Topics and answers Panel

Another feature of the VR is its ability to answer users’ questions. To do this, it needs a set of information to search through when generating responses. This panel is designed to allow the administrator to upload a list of topics along with their explanations, to be used by VR during conversations.

The “Topic and answers” list can be populated in two ways:

• manually from the web page: by clicking the + Add button and then select “Create“.

• manually via CSV file upload: by clicking the + Add button and then select “Import CSV“. From the popup, you can download the template, fill it in, and then upload it by clicking on “Import CSV”.
  Each time a new CSV is uploaded, it replaces all the topics and answers, including those created from the web page. It is therefore recommended to first perform an export (click “Export answers”), apply the desired changes, and then re-upload the file.
  The following are not allowed:

  • entries without a topic

  • entries without an answer

The CSV file must use the comma (,) as the field separator and double quotes (") as the text qualifier. If these guidelines are not followed, the upload fails. Be careful, especially if using Excel to populate the CSV.

It is also possible to search for topics and answers. Here are a few notes:

• the search looks for matches across all fields

• it is case-insensitive

• it matches from the beginning of each word

• you can enter a maximum of 12 space-separated words

• the search uses AND logic (all words must match)

Editing Topics and answers

Topics and answers can also be edited, and this can be done either directly from the web page by clicking the corresponding icon:

or by exporting them to CSV (clicking “Export answers”) and then uploading the updated file. Please note that the newly uploaded CSV completely replaces all previous topics and answers.

General Concepts about Topics and answers

Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of the available fields:

• Topic (*): the title of the topic, or, if using the question/answer format, the question

• Answer (*): the explanation of the topic, or, if using the question/answer format, the answer

(*) mandatory field

It is important to note that the VR does not read word for word what is configured in the topics and answers. Instead, the response is re-processed by AI. Therefore, you should not expect the configured text to be repeated exactly as written, even though it is typically very similar and the meaning is not changed.

The order in which topics or answers are provided does not affect the outcome, because the system uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to search across all configured topics and answers. This approach retrieves the most relevant pieces of content regardless of their order or placement, and then uses them to generate accurate and context-aware answers to user’s query.

The uploaded content can even be in a different language from the one set for the VR, as the AI automatically translates it in real time before generating an answer. However, for the most accurate and natural results, it is recommended to upload content in the same language used in the VR.

Each VR has a limit of 60 topics and answers. Each topic has a limit of 4K characters.

It is generally preferable not to use the “question/answer” format, but rather the “topic title/topic” format. In fact, the matching is not performed by simply checking the words and looking for that specific question; instead, AI is used to process the user’s query and retrieve the best possible answer based on the available information.

Example

Let’s assume the following topic has been configured:

Topic: “Opening hours”
Answer: “Monday to Friday, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM”

Now let’s look at some examples of possible responses, depending on the user’s question:

user: “Are you open on Saturday morning?”
VR: “No, we are not open on Saturday morning. Our business hours are Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM.”

user: “Are you open tomorrow?” (assuming the question is asked on a Wednesday)
VR: “Yes, we’re open tomorrow, from 9 AM to 6 PM.”

user: “What time do you open this afternoon?” (assuming the question is asked on a Wednesday)
VR: “Our business hours are Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM. Since today is Wednesday, we are open this afternoon until 6 PM.”

From the above examples, we can see how the responses are adapted according to the user’s question, based on the information available.

In cases where topics and answers involve time schedules, pay attention to the time zone, as each region has its own default time zone (see the table “Default time zones for each region” here below). If you want to change it, refer to the section Advanced URL parameters.

Here is the table with the default time zones for each region: