Automate workflow and internal communication processes and provide customer service without apps using messaging and interactive botsAbout This Book* Create interactive bots on platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Kik, Telegram, and Skype to automate workflows* Create a bot that works with SQL Server and Skype to deal with HR requests within a company* Work with some of the most cutting-edge and widely-used APIs and messaging platforms to create interactive customer-facing experiences and automate workWho This Book Is ForThis is a book for Node.js developers who want to build powerful bots for customer-facing and internal workflow automation.What you will learn* Create a bot template that responds to e-mails based on certain ruling criteria* Interact with SMS and perform some basic Natural Language Processing using the Twilio API for Node.js* Work with the Skype Web SDK and Node.js to create a bot that works with SQL Server and Skype* Build an automated Flight Information Agent bot using the Twitter and Google Flights APIs* Use the Slack API to create a team collaboration task management (to-do list) bot* Create a scheduling bot for teams using the Facebook Messenger API* Interact with BotKit along with MySQL and Amazon S3 to create a document management bot in Node.js* Leverage ICR and Azure Table Storage from Node.js to create a bug tracking bot* Integrate Force.com API and Kik to create a Salesforce CRM botIn DetailThe bots are taking over! Messenger-based bots are expected to become the dominant software UI for the next generation of applications. Slack, Telegram, and Facebook are driving a new approach where "threads are the new apps."This book shows you how to create work automation bots that interact with users through Slack, e-mail, Skype, Twitter, and more using Node.js. You'll learn to create conversational UIs for your Node.js apps, and then use those UIs to provide workflow automation tools. You will handle customer service requests that come in through messenger systems.Then, you'll interpret the natural language to reveal the user's intent and respond accordingly. You will also learn how to automate processes that involve several people, such as processing holiday requests, arranging meetings, or sending updated reports on time. Last, you'll create bots that can handle and manipulate documents, URLs, and other items of content.By the end of the book, you will understand the importance of bots and why they are beneficial to any organization.

With so many flesh-and-blood humans needing support, digital assistants can offer a valuable service finding out what users need and improving the basic process of online data gathering. Building Chatbots with Microsoft Bot Framework and Node.js walks readers concept-by-concept through the process of building their own capable chatbot. With this in-depth, practical book readers learn the basics of chatbot design, development, and deployment by building a virtual health assistant. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

The next step in the evolution of user interfaces is here. Chatbots let your users interact with your service in their own natural language. Use free and open source tools along with Ruby to build creative, useful, and unexpected interactions for users. Take advantage of the Lita framework's step-by-step implementation strategy to simplify bot development and testing. From novices to experts, chatbots are an area in which everyone can participate. Exercise your creativity by creating chatbot skills for communicating, information, and fun. Developers of all skill levels can craft user experiences that are natural, easy to use, and most of all, fun. Build chatbots using free, open source tools and launch them to popular chat platforms like Slack and Amazon's Alexa. Use the Ruby programming language and the Lita bot framework to unlock fun and powerful chat abilities such as sending text messages and emails, creating new meme images, driving a robot around the room, and talking out loud on a home speaker. Use frameworks available in Ruby and Node.js to get started quickly. Create simple chatbot skills that respond quickly to basic requests. Chain skills together for more complex interactions. Take advantage of test-driven development techniques to build your bots with confidence. Coordinate tasks with colleagues via bot. Connect with external APIs to provide users with data they need. Extract data information from web pages when an API isn't available. Expand your bot's reach with SMS and e-mail messaging. Deploy a chatbot to a host so users can interact with it on their schedule. Build a more responsive, easy-to-use interface for your users today. What You Need: You don't need much to get started with chatbots. A Mac or Linux computer with a recent version of Ruby is recommended. Windows users can keep up with a free virtual machine running Linux. You'll deploy your chatbots for free (or at least cheaply) on cloud hosting platforms like Heroku and Digital Ocean.

