Configuring Now Assist in Virtual Agent

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 5 minutes to read

    • Use Now Assist in Virtual Agent to provide a content-driven generative AI experience for users.

    Before you begin

    There are two entry points used to set up Now Assist in Virtual Agent: You can set it up from within the Conversational Interfaces console (see step 1), or from the Now Assist admin console. If you're already within the Now Assist Admin console, select Set up Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

    Link to setting up Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

    The Assistants tab as seen in the image of step 1 appears.

    Role required: virtual_agent_admin or admin

    About this task

    Virtual Agent admins and admins can easily configure more than one Now Assist in Virtual Agent with this guided setup.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All>Conversational Interfaces>Assistants.
      By default, a Now Assist in Virtual Agent is listed.

      Assistants tab shows an existing Virtual Agent and any new ones that are created.

    2. Select Turn on or off the Now Assist in Virtual Agent or create a Virtual Agent.
      If you create a Virtual Agent, the Get started page is displayed.

      Virtual Agent Name and Description fields in the Get started page.

    3. In the Add some details section, provide a name and description for your Virtual Agent then select Save and continue.
      The Assign Now Assist skills page is displayed.

      Activate Now Assist skills for the Virtual Agent.

      At the top of the page, the name of your Virtual Agent appears. In this example, it's Now Assist in Virtual Agent - TEST.

      By default, all Now Assist skills are turned on and shown in this list as active. You can deselect a skill if needed, and it will be unassigned for this Virtual Agent. However, if you want to deactivate a skill across the entire instance, select Manage skills.

      Note:
      At least one skill must be active.
    4. Select Save and continue.
      The Choose where to display page appears.

      Portal options for where the Virtual Agent is displayed.

      If a portal was previously selected for a different assistant, an informational message is displayed in the Alert column.

      Previously assigned Virtual Agent appears in the Alert column in the Choose where to display page.

    5. Select one or more portals or integrate with a messaging channel to display your Virtual Agent.

      NLU-based Virtual Agent doesn't co-exist with Now Assist in Virtual Agent. They can co-exist in the same instance, but not within the same portal.

      For Microsoft Teams, if it's not installed, go to Conversational Interface> Settings> Channels to install the Conversational integration with Microsoft Teams. Getting the plugin redirects you to the ServiceNow store. After the store app is installed, select the Teams channels to enable Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

      Channels that integrate with your Virtual Agent.

      If the application for mobile in the Now Assist Admin console is turned on, it enables Now Assist large language model (LLM) in Virtual Agent for those applications on mobile.

      Integrate Virtual Agent with mobile.

    6. Select Save and continue.
      The Choose information sources page is displayed.

      Choose a search profile from the drop-down menu in the Choose information sources page.

    7. From the drop-down menu, choose a search profile to be used by the Virtual Agent.
      If a search profile is selected, change the settings based on the link provided. The selected profile is copied over so that the Now Assist in Virtual Agent search profile is the same as the selected profile. Search sources, dictionaries, and result improvement rules are mirrored from the selected search profile to the default search profile that's associated with the assistant.

      View and configure additional search settings by selecting the Service Portal Default Search Profile link.

    8. Select Show conditions to show the current conditions, make modifications, or add a new condition set.
      Note:
      You can also quickly see the number of catalog items that are supported conversationally in Virtual Agent.
      1. If you have a Now Assist Q&A Genius Results section, determine the content that is searched by configuring this information source.

        Now Assist Q&A Genius Results conditions.

      2. If you have a Now Assist Multi-Turn Catalog Ordering section, the following conditions appear. To design a topic conversation in Virtual Agent, see Create a Virtual Agent topic.

        Now Assist Multi-Turn Catalog Ordering conditions.

      3. If you have a Now Assist topics section, see Create a Virtual Agent topic to create or configure more topics.

        Create or configure Now Assist topics in Virtual Agent Designer.

    9. Select Save and continue.

      The Virtual Agent branding page appears where you can select a default branding or an existing customized branding. To create a branding, see the Conversational Interface console settings.

      Use the Virtual Agent branding page to select the look and feel.

    10. Select Save and continue.
      The Define your chat experience page appears where you manage your greeting, closing, and fallback messages. The fallback options are Live Agent, Reset Conversation, and Record Producer.

      Greeting, closing, and fallback options for your Virtual Agent in the Define your chat experience page.

      Use the simple settings type to define the default chat experience.

      For fallback options,
      1. Live agent support routes you to an available agent if configured.
      2. Reset conversation restarts the conversation to the beginning to ask another question.
      3. A record producer directs the user to a catalog record producer to create an incident or a case.
        Note:
        For this fallback option to work for guest users, create a public record producer. For more information, see Create a record producer. If the public record producer is set to active, it automatically appears in the Now Assist in Virtual Agent Fallback options > Record producer drop-down menu.

      More configurations are available in Advanced settings, replacing the default. You can select from a pre-filtered list to override setup topics defined in Virtual Agent Designer. If you change one of your setup topics, and you return to the simple setting, that topic is unavailable.

      Advanced chat settings in the Define your chat experience page.

      On the Promoted topics tab, you can navigate to Virtual Agent Designer (VAD) to define promoted topics for this assistant. Once you have defined the topics in VAD, you can then use the up or down arrows to reorder the topics.

      List of promoted topics that can be reordered.

    11. Select Save and continue.

      The Review page is displayed where you can review all your settings and test your Virtual Agent. It's important to test your Virtual Agent to judge the quality of results for common use cases before moving your experience into a production environment. Validate the user interface experience, use case results, and fallback options.

      Test the Virtual Agent in the Review page.

      1. Now Assist skills shows the active skills.
      2. Display experience shows which portals have Virtual Agent.

        Review information sources in the Review page.

      3. Information sources shows the conditions for each source.

        Review of branding and chat experience settings in the Review page.

      4. Branding shows the type of branding that you have selected.
      5. Chat experience shows your greeting, closing messages, and fallback options.

      In the Additional Resources section, the following appears depending on your setup.

      Links to additional resources such as configuring Now Assist topics, enabling Genius Results, and viewing the performance of your Virtual Agent.

      1. Now Assist Topics is visible if the Now Assist Topics skill is enabled for your assistant. The View all topics link brings you to Virtual Agent Designer.
      2. Now Assist in AI Search always remains visible. The View all portals links brings you to the Set up Now Assist in AI Search console to enable Genius Results generated by Now Assist in portal search.
      3. Monitor your Virtual Agent is visible once you turn on at least one assistant for the first time. The View performance link brings you to Now Assist in Virtual Agent Analytics.
    12. Select Turn on after you have tested your Virtual Agent to confirm that everything is working fine.
      A message appears showing that Now Assist in Virtual Agent is successfully turned on.
    13. Select Got it.

    Result

    Now Assist in Virtual Agent is active and topics can be associated with the Now Assist in Virtual Agent LLM assistants.