Abacus.AI - Microsoft Teams Connector Documentation

The Abacus.AI Microsoft Teams App allows you to interact with your AI models directly within Microsoft Teams. Follow the instructions below to set up and use the Teams connector.

• Setup Instructions
• Customization
• Permissions
• Configuring Chatbot Settings
• Usage Instructions
• Troubleshooting and FAQ

Setup Instructions

To set up the Abacus.AI Teams Bot in your Microsoft Teams environment, follow these steps:

Step 1: Add the App from Microsoft Teams Store

1. Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the Apps section.
2. Use the search bar to find the AbacusAI app, or click here to view the app in the Microsoft Teams Store.
3. Select the app and choose where to add it within Teams.

Step 2: Set up the AbacusAI Bot

1. Add the bot to a team and confirm the setup.

Step 3: Test the Bot

1. Test the app in the channel to ensure it responds as intended.

Customizing the Abacus.AI Bot Appearance and Description

1. Navigate to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center to manage and customize the app settings.
2. Customize the appearance, descriptions, and icons as needed.

• Messaging Connector Default Application: Set the default application that will be called from Teams.
• Short display name: Edit the display name of the app.
• Short description: Provide a concise description under 80 characters.
• Full description: Offer a detailed description of the app.
• App icon: Upload a full-color PNG icon (192x192).

Steps to Limit Access to the Abacus.AI Bot in Your Microsoft Teams

1. First, navigate to your Microsoft Teams Admin Center - Permission Policies, as shown below. Here, you can create a new permission policy that you can assign to users, or you can edit an existing policy, including the global policy listed here that applies to all users (again must be a Teams admin)

2. For either option, in order to affect the AbacusAI bot that you downloaded in the previous step, you must edit the Custom apps portion of the permissions policy.Although there are a few options that work here, we recommend Block specific apps and allow all others, so that you can block the AbacusAI app for all users you don't want to use it. You will have to apply the policy to all of those users if you pick this route.

3. Once you've changed the policies you'd like, navigate to Microsoft Teams Admin Center - Manage Users, as shown below, and select View Policies for the users who you'd like to change the policies of. Here, you can add or remove policies you've created / edited for users

Configuring Chatbot Settings

To configure various settings for your chatbots, visit the external admin page -> Admin > Connectors.

Here, you can select the checkboxes for:

• Review Initial Acknowledgement: Provide a message that the query has been received.
• Customize Default Messages: Set the welcome message, disclaimer, whitelabel name, and default message.

• Welcome Message: Set the initial message users will see when they start interacting with the bot.
• Disclaimer: This is a message that will be appended to every response from the bot to provide any necessary legal disclaimers or other important information.
• Whitelabel Name: Choose a custom name for the bot that reflects your branding.
• Default Message: Define a default message for unrecognized queries.

Examples:

• Welcome Message: "Welcome to BotChat. How may I assist you?"
• Disclaimer: "AI Generated Response from: Abacus.AI. Please review before using."
• Whitelabel Name: "Abacus.AI"
• Default Message: "To start, you can ask our bot a question using the format: @<bot_name> <query>. You can then converse with the chatbot in the chat without using <chatbot_name> prefix. This will continue to use the original chatbot you invoked. To switch bots, simply use a new bot name. If you want to see a list of available bot names, type @list. To end your current conversation, type clear."

Usage Instructions

Engage in a dialogue with the Abacus bot, which will remember your previous queries within the same conversation.

Instructions for DMs:

• Query the bot using the format: <external_bot_name> <query>
• Continue the conversation with subsequent queries.
• Switch bots by invoking a new bot name.
• Use the list command to see available bot names.

Instructions for Group Chats:

• Query the bot using the format: @Abacus <external_bot_name> <query>
• Continue the conversation with subsequent queries.
• Switch bots by invoking a new bot name.
• Use the @Abacus list command to see available bot names.

Instructions for Public Channels:

• Query the bot using the format: @Abacus <external_bot_name> <query>
• Continue the conversation in the thread created by the bot.
• Switch bots by invoking a new bot in a new or different channel thread.
• Use the @Abacus list command to see available bot names.

Updating the Abacus.AI Bot

To ensure the bot has the latest features and fixes, follow the standard method of updating apps in Microsoft Teams.

Teams Transcripts Connector

The Teams Transcripts Connector is specifically designed for scraping and analyzing data from Teams. It focuses on extracting detailed information from Teams communications, such as chat messages, channel posts, and potentially meeting transcripts.

If you want to pull that data from Teams, please see the Teams Transcript connector here.

Troubleshooting and FAQ for the Teams Connector

For any issues or questions regarding the Teams connector, please refer to the troubleshooting section or contact Abacus.AI support for assistance.