Virtual Agent feature support in Microsoft Teams conversations

The Microsoft Teams app supports Virtual Agent features, such as Virtual Agent Designer controls for creating conversations, notifications, AI Search results, and more.

Emojis and text

Starting with Version 4.0.1, when a user chats with a live agent and sends a message that contains emojis, the text gets delivered and the emoji is displayed on the agent workspace.

Note:

Due to the difference in the platforms (app or web browser) used by the end user and the live agent, there's a difference between the emojis that are sent by the end user and the emojis that are received by the live agent.

A user can understand how emojis look like in a chat conversation and in the Agent Workspace from the following examples.

Figure 1. Emojis in a chat conversation

Figure 2. Emojis in Agent Workspace

Message pagination

Microsoft Teams has a limit on the maximum message size before paginating the message. You can adjust the number of characters allowed in a message before paginating by going to the system properties [sys_properties] table and setting the number in the system property sn_va_teams.picker_char_limit.

AI Search results

Now Assist in Virtual Agent can generate AI Search results that are displayed as Genius result cards and multi-link outputs in conversations. For details on how Virtual Agent generates AI Search results, see Improving the user experience with AI Search. The default AI Search configuration for Virtual Agent enables search results for Q&A (Knowledge Base and catalog items). The user has the option to like or dislike the information presented in the card. For more information, see Genius Results.

URL navigation for chat links

In the Virtual Agent and Live Agent conversations on the Microsoft Teams app, the links to ServiceNow records open automatically in base system portals, including the links that are displayed in the output cards, Virtual Agent notifications, and AI Search results. If needed, as the administrator, you can change the portals where these links are opened in. For configuration details, see Configure URL navigation for chat links.

Masking of sensitive user data

Starting with Version 2.0.0, passwords that are entered by users and confirmed in bot responses are masked during the password reset conversations in the Microsoft Teams app.

A user can understand how a password is masked in Microsoft Teams from the following example.

Figure 3. Example of password masking

Support for file uploads

Starting with Version 2.0.0, users can upload their file attachments with the paper clip icon in the Microsoft Teams conversations.

A user can learn to attach an icon in the Microsoft Teams chat window from the following example.

Figure 4. File attachment support

Trusted domains

The values that are specified in the Trusted media domains field of the Provider Channel Identities table [sys_cs_provider_application] take precedence over the Connections table [sys_cs_provider] and overrides its values.

Catalog opening experience in Microsoft Teams conversations

Starting with Version 4.1.0, users can request a catalog item from the Microsoft Teams app during a conversation.

A user can select the Request this item button in a conversation with Microsoft Teams that opens the catalog item in a pop-up window, the Task Module, where the user can view the information of the item and submit the request within Microsoft Teams.

The following examples show how a user can request and then view a catalog item.

Figure 5. Request Catalog item

Figure 6. View Catalog item

Custom branding in the Microsoft Teams application

Microsoft Teams supports app customization, which enables you, as the administrator, to customize the branding of the Now Virtual Agent bot in the Conversational Integration with Microsoft Teams. To learn more about app customization, see these resources:

• Customize apps in Microsoft Teams in the Microsoft Teams documentation.
• MS Teams branding for the conversational integration in the ServiceNow Community.

HTML rendering in Microsoft Teams

When a Virtual Agent sends a message in Microsoft Teams with HTML tags, only those HTML tags supported by Microsoft Teams are rendered as normal tags.

For more information about the Microsoft Teams supported HTML tags for bot messages, see Formatting bot messages.

Message streaming in Microsoft Teams

Starting with Version 5.1.0, the new message streaming feature is available for Microsoft Teams. With this capability, when a user submits a query in Microsoft Teams, they receive status updates of their requests, if the response time is longer.

A loading indicator is displayed to let the user know the response is being generated. Once ready, the response is delivered in real-time, appearing in smaller chunks as it's processed. This allows the user to start reading the message immediately, instead of waiting for the entire message to load, and enhances the user experience.

Note:

• To enable the streaming feature, raise a change request for Virtual Agent integration with Microsoft Teams.
• Enabling this feature will result in additional iHub transaction costs.

Custom controls in Microsoft Teams

Using the Custom Control utility will cause failure in Microsoft Teams conversations with the message channel is not supported. See Custom control utility for more information on the utility.

• Virtual Agent Designer user input and bot response controls in Microsoft Teams
  The Virtual Agent Designer user input and bot response controls for creating conversation topics are supported in Microsoft Teams conversations, including the table bot response, the card control that can display images, and the image bot response controls.
• Virtual Agent notifications supported in Microsoft Teams
  Microsoft Teams app supports Virtual Agent notifications during conversations.
• Unsupported Virtual Agent features in Microsoft Teams
  Refer to the unsupported features of Virtual Agent in Conversational Integration with Microsoft Teams.