Set Up Slots for CXone Bot Builder

Content on this page is for a product or feature in controlled release (CR). If you are not part of the CR group and would like more information, contact your CXone Account Representative.

Slot Filling Methods

There are five methods to fill slots Entity extracted from contact's message and saved for use in bot responses. Similar to a variable. in CXone Bot Builder:

From System—When an interaction between contact and bot begins, CXone Bot Builder automatically creates two slots that can be used in that unique interaction: Last Customer Message and Customer ID. These slots are system-generated and cannot be edited.
From Entity—These slots are extracted from interactions. When you create an entity Defined keyword or phrase, with or without variants, in an interaction or message, a slot is created automatically. You can use the slot value as a variable in the same interaction or in other areas of Digital First Omnichannel. If you delete the entity, the slot is also deleted and you can no longer use it anywhere. Entity-based slots can be any of the slot types.
From Intent—This method fills the slot with a defined value if the defined intent is recognized. Both value and intent can be defined in the slot configuration. Slots using this method are created manually and are currently only applicable to forms.
From Message—This method uses the text of the next message to fill the slot. The recognized intent is ignored and the slot is filled with the message value, unless there is no intent restriction configured. Slots using this method are created manually and are currently only applicable to forms.
Custom slots—Custom slots typically hold information based on business logic. An example would be data retrieved by an API call to your CRM or another third-party application. You manually create custom slots in the same way you create intents What the contact wants to communicate or accomplish. You can use the slot value as a variable in multiple interactions between bots Virtual agent designed to handle specific interactions and contacts, or in other areas of Digital First Omnichannel. Custom slots persist until they are manually deleted. They can be any of the slot types. These slots are created manually.

Create Slots

When you create an entity Defined keyword or phrase, with or without variants, in an interaction or message, CXone Bot Builder automatically creates a slot Entity extracted from contact's message and saved for use in bot responses. Similar to a variable. for that entity. But if you want to use a slot for information from another source, you can create slots directly in CXone Bot Builder. For example, you might use a pre-chat form that asks for your contact's account number. You could then pull the contact's account status from another system, and design your stories so that the bot Virtual agent designed to handle specific interactions always attempts to collect any past-due balance.

Talk to your CXone Account Representative about how to set up an integration between CXone Bot Builder and the data source for a custom slot.

In the Digital First Omnichannel portal, click Chatbot.
Click the bot you want to work with.
Click NLU in the left icon menu.
In the right pane, click Slots and then click New Slot.
Enter a name for your new slot and press Enter. Click the slot name to edit it.

Click Type and select from the drop-down menu.

Learn the basics about slot types

You can also read a more detailed explanation of slots, with examples for each slot type.

Slot Type	Details
Text	Select this type if you want the slot to hold text information. If you set Influence Dialog to On, the bot only evaluates whether or not there is content in this slot. It does not consider the meaning of the content.
Number	Select this type if you want the slot to hold numbers with a minimum and maximum value. If you set Influence Dialog to On, the bot's behavior can change depending on the value in the slot.
Categorical	Select this type if you want the slot to hold one of several Values. Separate the specific values with commas. If you set Influence Dialog to On, the bot's behavior can change depending on the value in the slot.
Boolean	Select this type if you want the slot to hold true or false values. If you set Influence Dialog to On, the bot's behavior can change depending on whether the slot is set to True, set to False, or is Empty.
Any	Select this type if you want the slot to hold arbitrary values. Slots of this type cannot be used to influence the bot's behavior.

If you want the slot to influence the interaction and bot behavior, set the Influence Dialog slider to On.

Use Slots as Variables

Required permission: Chatbot (ACD > DFO > Roles > [choose one] > Core Modules)

You can personalize your stories, rules, fallback, and more by including variables: entities that come from slots. To use a variable, enclose the name of the entity in curly brackets.

In the Digital First Omnichannel portal, click Chatbot.
Click the bot you want to work with.
Click Dialogues in the left icon menu.
Click New Folder, type a new name for the folder, and then press Enter.
Under the new folder, click New Story.
At the top of the story section, enter a name for your story.
In the Customer may say box, enter the customer message and then press Enter. CXone Bot Builder analyzes the message and offers a list of intents and confidence level.
If CXone Bot Builder identified the correct intent, click Confirm. If not, expand the list of intents and select the correct intent, then click Confirm. In the preceding image, CXone Bot Builder correctly identified the intent as provide_location and stored Columbus as a location entity.
Hover over the plus sign at the left of the rule builder until it changes to a bot icon, then click the action.
View image

Provide the information matching the action type you selected. For example, if you selected Message, enter the message with which the bot should respond. In the example image, Akela has created a response message that includes a variable using the location entity. The message would appear to the contact as, "Okay, you're at the Columbus location. Got it."

Learn more about all bot action types

Action type	Details
Message	Enter the message for the bot. You can add Buttons or Quick Replies to the message or choose to leave it as regular text. To see a images and consider examples, see below.
Multimedia	Upload a supported multimedia file: Images in PNG, JPG, GIF, or BMP format that are smaller than 5 MB Videos in AVI, MPEG-4, or WEBM format that are smaller than 200 MB Audio files in MP3 format that are smaller than 15 MB PDF or Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint files that are smaller than 15 MB Multimedia is only supported by these channels: Chat Facebook Messenger WhatsApp Apple Business Chat Twitter Direct Messaging (images only)
Cards	Cards can combine images, structured text, and buttons into one message. This keeps the interface cleaner than sending several responses back to back. You can add up to 10 cards to be sent at a time. The customer will be able to swipe back and forth to view them. You can use variables when configuring a card in the format {slot_name}.
Handover	Select this option when the customer message should trigger the handover Any contact message that should trigger transfer to a live agent rule.
Slot	Select from your existing slots.
Checkpoint	Select this option, then click the + icon and select the stories you want to link to. Checkpoints provide a simple way to connect different stories within the same dialogue. To see an image and consider examples, see below.

Click Train and Stage to train your bot on the new story.