Oracle Fusion can now be integrated with ODA using “DA as an Agent”

Updated with documentation links at the bottom (15/05/2023)

The new releases of ODA (23.02) and Oracle Fusion Service (23A) give us the ability to have DA as an agent support in Oracle Fusion. Up until now, this was only supported for Oracle B2C.

This is where we stand now!

Oracle Digital Assistant supports integration with the following chat services:

• Oracle B2C Service Version 19C and later. Starting with Version 20A, the service supports Oracle Inlay Toolkit inlays. Starting with Version 23A, it supports Web Chat for Service, which is based on the Oracle Web SDK that is available for other types of digital assistants.
• Oracle Fusion Service version 23A and later. Your Digital Assistant instance must be paired with a subscription to a Fusion-based Oracle Cloud Applications service.

https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/paas/digital-assistant/use-chatbot/da-agent.html#GUID-EE1FCC53-F761-4DEA-906F-3010164FED0A

Here is a quick recap on the DA as an Agent Framework

DA as an agent enables you to transform your digital assistant into an automated agent that can effectively participate in B2C/Fusion chats, just like live agents.

With this feature, the chat begins in the Oracle B2C/Fusion Chat Service and the request can be routed to either a human agent or a digital assistant, based on the B2C/Fusion rules you set up.

The conversations take place in a unified platform, regardless of whether the agent is a human or a digital assistant, providing a seamless customer experience.

Check this presentation which has an overview of the available integration strategies, and this one that explores the DA as an agent solution.

ODA Channel Setup

So basically, the framework to connect to Oracle B2C has now been extended to support Oracle Fusion as well.

The configuration from the ODA side is exactly the same as for B2C.

In Development > Channels we need to add a Da as Agent Channel

The below configuration properties should come from Fusion. Also noteworthy to mention that the Digital Assistant instance must be paired with a Fusion-based Oracle Cloud Applications service.

We need to Route To the DA/Skill that is built to work as an agent.

Another thing to have in mind is that the exposed DA/Skill will need a dialog state that allows DA as agent to transfer a request to a human.

Fusion Setup

Here’s an overview of the steps required to set up ODA for this functionality:

• Enable Chat
• Configure the chat server in Identity Cloud Service.
• Create your agents and queues.
• Set up Digital Assistant as an agent channel in ODA.
• Set up your business rules.

https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/b2b-service/23a/faiec/use-oracle-digital-assistant-as-an-agent.html#u30239454

*We will be updating this topic with extra material to help users set up Fusion

The new Web Chat for Service (WCFS)

This feature enables you to customize the chat widget by using features present in the SDK. For both B2C and Fusion, this will be available from 23A.

To configure WCFS for Fusion, see the Integrating Oracle Digital Assistant Chatbots section of Administering Oracle Engagement Engine.

Compared to the chat inlay, which is exclusively available to B2C customers, the WCFS chat widget offers a whole new range of customization and branding options. Although B2C customers can continue to use the chat inlay, upgrading to WCFS would provide greater flexibility and is worth considering.

What does this all look like?

Last but not least – Incident Creation

You can now use the Incident Creation component to create a Service Request in Oracle Fusion Service. This is also the same as what we already had for B2C.

Conclusion

The Oracle Digital Assistant integrated as an agent with Oracle Fusion, can improve the speed and efficiency of customer support while freeing up human agents for more high-value activities. This is one of the strongest use cases out there for conversational AI.

UPDATE: Documentation

Fusion Service documentation https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/fusion-service/fairs/use-oracle-digital-assistant-as-an-agent.html#u30239454 – Chapter 14 – (how to set up DA user, queue, assignment rule, IDCS, DA as Agent channel and authentication service)

DCS documentation https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/fusion-service/faids/index.html (how to set up WCFS client)

EE documentation: https://documentation.custhelp.com/euf/assets/devdocs/engagementengine/index.html (how to use the engagement engine in more detail)