Chatbots based on eXpress support processing text commands and clicks on interactive buttons, handle system events and more. Almost any repetitive pattern within the corporate digital ecosystem can be automated with a robot.
For example, in there are bots for keeping a list of tasks and voting in group chats. These and others are available to users of paid plans. But for specific tasks, especially those involving integration with third-party systems, an off-the-shelf solution may not be suitable. In this case, you will need
What is a chatbot?
This is a programme whose interaction takes place inside the messenger in a separate or group chat. Interaction takes place through the user's account, as with any user. At the same time, all reactions of the programme are limited by an algorithm and can be influenced only through changes in settings and program code. If some tasks are limited to receiving, automated processing and forwarding of data, it is likely to be easier and cheaper to create a bot for them.
What chatbots are used for in corporate communications
First of all, in the corporate segment for collecting support requests. Then other solutions began to appear, such as the robot for registering sick leave, obtaining certificates, searching for contacts, and writing off labour costs, which is in demand among eXpress users. All of them are being implemented to automate processes, make them more transparent and accessible at the lowest possible cost.
You can connect a chatbot to the corporate server from the administration panel. Settings of connected web applications and their usage statistics, if supported, are also available there. Ready-made solutions are available in a special catalogue. Special tasks can be developed in-house or ordered from a vendor. Let's look at examples.
Examples of chatbots on the eXpress.ms platform
Some bots are enabled on corporate servers by default. For example:
- Conference Notifier bot notifies users about upcoming conferences;
- Notifications bot is used to send messages to global chat;
- Recordings bot — to receive notifications when call recordings are ready.
«HR-bot» takes on the tasks of issuing 2-NDFL, 182-n, etc. certificates. The user presses a button in chat with the robot, the programme sends a request to the database, retrieves the certificate from there and sends it back with a reply message. In a minute, something is done that in some companies is still only possible by requesting it from the HR department.
Support Bot helps to search for instructions in the corporate knowledge base and submit requests to the support team in the "question–answer" format. This makes it easier for the employee to explain the essence of the problem, and for the support team to understand the task. This saves time for clarifying the details important for the support team in the request for each ticket.
Meeting Bot is an example of a calendar-integrated bot. It is used to create and manage meetings with support for viewing schedules, informing participants about changes, attaching files, setting reminders with flexible settings.
These web applications centralise the routine into one familiar eXpress chat window interface, which is more convenient, faster, safer and easier 99 times out of 100.
Examples of using chatbots
Support for chatbots in eXpress was one of the strong arguments in favour of integrating the solution, which is confirmed by the cases of Rosatom, Nornickel and a number of other companies. For example, Nornickel used Nika, a virtual assistant integrated into the corporation's processes and digital infrastructure, before switching from a popular public platform to eXpress.
That's why it was important to keep Nika during the move, which the eXpress team managed to do without any difficulties. The details of the integration are described in
"Rosatom has integrated eXpress as the main communication channel for more than 10,000 employees in 2023. Among other expectations from the platform was the ability to use it to digitise processes. For this purpose, the service supports Smart Apps and bots.
At the first stage of integration, Rosatom ordered the development and implementation of bots for business trips and employee health care (Health Check). Also, access to the previously used mobile assistant was implemented in this format. Details in
Integrating off-the-shelf interactive bots and developing their own - to automate and digitise processes - is in the plans of many companies using eXpress and superapps based on it within their corporate digital infrastructure. In particular, a software distributor that recently switched from MS Teams to a domestic product - eXpress - is already implementing it.
How chatbots work on the eXpress.ms platform
The eXpress platform has a separate microservice BotX for their work. Through it the programme interacts with the platform and vice versa via RESTful HTTP API. When an application needs to perform an action, for example, write a message to a user from the bot account, it makes a request to the BotX API. If the user sends a reverse command, it goes there first - to the microservice - and from there goes to the bot via the Bot API. Literally, the microservice is the negotiator and filter needed for correct communication between the bot and the user. The article is not for experts in development, so the essence is greatly simplified.
