span multiple years. We are converting from

    • Auto-Invite Users to Portals in Zoho CRM based on Conditions

      Hello Everyone, You can now automate portal invitations in Zoho CRM with the new Auto-Invite users feature in Portal management. No more manually enabling portal access one by one. With this enhancement, you can automatically send invites for users to

    • Scale up your writing style with content analysis tool in Knowledge Base

      Hello everyone, Sometimes writers may have strong knowledge about the subject but may find it challenging to articulate clearly or produce comprehensible, jargon free content. To make the process easier and to ensure consistent, high-quality articles,

    • Zoho Books "Update" Trigger for Zapier?

      Hi Zoho Team, I've been in talks with Zapier about using their services to connect my Zoho Books account to various apps, but I require an additional trigger beyond the "New" trigger. I require an "Update" trigger, which will allow me to filter and create Zaps only when certain conditions are fulfilled on the Zoho Books end before I automate a separate app. Specifically this will help me create invoices in QuickBooks Online only when payments are recorded in Zoho Books, rather than when a new invoice

    • How to prevent editing of closed tickets in Zoho Desk?

      I would like to confirm whether it is possible to completely prevent agents from editing tickets once their status is set to Closed. Is there any configuration, permission, or best practice in Zoho Desk to ensure that closed tickets remain read-only and

    • Next Page