Example Asset Refresh Virtual Agent conversation with notifications

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Example Asset Refresh Virtual Agent Conversation with Notifications

    The Asset Refresh Virtual Agent helps automate hardware upgrades for employees, particularly for organizations that replace computers or tablets every two years. Utilizing pre-built components from the ITSM Virtual Agent Conversations plugin, this workflow streamlines the process of notifying users about equipment upgrades and guiding them through the necessary steps.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Pre-Built Components: The Virtual Agent includes common greetings, NLU intents, and reusable logic to facilitate creating workflows.
    • Automated Notifications: Notifications are triggered when an asset enters the "In Maintenance" state, prompting the asset owner for an upgrade.
    • Primary and Secondary Flows: The workflow enables users to either upgrade their hardware immediately or request more information through specific knowledge base articles.
    • Incident Creation: If a user no longer has the asset, an incident is automatically created to address the issue.

    Key Outcomes

    By implementing the Asset Refresh workflow, organizations can ensure timely hardware upgrades, enhance user satisfaction, and reduce manual intervention through automation. Users benefit from an efficient process that guides them from notification to upgrade with minimal hassle.

    Next Steps

    To create the Asset Refresh workflow, follow these steps:

    • Create the Asset Refresh topic in Virtual Agent Designer.
    • Develop the Open Incident workflow within the Asset Refresh topic.
    • Design the More Information workflow for user inquiries.
    • Set up the notification for the Asset Refresh topic.
    • Associate relevant content with the Asset Refresh notification.

    Virtual Agent can automate many workflows, and a number of common solutions are available when you install Virtual Agent and related plugins, such as ITSM Virtual Agent Conversations.

    For an overview of the Asset Refresh workflow from the user perspective, watch this video.

    Pre-built components in Virtual Agent

    Virtual Agent comes with a basic configuration that includes common greetings, NLU intents, reusable logic, and pre-built conversations. Using these building blocks, you can quickly put together workflows to handle some of the most common organizational needs, including the following:

    To help you understand the possibilities, the Asset Refresh example uses pre-built topic blocks that are included in the ITSM Virtual Agent Conversations plugin. These topic blocks do most of the "heavy lifting" in the topic.

    Asset Refresh workflow

    The purpose of the Asset Refresh topic is to automate hardware upgrades for your employees. If your organization's policy is to replace computers or tablets every two years, then you can create a business rule that says when a user has had an asset for two years, the asset should move to the In maintenance state. You can create a notification that is triggered by this change of state in the Hardware table. In our example, the asset owner receives the notification and is instructed to upgrade their asset.

    The Asset Refresh Virtual Agent topic provides the action for the notification. When the user selects the link in the notification, they proceed to the workflow in Virtual Agent. This example topic contains the primary flow (helping the user upgrade their hardware) and two secondary flows that ensure that the user's needs are met.

    After a greeting message, Virtual Agent asks the user if they want to upgrade now or get more information. If they choose to upgrade now, they are directed through the primary flow. Virtual Agent uses the Lookup utility to find the expiring asset that is assigned to the user. Then Virtual Agent makes sure the user still has the asset. If they do not, Virtual Agent uses the Create Incident topic block to open an Incident to resolve the problem. If the user still has the asset, Virtual Agent uses the Search Catalog Item topic block to find a replacement. The Request Catalog Item topic block is used to request it. The request is sent to the user, and the workflow ends.

    If the user chooses to get more information, the AI Search topic block returns one or more specific KB articles that explain the organization's policy. Once the user has viewed these, they are given the option to upgrade now or later. If they choose to upgrade now, they are redirected through the primary workflow; otherwise, the conversation ends.

    Creating the Asset Refresh example workflow

    The following topics describe how to use Virtual Agent Designer and actionable notifications to create the Asset Refresh workflow. Follow these steps in order.

    1. Create the Asset Refresh topic in Virtual Agent Designer.
    2. Create the Open Incident workflow in the Asset Refresh topic.
    3. Create the More Information workflow in the Asset Refresh topic.
    4. Create the notification for the Asset Refresh topic.
    5. Associate content with the Asset Refresh notification.