The IT service helpdesk at San Francisco State University fields hundreds and thousands of service tickets every month. Many of these service requests are questions or issues that can be resolved with a mechanized or “canned” response. The obvious benefit of mechanized responses is that the service desk is able to handle more volume with existing or fewer staff. One methodology to enable the use of mechanized responses is AI Chatbots. Deploying AI (Artificial Intelligent) Chatbots requires an existing Content Management System infrastructure such as Drupal or WordPress. At the CSU, most IT departments have a webpage interface so that faculty, staff or students can fill out a webform that automatically generates a service ticket.
This project allowed SFSU to create an interface to their IT service desk information and define rules about the way the chatbot will interface with the information. As an example, users can have a conversation with a chatbot regarding a password change. The chatbot then sends the users the steps and webpage where their password can be changed. The project also explored an announcement or news chatbot on the campus home page if students have questions regarding tuition payment dates or campus closures.
Principal Investigator
Srikanth Danapal , San Francisco State University
Grant Cycle
Spring 2017
