Activating Virtual Agent and getting started

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Activating Virtual Agent and Getting Started

    The Conversational Interfaces console allows you to easily activate Virtual Agent within your portal, customize its branding, and utilize pre-built ITSM conversations. If you hold a license for a Now Assist product, you can also deploy Now Assist skills rapidly. For organizations without a license, Virtual Agent Lite is a preinstalled option available for trial.

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    Key Features

    • Activation: Admin users can activate the Glide Virtual Agent plugin, which triggers the installation of necessary components automatically.
    • Plugin Installation: Install predefined conversations, NLU tools, and the Conversational Analytics dashboard to enhance functionality.
    • Portal Integration: Add Virtual Agent to your web portal's chat menu, with options for additional portals later.
    • Branding Customization: Modify the appearance of Virtual Agent, including colors, logos, and icons, particularly when utilizing Now Assist.
    • Topic Recommendations: Use the Topic Recommendations app to discover and quickly implement relevant Virtual Agent topics.

    Key Outcomes

    By activating Virtual Agent, organizations can streamline customer interactions through automated conversations, improve user engagement with personalized branding, and expand functionality with features like AI Search and live agent integration. As you explore Virtual Agent, you can further customize chat experiences, create new topics, and localize content to meet diverse user needs.

    Using the Conversational Interfaces console, you can quickly add Virtual Agent to a portal, configure branding, personalize the greeting, and begin to use pre-built ITSM Virtual Agent conversations.

    If you have a license for a Now Assist product, you can also quickly deploy Now Assist skills in Virtual Agent in a matter of minutes. For details, see Configuring assistants overview.

    Before you begin

    If you have a license for Virtual Agent, the following sections will help you get started and create conversations for your organization quickly.

    If you do not have a license for Virtual Agent, you can try Virtual Agent Lite, which comes preinstalled. For information about getting started with Virtual Agent Lite, see Quick start for Virtual Agent Lite.

    Get started with Virtual Agent

    1. Activate Virtual Agent

      You can activate the Glide Virtual Agent plugin (com.glide.cs.chatbot) if you have the admin role. This plugin automatically activates other necessary plugins if they are not already active.

    2. Install Virtual Agent plugins

      Install predefined conversations for your business applications, NLU tools, and the Conversational Analytics dashboard.

    3. Add your bot to a portal

      Add a chat entry to the menu of your web portal. You can add Virtual Agent to additional portals later.

      For conversations based on generative AI large language models (LLMs), you can quickly set up Now Assist in Virtual Agent and add it to a portal. For information about adding Now Assist in Virtual Agent to a portal, see Configuring assistants overview.

    4. Set up your Virtual Agent bot's branding

      Change the way Virtual Agent looks to the end user. You can change the colors, add your company logo, and change the icon that represents your bot.

      If you're using Now Assist in Virtual Agent, you can customize the look and feel during the configuration process. For more information, see Configuring assistants overview.

    5. Get recommended topics for your instance

      Use the Topic Recommendations app to identify prebuilt Virtual Agent topics that can be quickly implemented in your organization.

    Explore further

    As you work with Virtual Agent, you can expand its capabilities by implementing other features. For example, you can do the following: