FAQs: Answer Bot | Zoho Desk

FAQs: Answer Bot

1. What is Answer Bot?
Zoho Desk's Answer Bot is powered by Zia, Zoho's built-in AI tool. Answer Bot helps customers find quick, accurate answers to their questions by mimicking human-like conversations. It is designed to provide personalized experiences by automating replies that are simple and informative.
By offering instant resolutions to common queries, Answer Bot improves customer satisfaction, reduces dependency on support agents, and facilitates efficient ticket deflection.
2. How does Answer Bot work?
Answer Bot is a self-learning bot that works by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand customer queries. When users ask questions, the bot analyzes the input and provides the most relevant answer based on data from a knowledge base.
3. How is Answer Bot useful for my business?
Answer Bot is helpful for businesses in the following ways:
  • 24/7 Support: It offers round-the-clock assistance, meaning customers can get help at any time, even outside regular working hours.
  • Cost-Efficiency: By automating repetitive tasks, the bot reduces the need for a large team of customer service agents.
  • Quick Responses: The bot delivers fast answers to frequently asked questions, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.
These benefits help businesses provide better customer service, improve operational efficiency, and save costs while maintaining high customer satisfaction.
4. How do I train Answer Bot?
Bot will be trained immediately after the creation with the knowledge base articles available in the respective department. The bot re-trains itself every 30 minutes. It can also be manually retrained at regular intervals to keep it updated with the most recent information, providing accurate and relevant responses to customer queries.
To retrain Answer Bot
  1. Navigate to Setup > ZIA > Answer Bot.
  2. Click on the department for which you want to configure Answer Bot.
  3. Click Answer Bot.
  4. Click Re-train All in the top-left corner.



5. Can Answer Bot train on its own?
As the beginning of the creation of Answer Bot, it will train on the available knowledge base, and you'll be notified once it's ready. After the initial training, Answer Bot will retrain itself on a scheduler that runs every 30 minutes.

6. Where does Answer Bot fetch its answers from?
Answer Bot retrieves its responses directly from the knowledge base that you have set up in Zoho Desk to extract the most accurate and relevant answers to customer queries. For example, if a customer asks, "How do I reset my password?" the bot will look for an article or FAQ on password reset, summarize the key steps, and present them as a helpful response.
7. Can I set default messages during a chat session?
Yes, you can set and customize the default messages that appear during the conversation:
  • Welcome Messages: Displayed when the chat begins. For example, “Hi there! How can I assist you today?”.
  • When the bot is unable to answer: Triggered when the bot can’t understand a query or find a resource in the knowledge base. For example, “I didn’t quite get that. Can you clarify?”
  • When users give thumbs down: Appears when users give negative feedback, offering another attempt to assist. For example, “Sorry about that! Let me give it another try.”



8. How many Answer Bot can be created?
You can create one bot for all-departments, which can be trained on resources across all departments. Eg., a bot that resolves common queries like account setup, login failure, software update, etc. On the other hand, you can create bots for each department, which can be trained on department specific knowledge base articles. Eg., a bot that is particular to a product or service, educational department, etc. 
9. What permission do I need to set up Answer Bot?
Users with permission to view, create, edit, and delete Zia can configure bots. They must also have access to the respective department to create a bot.
To assign permissions to an agent:  
  1. Navigate to Setup > User Management > Profiles.
  2. Select the profile or role you want to update, such as the agent role.
  3. Under Administrative Permissions, enable the option for ZIA.
  4. Choose whether the role can view, create, edit, or delete Answer Bot and click Save.


