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Welcome Message not firing for Microsoft Bot (using framework v4) hosted in LivePerson using Direct Line (NOT WebChat)

First, there has been plenty written on this subject in the context of WebChat, and there are fixes out there that show implementation. Here's a link that is pretty good:

This problem is NOT a WebChat problem, it's a Direct Line problem that uses a 3rd party named LivePerson to host the bot which lives in Azure, and is connected via Direct Line. Hence, I do not control the client code (like I would if I were writing/hosting the bot using html/JavaScript). However, the take away here is "do not use conversationUpdate", which I am using in my bot, but please read on...

I'm hosting my Microsoft v4 Bot in LivePerson using Direct Line. The bot uses Adaptive Dialogs to welcome the user and ask them a question before the user sends any input using the OnConversationUpdateActivity():

public RootDialog(IConfiguration configuration, IMiddlewareApiFacade middlewareApi, IBotTelemetryClient telemetryClient) : base(nameof(RootDialog))
{
    var rootDialog = new AdaptiveDialog(nameof(RootDialog))
    {
        ...
        Triggers = new List<OnCondition>()
            new OnConversationUpdateActivity()
            {
                Actions = WelcomeUserSteps("${Greeting()}")
            }
            ...
    }
    
    private static List<Dialog> WelcomeUserSteps(string message)
        {
            return new List<Dialog>()
            {
                // Iterate through membersAdded list and greet user added to the conversation.
                new Foreach()
                {
                    ItemsProperty = "turn.activity.membersAdded",
                    Actions = new List<Dialog>()
                    {
                        // Note: Some channels send two conversation update events - one for the Bot added to the conversation and another for user.
                        // Filter cases where the bot itself is the recipient of the message. 
                        new IfCondition()
                        {
                            Condition = "$foreach.value.name != turn.activity.recipient.name",
                            Actions = new List<Dialog>()
                            {
                                new SendActivity(message),
                                new BeginDialog(nameof(WelcomeDialog))
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            };
        }
    }
}

This works fine when running the bot locally using the Emulator or running the bot from Test Web Chat in Azure, but it does not work in LivePerson.

I've successfully hooked up and tested the connection to the bot from LivePerson via Direct Line: enter image description here

However, when the bot is started, and it's accessed via LivePerson's chat, the welcome message does not fire (there should be a welcome message then a question from the bot where the red square is): enter image description here

Looking at LivePerson's docs, they have an "The Welcome Event" section that talks about the bot greeting the users for bots configured as as "chat" (which is how this bot is configured in LivePerson)

Looking closer at how a chat is considered started for chat conversation bots, the docs state:

A chat conversation is considered started when the chat is routed to an agent. Best practice is for the agent to provide the first response. In this scenario, there is no text from the consumer to parse, thus the default ‘WELCOME’ event is utilized as a start point for the bot to prompt the user to provide input and progress the conversation. Ensure you have an ‘entry point’ in your bot that responds to the default ‘WELCOME’ action send by a new chat customer.

Then this code:

{
  // ...
  "type": "message",
  "text": "",
  "channelData": {
    "action": {
      "name": "WELCOME"
    }
  }
}

FYI: an "agent" in the context of LivePerson can mean an actual person OR a bot. Both are considered "agents", and when you add a new agent to LivePerson, one of the types available is "bot". So agent does not mean person in this example.

I'm not too sure how my bot (which uses bot framework v4 and Adaptive Dialogs) needs to be configured/implemented to have an entry point that responds to this WELCOME message.

I do know that I cannot use conversationUpdate (or in adaptive dialog speak, OnConversationUpdateActivity()), but I'm not too sure which adaptive dialog (or otherwise) I need to use somehow intercept the json WELCOME message to sent to my bot by LivePerson... OnEventActivity()? OnMessageActivity()? Something else?

Thanks!

Solution

  • The answer is summed up in the blog post I wrote after I figured it out: https://www.michaelgmccarthy.com/2021/03/13/sending-a-welcome-message-in-the-v4-bot-framework-via-direct-line-and-liveperson/