Build intelligent and smart conversational interfaces using Microsoft Bot Framework About This Book Develop various real-world intelligent bots from scratch using Microsoft Bot Framework Integrate your bots with most popular conversation platforms such as Skype, Slack, and Facebook Messenger Flaunt your bot building skills in your organization by thoroughly understanding and implementing the bot development concepts such as messages (rich text and pictures), dialogs, and third-party authentication and calling Who This Book Is For This book is for developers who are keen on building powerful services with great and interactive bot interface. Experience with C# is needed. What You Will Learn Set up a development environment and install all the required software to get started programming a bot Publish a bot to Slack, Skype, and the Facebook Messenger platform Develop a fully functional weather bot that communicates the current weather in a given city Help your bot identify the intent of a text with the help of LUIS in order to make decisions Integrate an API into your bot development Build an IVR solution Explore the concept of MicroServices and see how MicroServices can be used in bot development Develop an IoT project, deploy it, and connect it to a bot In Detail Bots help users to use the language as a UI and interact with the applications from any platform. This book teaches you how to develop real-world bots using Microsoft Bot Framework. The book starts with setting up the Microsoft Bot Framework development environment and emulator, and moves on to building the first bot using Connector and Builder SDK. Explore how to register, connect, test, and publish your bot to the Slack, Skype, and Facebook Messenger platforms. Throughout this book, you will build different types of bots from simple to complex, such as a weather bot, a natural speech and intent processing bot, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) bot for a bank, a facial expression recognition bot, and more from scratch. These bots were designed and developed to teach you concepts such as text detection, implementing LUIS dialogs, Cortana Intelligence Services, third-party authentication, Rich Text format, Bot State Service, and microServices so you can practice working with the standard development tools such as Visual Studio, Bot Emulator, and Azure. Style and approach This step-by-step guide takes a learn-while-doing approach, delivering the practical knowledge and experience you need to design and build real-world Bots. The concepts come to you on an as-needed basis while developing a bot so you increase your programming knowledge and experience at the same time.

JavaScript Robotics is on the rise. Rick Waldron, the lead author of this book and creator of the Johnny-Five platform, is at the forefront of this movement. Johnny-Five is an open source JavaScript Arduino programming framework for robotics. This book brings together fifteen innovative programmers, each creating a unique Johnny-Five robot step-by-step, and offering tips and tricks along the way. Experience with JavaScript is a prerequisite.

Learn about bot programming, using all the latest and greatest programming languages, including Python, Go, and Clojure, so you can feel at ease writing your Telegram bot in a way that suits you. This book shows how you can use bots for just about everything: they connect, they respond, they enhance your job search chances, they do technical research for you, they remind you about your last train, they tell the difference between a horse and a zebra, they can tell jokes, and they can cheer you up in the middle of the night. Bots used to be hard to set up and enhance, but with the help of Building Telegram Bots you’ll see how the Telegram platform is now making bot creation easier than ever. You will begin by writing a simple bot at the start and then gradually build upon it. The simple yet effective Telegram Bot API makes it very easy to develop bots in a number of programming languages. Languages featured in the book include Node.js, Java, Rust, and Elixir. This book encourages you to not only learn the basic process of creating a bot but also lets you spend time exploring its possibilities. By the end of the book you will be able create your own Telegram Bot with the programming language of your choice. What You Will LearnCarry out simple bot design and deployment in various programming languages including Ruby, D, Crystal, Nim, and C++ Create engaging bot interactions with your users Add payments and media capabilities to your bots Master programming language abstraction Who This Book Is For Engineers who want to get things done. People who are curious. Programming beginners. Advanced engineers with little time to do research.

Explore the concept of bots and discover the motivation behind working with these new apps with messaging platforms. This book is an accessible resource teaching the basic concepts behind bot design and implementation. Each chapter builds on previous topics and, where appropriate, real working code is shown that implements the concepts. By just picking up a code editor, you can start creating smart, engaging, and useful bot experiences today. Practical Bot Development will teach you how to create your own bots on platforms like Facebook Messenger and Slack, incorporate extension APIs, and apply AI and ML algorithms in the cloud. By the end of this book, you'll be equipped with the information to reach thousands of new users with the bots you create! The book is a great resource for those looking to harness the benefits of building their own bots and leveraging the platform feasibility of them. What You’ll Learn Understand the general architecture of a bot Distinguish between a great bot experience versus a bad bot experience. Explore the ideas behind natural language processing and apply them to bot development Implement real Messenger, Slack, and custom channel bots using Node.js and the Microsoft Bot Builder framework Deploy bots to Facebook Messenger and Slack Who This Book Is For Engineers, hobbyists, and the design oriented community looking looking for an introduction to the technologies and concepts involved in building bots. The experience level could be from beginner to expert, although some familiarity with Node.js and APIs will be assumed.