Customizing Ask Zia

You can customize Ask Zia to fit your exact requirements, using Synonyms, Column Priority and Default Functions.

Synonyms

When you draft a question, the business term you use may differ from the name of the column from which you want to fetch data. The Synonyms section under Ask Zia settings helps you bridge this difference. This option allows you to map the business terms that are in natural language to the corresponding columns in your data table.

For example, the question 'Show me the revenue trend' asks for the data from the Sales column in the Sales table. In such cases, use the Synonyms section to specify that the term 'Revenue' refers to the column-Sales. Ask Zia will then fetch data from the Sales column for all future references to revenue.

To access the Synonyms section, right-click the column and select Ask Zia settings.

In the Ask Zia settings page, enter your list of synonyms under the Synonyms section, specific to the selected column.

You can also map the business terms in your questions to the corresponding columns in the data table while entering your questions into Ask Zia.

Column Priority

This option allows you to specify the priority in which the columns should be considered by Ask Zia. When you have multiple columns with similar names in your workspace, Ask Zia will use the value set in Column Priority to rank the columns and generate reports accordingly.

Default Function

Zoho Analytics provides a wide range of summary functions to summarize the data in your report. By default, Ask Zia will apply the most appropriate summary function over each column, and generate reports accordingly. This function can be changed to other summary functions using the Default Function drop down in the Ask Zia settings page. 

For example, 'Monthly sales' will display the total sum of sales across months, as the default function is set as "Sum". This can be changed to the "Average" if average is more commonly used while running reports on monthly sales.

Note: Asking for specific summary functions while putting forth questions to Ask Zia overrides the default function that is set in the Ask Zia settings page. For example, if 'Monthly sales' is asked, Ask Zia will display the total sum of sales across months, even when the default function for the Sales table is now set as Average.

Invoking Ask Zia Settings

The Ask Zia settings page can be accessed in three ways:

• From the Ask Zia page: You can access the Ask Zia settings by clicking the settings icon on the top right corner of the Ask Zia page. 

• Using the table's Edit Design mode: By opening a table and clicking Edit Design, you can modify the Synonyms, Default Function and Column Priority columns to edit Ask Zia's settings. 

• Using Column settings: You can also right-click a column and select the Ask Zia Settings option to access the settings page.