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Chatbot Not Responding or using Fallback/Escalate Topic

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Posted on by Sara9

Hi 🙂

My chatbot will very very often just not reply when it encounters a topic that it does not know. Ideally, I would love for the "On Unknown Intent" trigger to pick this up, send a message saying that the chatbot doesn't know the answer, and escalate the request to human support via a link. But I do not get any response at all. Any ideas on how to fix this? I would love for at least my chatbot to respond with something rather than nothing.

Thanks,

Sara

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remidyon on at

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Which topic is triggered in your scenario? you should see it when clicking on the message

Your bot should never not answer anything - if it does not have an answer, it will trigger the unknown trigger/topic

my guess is there is something blocking that / triggering another empty topic in your bot

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Sara9 36 on at

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When I click on my own message that I sent (that was not responded to), it brings me to the topic of the question the chatbot just asked. I believe it could also be a "reprompt question" issue. Some questions I have chosen "do not repeat" and they will still repeat or give no answer.

I am able to occasionally get my fallback/escalate topic when the chatbot does not have a question to ask.

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remidyon on at

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can you post a screenshot of the last topic that your bot took you too? do you use the end topic / end conversation features?

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Sara9 36 on at

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Yes, here is an example. My bot has a menu and initially the user will select the main topic they need help with which brings them to more subtopics. The only time I use end conversation is when the user gets to the specific FAQ they need with no more questions or information left to give. Had to blur some info for privacy. Thanks!

example pva.jpg

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remidyon on at

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@Sara9 you are using a question node with several quick replies - that means you have to manually handle the scenario where the user's answer is not in your list: that is why the bot is not reacting to your question.

If you want to keep the option for the user to use a quick reply or directly ask a question, then you should use a message node with quick reply and create different topics matching those quick replies. That way if the user ask a question instead of clicking on a quick reply it will trigger your fallback node.

This is a very important conversation design concept: question node expect an answer from the user and if the user ask a question instead and it does not trigger a particular topic then you will be stuck like that.

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Sara9 36 on at

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@remidyon
Hmm, I am using a question node with "multiple choices" and each choice branched off as a "condition", which redirects to the topic. By quick reply on a message node do you mean this? I don't know how to redirect a topic from a quick reply using a message node.

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remidyon on at

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Hi @Sara9
best practice is to create one topic per category with specific trigger phrases and to let the bot handle the user redirection. You can use a quick reply in your conversation start to help user access those topics.

Example: you create 3 topics
- Topic 1: "navigation", trigger phrases: "navigation, how to navigate, help, etc"
- Topic 2: "training", trigger phrases: "training, learn, etc"
- Topic 3: "FAQ", trigger phrases: "FAQ, frequent questions, questions, etc."

Then in your conversation start topic you create a message with 3 quick replies: "navigation", "training" and "faq".

When the user open the bot it will show those 3 quick replies which will trigger the right topic when users click on one without having to manually branch out the condition. And that way if users ask a question that is not handled by a trigger phrase it will trigger the fallback topic.

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Sara9 36 on at

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So, I have created individual topics for that "menu" of questions to redirect to. Each topic has their own triggers phrases. The attachment here is still the same topic just the rest of it. By what you described above, is this how it should be done? If it is not, are you able to include a snapshot of what you describe so I can best understand it?

PVA example.png

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remidyon on at

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Hi @Sara9
you should not use a question to redirect to topics. This is what trigger phrases are for! You can propose choices to your users with a message + quick reply option that correspond to each of your topics. I’ll send you a screenshot next week. Basically that will remove all the branches part of your screenshot just after the quick reply message. No need for all those conditions and redirections

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Sara9 36 on at

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Okay, I understand now! What I didn't understand was how to redirect the quick reply to the topic, I thought you had to manually do it ... but it automatically acts as a trigger phrase to the topic!

Getting rid of the conditions and branches will make it so much simpler. I don't believe I need the example now so I will mark your answer as the solution. I sincerely appreciate all your help! Thanks a ton 🙂

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