Low-code message-driven collaboration among and with virtual agents
Virtual agents may be deployed to conduct a communication with a customer to determine and resolve a work item. During the communication, the virtual agent may need to obtain or provide information to other entities. However, coding a virtual agent to perform such communications is difficult and error prone. By providing a messaging system with a central repository, the virtual agent may register an interest in another entity, group of entities, the state of one or more entities, or information contained therein via messaging to a central repository. The central repository then provides callback messages to the virtual agent that matches the interest or any other conditions specified.
1 . A system for virtual agent collaboration, comprising:
a processor;
a network interface to a network; and
a memory comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
execute a virtual agent to conduct a communication, with content encoded therein, with a customer via the network, and process a work item determined from the content, wherein completing the work item requires an action by an entity different from the virtual agent;
generate a message to register an interest in the entity, the message comprising an identifier of the virtual agent, an address on the network wherein the virtual agent receives callback messages, and a topic of interest corresponding to the action;
send the message to a central repository;
receive a callback message from the central repository comprising a datum required to complete the action; and
complete the work item comprising the action.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises at least one of an act performed by the entity or indicia of the act being performed by the entity.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the virtual agent sends the message to the entity further comprising the virtual agent sending the message to the central repository via a call to a Representative State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API).
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the address on the network comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) of a Webhook for the virtual agent in the call to the REST API.
5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein:
the network comprises a first discrete network and a second discrete network;
the processor resides entirely with the first discrete network;
the second discrete network maintains the datum required to complete the action and wherein the datum is absent from the first discrete network; and
the first discrete network and the second discrete network are interconnected via messages sent to the central repository.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises determining the work item.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises identifying a collection of actions that, when performed, complete the work item.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the callback message comprises a plurality of callback messages having at least one of different time sent by the entity or a change in a state of the entity.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the entity or the virtual agent de-registers the interest and terminates the step of receiving the callback message, comprising at least one of the plurality of callback messages.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the message further comprises at least one of an identifier of the virtual agent, an identifier of an instance of the virtual agent, a priority, and an expiration.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the message further comprises a structured data object comprising at least one data element maintaining indicia of at least one of the content, the communication, the work item, or a portion of the work item performed by the virtual agent.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the central repository determines from the message the entity that best matches the message from a pool of entities.
13 . A method for virtual agent collaboration, comprising:
executing a virtual agent to conduct a communication, with content encoded therein, with a customer via a network, and processing a work item determined from the content, wherein completing the work item requires an action by an entity different from the virtual agent;
generating a message to register an interest in the entity, the message comprising an identifier of the virtual agent, an address on the network wherein the virtual agent receives callback messages, and a topic of interest corresponding to the action;
sending the message to a central repository;
receiving a callback message from the central repository comprising a datum required to complete the action; and
completing the work item comprising the action.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising sending a message to the central repository via a call to a Representative State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API).
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the address on the network comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) of a Webhook for the virtual agent in the call to the REST API.
16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the network comprises a first discrete network and a second discrete network;
the virtual agent resides entirely with the first discrete network;
the second discrete network maintains the datum required to complete the action, wherein the datum is absent from the first discrete network; and
the first discrete network and the second discrete network are interconnected via messages sent to the central repository.
17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the action comprises identifying a collection of actions that, when performed, complete the work item.
18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the callback message comprises a plurality of callback messages having different times sent by the entity or a change in a state of the entity.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein at least one of the entity or the virtual agent de-registers the interest and terminates the step of receiving the callback message, comprising at least one of the plurality of callback messages.
20 . A system for virtual agent collaboration, comprising:
a processor;
a network interface to a network; and
a memory comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
execute a first virtual agent to conduct a communication, with content encoded therein, with a customer via the network, and process a work item determined from the content, wherein completing the work item requires an action by a second virtual agent differing from the first virtual agent in at least one of an input to at least one training stage, access to a datum required to complete the work item, or access to a component requiring an interaction therewith to complete the work item;
register an interest of the first virtual agent in the second virtual agent, comprising generating a message comprising an identifier of the first virtual agent, an address on the network wherein the first virtual agent receives callback messages, and a topic of interest corresponding to the action;
send the message to the second virtual agent via a repository, wherein the message comprises a call Representative State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API) to access the repository;
receive a callback message, via the REST API, comprising receiving a callback message from a central repository, the callback message comprising the datum required to resolve the action; and
complete the work item comprising the action.