Shelf Answer Assist Integration with Kustomer: Installation and Configuration Guide



Document Version History


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1.0

Shelf

Initial release of the document.

17 November  2022

Active


Document Purpose

This document describes steps that are necessary to set up and configure Shelf Answer Assist Integration with Kustomer


In order to use the Answer Assist feature, Shelf Support needs to be contacted to configure your account. 


If you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@shelf.io or from the in-app chat support within the Shelf platform.

Shelf App Installation

Before installing the Shelf App on your Kustomer instance, make sure you have the relevant Admin level of permissions. 

To install the Shelf App, follow the below steps:
  1. Log in to your Customer account using your Admin-level credentials.
  2. Once logged in, find and select the Appsmenu in the sidebar panel. 

    Figure 1. Accessing the App Directory on Kustomer

     
  3. You are redirected to the App Directory page, where you can use the platform-wide search to look for the Shelf App to be installed. Enter Shelf in the search bar and hit the Enter button on your keyboard.
    If the search is successful, the Shelf App card is displayed underneath the search bar, as shown in Figure 1 above. 
  4. Click on the Shelf App card to continue the installation procedure.
  5. Once clicked, you get to the Shelf App installation window where you can see brief details about the application and its version. 

    Figure 2. Viewing details of Shelf App to be installed

  6. In the Shelf App installation window, find and click the Install button to start the installation. 
  7. Once clicked, a popup window is displayed listing permissions you need to have to install the Shelf App and warning you about what exactly you agree to by installing the application. If you agree, click the Install App button.

Figure 3. Confirming the Shelf App installation

Once the installation process is complete, you will get the respective notification to your email and see that the status of the Shelf App is changed accordingly. See Figure 4 below for details.

Figure 4. Verifying the Shelf App installation



Shelf App Updating

When the new version of the Shelf App is released and published in Kustomer, you may need to update your version of the app as well, in order to enjoy all the benefits of its improved features and functions. 
To update the Shelf App, you need to perform the following steps.
  1. Go to Kustomer’s App Directory page by finding and selecting the Appsmenu in the sidebar panel. 

    Figure 5. Accessing the App Directory page and Manage Apps menu in Kustomer

     
  2. Once in the App Directory page, find and select the Manage Apps menu. You are redirected to the page where you can see which apps have been installed in your Kustomer instance. In particular, you can see the Shelf App that you have previously installed. In case there is a new version of the app released and ready for implementation, the color of the label with the app version number turns yellow as in Figure 5 above. Additionally, Kustomer informs you that you need to take care of the app by showing the respective notification.
  3. Click anywhere in the card of the app that requires your attention. 
  4. In the window - the Shelf App page - that appears, find and click the Updatebutton.    

    Figure 6. Starting the Shelf App updating procedure

     
  5. Wait until the updating process is complete. If you see that the version label color is changed to green, it means that the Shelf App has been successfully updated to the newest version.    

    Figure 7. Verifying the Shelf App update completion

     
Now, you have successfully updated your Shelf App in Kustomer and can continue using it for your business needs.


Shelf App Activation

By default, the Shelf App is deactivated and needs to be activated after the installation. To do so, switch the App Active toggle on the Shelf App page on. 

Figure 8. Activating the Shelf App after installation

Once the Shelf App has been successfully installed and activated, you are able to see the Shelf widget in the control panel in the left part of the window. 

Figure 9. Viewing the Shelf App status and widget


Shelf App Settings

Once the Shelf App is installed and activated, it needs to be properly set to be fully operational. 

To do the needed settings, follow the below steps.
  1. Navigate to the App menu of the Kustomer sidebar panel.
  2. In the App options menu that expands, find and select the Shelf option.
  3. In the Shelf Answer Assist page that appears, fill in the needed fields with appropriate data.

Figure 10. Accessing and configuring the Shelf App settings in Kustomer


Jump below to find out what each of these settings is and what its purpose is.

  • Agent Assist configuration ID: it’s the identifier of your Answer Assist instance configuration, which can be found in: Shelf > Profile Settings > Admin Panel > Answer Assist Configurator > Your Answer Assist Configuration.

Figure 11. Accessing your Answer Assist Configuration page in Shelf


  • Region / Base Domain: It’s an URL address of your Answer Assist integration based on your region or base domain. If your account is in the United States, use shelf.io; if it's in Canada, use shelf-ca.com; finally, for EU accounts, use shelf-eu.com.

Once you have entered all the needed data in the abovementioned setting fields, click the Save Changes button to finish the completion of settings for your Answer Assist.

Figure 12. Saving the configured Answer Assist settings

After finishing this step of your Answer Assist setup, you can proceed to the next stage of the configuration procedure, which is creating the contact reason in Kustomer.


Contact Reason Creation in Kustomer

The next stage of the Shelf integration configuration on the Kustomer side is to create a contact reason for your conversations on this platform. Under “contact reason” here we mean a keyword that is expected to be recognized by the Shelf Answer Assist and used as a suggestion ground.

To do so, perform the below steps.
  1. Navigate to the Kustomer Settings menu and search for Klassesoption there.

    Figure 13. Accessing the Settings menu and search for Klasses on Kustomer

     
  2. Once the needed option is found, select it to get to its page. When there, find and select the Conversationtile to start adding. 

    Figure 14. Accessing the Klasses and Conversation attributes

     
  3. In the Conversation window, find and click the Create Attributebutton to start creating the needed attribute.     

    Figure 15. Starting the new attribute creation in Kustomer

  4. In the next window that appears, fill in the needed fields: add a name for the new attribute, select the type for it from the dropdown list (e.g. single line text), and select how its values are to be arranged - as a list (Option List) or a standalone item (Single Value). Once done, click Createto finish creating the new attribute.

    Figure 16. Populating the new attribute fields

  5. Once done, the new attribute is created and can be used for context suggestions in the Shelf Answer Assist in Kustomer.

    Figure 17. Viewing the created attribute

  6. Copy and save the new attribute - dogBreedStr - for further use in the Shelf configurations.
Once you have finished creating and configuring the new attribute for your conversations in Kustomer, you can open any conversation to make sure this new attribute is displayed. 

Figure 18. Viewing the created attribute in the conversation details


Now you need to proceed to make some configurations on the Shelf side. Refer to the chapter below for details.


Configurations in Shelf and in Answer Assist

The key configuration for the Shelf integration on Kustomer would be to configure the relevant content mappings and make the relevant settings in the Answer Assist Configurator on the Shelf side. 

There are several prerequisites to be satisfied before you start the configuration process on the Shelf side:
  • Content Mappings feature needs to be enabled for your account
  • Libraries with content used as suggestions for external context need to be available
  • You should have the Admin role on Shelf.

Detailed information about content mappings and their configuration for your Answer Assist can be found in the respective chapter - Enabling and Configuring the Context-Mapped Suggestions - in the Answer Assist End-to-End Guide. 


Verification of the Shelf Answer Assist Operation in Kustomer

Once all the needed settings and configurations have been implemented, you can go back to Kustomer and verify that the Shelf Answer Assist works properly there, that is - provides the relevant context suggestions in the course of conversations with your customers. 
If the suggestions are provided and they are in line with customer questions, it means that your Answer Assist has been properly installed and configured in Kustomer.

Figure 19. Verifying the context suggestions provision by the Shelf Answer Assist in Kustomer