Greeting management

Overview

To make sure your AI Agent makes a good first impression, you have total control over how your AI Agent starts conversations with end users. You can build your Greeting with modular blocks, so you can control the content of the AI Agent’s messaging and the pacing it delivers content with, and customize content based on end users’ needs.

How variables work in Greetings

You can create Variables to capture or set a piece of information, so you can use the value saved in the variable later. Variables are useful for:

  • Referring to basic pieces of information in a conversation (e.g., get the end user’s name so you can refer back to it later)
  • Customizing content based on metavariables about the end user (e.g,. which country they’re located in)
  • Dynamically collecting information with auto-capture variables (e.g., if you create an auto-capture variable for the end user’s account number, your AI Agent will check to see if it has that information, and if not, it will ask the end user autonomously)

You can use the same variable in other places where you can use blocks in your AI Agent, too - your AI Agent will know not to ask for the same piece of information twice, and if you do want it to ask twice, it’ll know to always use the newest value.

These variables only work within the structured content you create with blocks, and are separate from information that your AI Agent collects for Actions.

Use cases

Greetings help you create a consistent and personalized first impression for end users.

  • Initial engagement: Create personalized welcome messages and collect end user details (such as name or email) at the start of a conversation.
  • Personalized content delivery: Show different content based on end user attributes, such as displaying premium support options for gold-level account holders or region-specific information based on location.
  • Schedule-based routing: Offer live agent Handoff during business hours or provide alternative options (such as email) during off hours.

Capabilities & configuration

Greetings support modular components that you can combine to build customized conversation openings.

  • Welcome messages: Deliver text messages up to 320 characters, with optional AI-powered improvements and message variations.
  • Information capture: Prompt end users for details (such as name, email, or phone number) and save them to Variables for later use.
  • Conditional content: Display different content based on end user attributes using if-then-else logic.
  • Schedule-based content: Deliver different content based on time of day or day of week, such as offering live agent handoff during business hours.
  • Selectable options: Present a list of choices from a static list or dynamically populated from an API response.
  • Authentication: Prompt end users to sign in before sharing sensitive information or allowing account changes.
  • API requests: Make GET API calls and save responses to variables.
  • Links: Direct end users to websites, email addresses, phone numbers, or SMS.
  • Email handoff: Send emails as part of the Greeting flow.
  • Version history: Access and restore previous versions of your Greeting from the last 30 days.

Quick start

Customize your Greeting in a few steps.

To edit your Greeting:

1

On the Ada dashboard, go to Config > AI AGENT > Greeting.

2

Edit the default Text blocks with your own welcome message.

3

Click Save.

Your AI Agent immediately uses the updated Greeting when starting conversations. For more options, including adding different block types and variables, see Edit your Greeting.

Implementation & usage

Configure and manage your Greeting to control how your AI Agent opens conversations.

Edit your Greeting

By default, your Greeting already contains a few blocks containing some generic content. You can edit that content directly, or you can change your Greeting by adding or removing blocks.

To edit your Greeting:

  1. On the Ada dashboard, go to Config > AI AGENT > Greeting.

  2. On the Greeting page, edit the blocks that comprise your greeting. You can:

    • Edit the existing content in a block directly
    • Drag additional blocks from the block drawer on the right side of your screen into your greeting, then add content in them
    • Click the Delete icon on a block to remove it

    Depending on the way your AI Agent is configured, the blocks available to you may vary. Click a block name below to learn more:

    BlockDescription
    Text blockDelivers simple text messages to customers. Each block appears as a single chat bubble.
    Link blockAdds links to direct customers to websites, support articles, or communication methods.
    Capture blockPrompts customers for information and saves it as a variable for use in other blocks.
    Set Variable blockAutomatically defines variables that you can use in other blocks.
    Conditional blockTargets specific content to different customers depending on variables associated with them.
    Request blockMakes an API call and saves all or part of the response as a variable.
    List Option blockOffers customers a list of selectable items and saves their selection as a variable.
    Sign In and Sign Out blocksAuthorizes customers by asking them to sign in to their account.
    Fetch Chat Metadata blockAdds the chat transcript and/or customer information from a conversation as variables.
    Email blockHands customers off via email with customizable fields.
    Scheduled blockSets days of the week and time ranges for your AI Agent to deliver different responses.
  1. At the bottom of the screen, click Save.

    Your AI Agent saves your changes.

Manage Greeting versions

Your AI Agent saves a history of all edits you’ve made to your greeting over the last 30 days. You can revert your changes to your greeting back to any of these saved versions.

  1. On the Ada dashboard, go to Config > AI AGENT > Greeting. The Greeting page opens.
  2. At the top of the page, you can see when the greeting was last edited. Click that text to open a pane that contains a list of versions of the greeting over the last 30 days. You can click a version to see the greeting at that time.
  3. Optionally, for significant versions, you can add a name and description for future edits. To do this, hover over the version, click the More options button that appears, filling in the Version Title and Description fields as required, then clicking Save.
  4. To revert to a previous version of your Greeting, select the version you want to go back to. Then, at the top of the page, click Restore Version. Review your changes to ensure you’re not reverting anything you want to keep, then click Save to save your reverted changes.

For recommendations on writing effective Greetings, see Best practices.