Build Better Chatbots


Build Better Chatbots: A Complete Guide to Getting Started with Chatbots (2017) .. by Rashid Khan & Anik Das


Contents

About the Authors … vii

Chapter 1: Introduction to Chatbots … 1

What Are Chatbots … 1

Journey of Chatbots … 2

Brief History of Chatbots … 2
Recent Developments of Chatbots … 3

Rise of Chatbots … 5

Growth of Internet Users … 5
Advancement in Technology … 5
Developer Ecosystem … 6

Messaging Platforms … 6

Chatbot User Interface Elements … 7

Summary … 11

Chapter 2: Setting Up the Developer Environment … 13

Botframework … 14

Local Installation … 14

Installing NodeJS … 15
Following the Development Pipeline … 17
Storing Messages in Database … 20

Summary … 25

Chapter 3: Basics of Bot Building … 27

Intents … 27

Entities … 44

Chapter 4: Advanced Bot Building … 51

Design Principles … 51

Keep It Short and Precise … 52
Make Use of the Rich Elements … 52
Respect the Source … 52
Use Human Handover … 53
Do Not Build a Swiss Army Knife … 53
Common Elements … 53

Showing Product Results … 60

Integrating Location Lookup Intent … 73

Saving Messages … 78

Getting Mongoose … 79
Building the Message Model … 79
Adding the Model File … 80
Integrating the Model into the App … 82

Building Your Own Intent Classifier … 84

What Is a Classifier … 84
Coding a Classifier … 86

Summary … 90

Chapter 5: Business and Monetization … 91

Analytics: Why and How? … 92

Top Analytics … 93

Chatbot Use Cases … 98

Modes of Communication … 98
Chatbots by Industry Vertical … 100

Summary … 106

Index … 107