Learn about Ava

What is Ava?

Unit4 Advanced Virtual Agent (Ava) is available in Microsoft Teams. It helps you to:

• Manage the tasks in your task list with Task Assistance.
• Get instant answers to your questions with Real-Time Help.
• Get notified about things happening in your system.
• Discuss tasks with your colleagues with Team Discussion.

What can I do with Ava?

Ava can help you with a variety of tasks in Unit4 products. The functionalities available to you depend on:

• Your product subscriptions. See the Available functionalities and products.
• The permissions assigned to your user account.

To know what Ava can do for you:

1. Go to your chat with Ava in Microsoft Teams.
2. Type or say What can I do in Ava? or a similar request.
3. Ava will respond with a list of things it can help you with.

How do I talk to Ava?

Language

• Use short, simple phrases, such as Show my tasks.
• Do not use single words because these can confuse Ava.
• If Ava is unsure how to respond to your request, it will ask you to choose the correct response.
• Use the suggested prompts that Ava provides to help you navigate conversations. Just click on a suggested prompt to say it to Ava.

Switching between tasks

If Ava is busy with a task, you can switch to something else by only sending your next request. Ava will help with the new task.

Making choices with action buttons

Ava sends action buttons to show which actions you can choose.

Note: You cannot use buttons that were sent earlier in the chat as they are no longer valid. The only exception is the View button.

To use a button:

1. Click the action button once.
2. Give Ava time to complete the action.
3. Ava sends you a response based on your choice, and you can continue the conversation from there.

Warning: You must wait for a response. Repeatedly clicking on buttons while Ava is working may cause problems.

List of commands

You can use the following commands to perform some useful common functions:

What if Ava doesn't understand my request?

If Ava does not understand you or gives you an unexpected reply, you have two options:

• Reword your request and try using different key terms.
• Use Ava's provided suggestions for what you might want to say and do next.

Why do I need to sign in to my work or organisation account?

Ava needs access to your Unit4 account to help with your requests. Ava uses this access to communicate with your Unit4 products to assist you.

If you are not signed in and ask Ava something, it will prompt you to sign in. You can also sign in by saying sign in or log in and Ava will guide you through the process.

How do I sign out from Ava?

To sign out from your work or organization when using Ava:

1. Go to your chat with Ava in Microsoft Teams.
2. Type the sign out or log out commands.
3. You are signed out of your session with Ava. You must sign in again the next time you need help.

Warning: If you are using Ava on a device that is accessible to others, we strongly recommend you to sign out when you finish. This prevent others from potentially accessing and using Ava on your behalf.

Which languages are available? How do I change language?

Languages available

• English.
• Spanish.
• French.
• German.
• Dutch.
• Swedish.
• Norwegian.
• Danish.

More languages will be added in future. To get the most updated list:

1. Go to your chat with Ava in Microsoft Teams.
2. Type Which languages do you understand?.
3. Ava will respond with the list of languages it understands.

How to change languages

Previous considerations:

• Before you sign in to your Unit4 account, Ava uses the language that is set in Microsoft Teams.
• After signing in, Ava switches to the language selected in your Unit4 application language preferences.
• If no language is selected in the application, Ava continues to use the Microsoft Teams language.

To update your language preferences:

1. Go to your chat with Ava in Microsoft Teams.
2. Type the change language or change preferences command.
3. Ava will ask you which language you want to use and show you the available options.
4. Type the language you want to use.
5. Ava will switch to the new language and use it in all future conversations.

Note: Ava remembers your choice if you sign out and sign back in again.

Why does Ava cancel a chat?

If you are in a chat where Ava expects a response from you and does not get one within 20 minutes, Ava cancels the chat and is then ready to help you with a new task.

What preferences can I set?

Ava asks you to set the following preferences and remembers your choices until the next time you sign in:

• Language: If you change language, Ava remembers your choice. You change it again at any moment.
• Notifications: If enabled, Ava will send you notifications, such as informing you of tasks you have been assigned.

Does Ava understand emojis and GIFs?

Ava understands the most basic set of emojis, but not all. Ava does not understand GIFs. We advise against using emojis or GIFs.

How does Ava protect my privacy?

All information you send to Ava is stored in the Unit4 ecosystem under the same security policies as all other Unit4 data. However, the information you include in your chats with Ava is subject to the terms and conditions and privacy policies of your social media channel provider (Microsoft Teams) which you must accept to use their service, as well as the terms and conditions and privacy policies of the Microsoft Bot Framework upon which Ava is built.

See How Ava protects your privacy for more details about how your security and privacy are protected when using Ava.

Further information

You can find out more about Ava on Unit4 University4U and Docebo.