Control the system
Five layers matter more than a model name
- 01
Approved sources
Version product, help and policy content that the assistant may use.
- 02
Answer policy
Define uncertainty, prohibited topics, citations and personal-data rules.
- 03
Handoff thresholds
Transfer buying intent, complaints, sensitive data and repeated uncertainty.
- 04
Teams context
Pass the question, relevant summary, language and minimum visitor context.
- 05
Quality loop
Review bad answers, transfers, abandonment and human corrections.
Different product approaches
Own Microsoft stack, packaged AI or an existing bot
| Approach | Documented candidate | Primary check |
|---|---|---|
| Own Microsoft AI | WebChat with Foundry and Power Automate | Azure, Premium and consumption costs plus operating ownership |
| Packaged models | Social Intents with ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude by plan | training, conversation and privacy limits |
| Virtual assistants | uWebChat | model, data flow, translation and handoff |
| Existing bot platform | Captivate with GPT, Watson and Amazon Lex | version, context transfer, compatibility and price |
Handoff contract
Give the human enough context, not every possible datum
- original question and a relevant conversation summary
- sources used or the reason no source was found
- handoff reason and urgency
- language, entry page and voluntarily supplied contact details
- a clear status for visitor and agent
- the ability to stop the AI and correct the record
Acceptance test
Test difficult questions before launch
- outdated prices and features that do not exist
- ambiguous, multilingual and intentionally false premises
- personal, medical, legal and abusive content
- prompt injection and requests for internal information
- buying intent, cancellation, complaint and urgent escalation
- knowledge-source, AI or Teams connection failure