An important point in the work of bots in eXpress is related to the decentralisation of servers. There are two main types of servers - corporate and public. Only corporate servers support chatbots. Moreover, the use of bots on different servers must be integrated separately, for example, so that requests from users of one server to users of another are delivered correctly through the bot. Since a message sent through a bot from server A will come to an account on server B from another bot working on server B.
Ready-made solutions from the catalogue can be connected from the administration panel. Chatbots have two interfaces - user and administrator. The first one is required for use, the second one - for management. For example, the "Congratulations Bot" for automating the sending of congratulations to employees in a group chat in the administration mode allows you to change the text of messages, add and delete recipients and dates of sending congratulations.
You can develop a bot with a unique set of features on any platform. eXpress supports the official python library pybotx for working with APIs. More details with examples on the technical side of the issue are written in the documentation of BOT API and BOTX API
How to develop your own bot on the express.ms platform
Understanding the order of development on the eXpress platform will help in assessing deadlines, the importance of the terms of reference, and the essence of the overall process.
To start development, it is necessary to identify and describe the processes that it will implement, and according to them to draw up the terms of reference. The most visual and understandable way of describing them are step-by-step diagrams that make it clear who does what and in what order. In the end, these schemes will form the basis of the bot's algorithm. But at the stage of their compilation it is more important to think about the exact order of actions than about the ways of their software automation.
The specification is built around the description of the result - the functionality of the bot. This document is needed to explain to the developer what functions should be included in the bot and what limitations should be taken into account. For example, it may be about transmitting sensitive data. In this case, the specification should include this point and define security protocols, such as regulated access and recording of all requests to the bot from users.
The desired result and constraints determine the stack used for development: programming language, frameworks, libraries. The stack will also need to be harmonised so that the finished bot is fully compatible with the corporate ecosystem. It is banal, but most often the deadlines of outsourced chatbot development projects are disrupted due to insufficiently detailed terms of reference.
Developing a bot is programming the algorithm of its work. Although there is an official supported library and implementation examples for chatbots under eXpress, this does not make it possible to write the functional part without debugging and testing. The more restrictions, the more resources and time development will require. Especially resource-intensive in practice are integrations, for example, when you need to receive data from one service, process it in another and return the result as a response to a user request.
Describing the process may seem dauntingly complex and resource-intensive. In reality, this is not always the case, especially if the development will be done by an inhouse or official vendor - the eXpress.ms chatbot development team.
What a chatbot looks like on the eXpress platform
The bot's interface can be anything you want it to be. For example, it can accept commands with fixed syntax, respond to any messages, handle button presses, external or system events, such as updates to the integrated database or the appearance of posts in certain channels.
In the administrative panel, bots are accounts with customisable access rights. The server administrator can see the ID of this account, change access levels for user groups and restrict tracking of certain categories of events. For example, it is possible to open access only for local users - registered on the same server, or also for trusted users - from trusted (trusted) CTS.
eXpress.ms develops custom chatbots and advises developers on how to use the platform
With a request for chatbot development, when there is no inhouse team of programmers, it is better to contact the platform vendor. The eXpress.ms company has a division that deals with custom development of messenger-based chatbots. The level of expertise of the vendor's developers is higher than that of freelancers or an external studio. Therefore, they do not need time to familiarise themselves with the platform, and this significantly reduces the release date of the product.
In addition to direct development, eXpress.ms helps in a consulting format. Even the most comprehensive documentation does not cover 100% of questions about the platform, which has not yet managed to gather a large community of third-party developers around it. Therefore, consulting support is almost always needed by developers who have not written eXpress-specific bots before.
Corporate communications platform eXpress Nornickel, Rosatom and other large Russian state and private companies use superapps based on the platform. Each has its own scale, tasks, and specific requirements, including those partially realised through chatbots and embedded applications. For example, a clear successful example of integration for a large chain in the HoReCa segment is the following case of moving to the corporate messenger eXpress of the coffee shop chain Kofemania.
The eXpress platform is flexible and can be customised to suit any business. You can contact our managers by phone , mail sales@express.ms or messengers for counselling and presentation. We provide a full cycle of support at all stages of co-operation - from selection of to the requirements and capabilities of the customer's company up to the full integration of the solution.
