On August 12, The Centre and Information Systems & Technology (IST) launched the chatbot, an AI bot built on Microsoft’s Azure “QnAMaker” platform, with custom code and reporting around the core Azure platform. As part of the pilot phase of this project, the bot is to provide 24/7 service to students by answering commonly asked questions. So far, the bot, which is mobile responsive, will answer questions related to OSAP, financial aid, transcripts and other official documents, student record and financial account.
The success of this leading-edge pilot project has been the result of collaborative efforts of several departments across campus, including The Centre, Creative Services, Office of the Registrar, Graduate Studies & Postdoctoral Affairs, Student Financial Services, Student Success Office, and Information Systems & Technology. IST project lead, Shah Chandon, has been integral to the successful launch of this new tool having introduced the product to the project team and working closely with Microsoft senior technical support to customize the tool to meet the needs of the University.
Planned next steps
The bot will be tested for performance and any issues will be fixed. Then, over the fall 2019 and winter 2020 terms, the bot’s knowledge base will be expanded to include other student service departments’ questions and answers. The public launch is planned for spring 2020 when the set of campus questions and answers will be expanded further.
Learn more
To learn more about this project, or to provide input, please contact Nancy Heide, director, The Centre, (nheide@uwaterloo.ca).
Thank you to The Centre and Registrar's Office for contributions to this article.