10. How can I set up Answer Bot?
To set up Answer Bot
  1. Navigate to Set up > ZIA > Answer Bot.
  2. Select the department that you want Answer Bot in. Each department has its own knowledge base and bot configuration.
  3. Click  Add Answer Bot
  4. Give your department's version of Answer Bot a Name and Description.
  5. Enable the following:
    • Check on the Agent to let your agents resolve queries immediately.
    • Check on the Customer to let your customer question the bot with ASAP help widgets.
    • Under Customer, select the channels that you want to let the customers connect with Answer Bot. The following channels are available for the customer:
      • Website
      • WhatsApp
      • IOS
      • Android
      • Telegram
      • Messenger
      • Instagram
      • LINE
  1. Enable Generative AI to use the preconfigured service, which uses generative AI capabilities to provide responses that align with your knowledge base.
  2. Set Default Messages:
    • Welcome Message. Example: Hi, I’m your Support Buddy!
    • When the bot is unable to answer. Example: Oops! I’m not sure about that.
    • When users give thumbs down. Example: Sorry about that! Please contact our support agent for a more accurate answer.



11. How is Answer Bot useful to my customers?
Customers can simply ask their question, and the bot will search through the knowledge base to provide the customer with the most relevant and helpful response without having to wait for support, enhancing their overall experience and saving them time.

12. How is Answer Bot useful to my agents?
Answer Bot helps your agents by providing accurate help articles and relevant information directly within the ticket detail panel, except for the All Department Answer Bot. Agent can only use the specific department's Answer Bot in respect to the ticket's department. When a customer raises a question in a ticket, agents can quickly access the most appropriate resources without needing to search manually.

This ensures faster and more accurate responses, enabling agents to handle multiple questions efficiently and improve overall productivity.

13. Does Zia access to my customer's information and company details?
Zia can access the information provided by the customers in the ticket, such as the issue the customer is facing, in order to provide relevant answers. However, it does not have access to sensitive personal data unless it is explicitly shared in the context of the interaction or as part of the knowledge base articles you provide. Zia does not train on customer data or chat transcripts.
14. Can Answer Bot help with tracking tickets?
No, Answer Bot cannot directly assist with ticket tracking. It is an AI-based self-service tool designed to provide answers based on knowledge base articles and frequently asked questions. For specific ticket-related queries, such as tracking the status of your tickets, it’s best to refer to the ticket details in your help center or reach out to a support agent for assistance.
15. What kind of questions can Answer Bot answer?
Answer Bot can assist with a variety of questions, including:
  1. Troubleshooting steps for common issues
  2. Product FAQs related to features, usage, and specifications
  3. Policy details, such as return, shipping, or service policies
  4. Billing inquiries, such as payment methods, invoices, and charges
  5. Refund and return requests, including procedures and eligibility
  6. Account-related inquiries, such as password resets or subscription management
The possibilities for the types of questions Answer BotAnswer Bot can handle are endless, as long as they are covered in the department's knowledge base. Each version of Answer Bot is configured specifically for its assigned department, ensuring it delivers accurate, relevant answers. You can deploy one version of Answer Bot per department, with each bot trained to provide tailored responses based on the knowledge base content for that department.
16. Will Answer Bot respond in multiple languages?
Yes, you can train your Answer Bot to respond in multiple languages, if there is a published document in the respective language. To setup multilingual support for Answer Bot, you need to configure the multilingual option in your Help Center. Follow this guide to setting up a multilingual Help Center. Once set up, Answer Bot can be trained in various languages, including:
  • Spanish
  • German
  • Russian
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Italian
  • Dutch
  • Danish
  • Swedish
  • Hindi
  • Arabic
  • Hebrew
Answer Bot will automatically train itself in all the translated languages during the next scheduled training session, which is 30 minutes.
17. Is Answer Bot available 24/7?
Yes, Answer Bot is available round-the-clock, providing prompt responses to customers and agents, saving human time.

18. How accurate are the responses from Answer Bot?
Answer Bot achieves around 70% accuracy, pulling responses directly from the knowledge base. To improve accuracy, ensure your knowledge base is AI-friendly by following Best Practices to Train Answer Bot. Any discrepancies should be addressed by refining and updating the knowledge base content.