Knowledge Base

Overview

The Knowledge Base is a repository of information that your learners can access through chatting with the Mainstay bot. When a learner sends in a message (outside of a Live Chat or Script), our MatchMaker AI looks through your Knowledge Base to find the best match. 

How does matching work?

A learner's incoming message is passed through a few different systems to ensure we send the best response available.

1. First, we check for sensitive keywords to identify emergency situations. We highly recommend setting up email escalations for these so you can be notified immediately.
2. We also check for #command keywords to see if the learner intends to trigger a #Command.
3. Next, we check for entities, like different names for your institution (like "Mainstay University" vs. "The University of Mainstay"). Learners might use different terms that effectively refer to the same thing. This helps simplify the incoming message for our AI matching system.
4. Next, we embed the incoming message in a vector space, turning words into numbers that represent concepts. This means that similar concepts are "close together" even if the words themselves aren't that similar, like "instructor" and "professor". At this point, we can look for fuzzy questions in the same region of that vector space.
   • In July 2024, we upgraded this system to use a more advanced GPT model to better capture synonyms, slang terms, institution-specific terminology, and typos. This is rolling out to partners in waves over the course of July.
5. If there are any matches found, we select the closest match where the understanding has an approved answer.
   • If it has a personalized response for which the learner meets the criteria, then they'll receive that, or else we send the default response.
6. If there are no matches found above the matching threshold, the learner will instead receive a fallback response. Note that there are different fallbacks for different situations.

Search, Sort, and Filter

1. When searching for an understanding, you can search by topic or question.
2. You can also use the sidebar to filter your view:
   • Select "Understandings" to view the entire Knowledge Base.
   • Filter by approval status:
     • Approved: understandings available for your bot to send
     • Not Approved: understandings not available for your bot to send
     • No Answer: understandings with no answer
   • Filter by understanding topic
3. Finally, you can filter by the type of response and/or what it contains:
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Understandings

The Understandings table includes information about each understanding in that section:

• Topic Area: the primary organization structure for your Knowledge Base. The topics are available as filters in the sidebar. Every understanding has a unique topic/subtopic combination.
• Summary Question: the main idea of the understanding.
• Response: the first approved default answer.
  • If no default answer is approved, it will display the first default answer.
  • If there are no default answers, it will display a Mainstay suggested answer, if available.
• # Responses: the number of responses attached to this understanding, including personalized responses.
• # Fuzzy Questions: the number of fuzzy questions attached to this understanding.
• # Matches: the number of times an incoming message has matched to this understanding.

For more information on creating and editing understandings, visit Knowledge Base Understandings.

Bulk Editing

For admin users, the Knowledge Base allows bulk editing.

1. Use the search, sort, and filter tools to identify a subset of understandings.
2. Use the checkboxes on the left side, or the "select all" option at the top, to choose which specific understandings to update.
3. Select Manage Approvals, Manage Deletions, or Generative AI Tools to launch the corresponding bulk update flow.

Manage Approvals

1. Select whether to update default responses, personalized responses, or both:
   • Default responses: All learners are eligible to receive these responses.
   • Personalized responses: If a response contains a contact field, only learners with a value for that field are eligible to receive it. If a response is tagged to a specific Audience, only learners who meet the Audience criteria are eligible to receive it.
2. Select whether to update static responses, interactive responses, or both:
   • Static responses: These are standard text responses.
   • Interactive responses: Instead of a text response, the bot responds with a Script.
3. Select whether to set the approval status to Approved or Not Approved.
4. Click Update # Understandings to get a confirmation screen, and then confirm to update those understandings.
5. Finally, a completion screen will indicate the number of understandings and responses updated, skipped, or failed.
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Manage Deletions

1. Select whether to delete the entire understandings, or to only delete the responses.
2. If deleting the responses, select whether to delete default responses, personalized responses, or both:
   • Default responses: All learners are eligible to receive these responses.
   • Personalized responses: If a response contains a contact field, only learners with a value for that field are eligible to receive it. If a response is tagged to a specific Audience, only learners who meet the Audience criteria are eligible to receive it.
3. If deleting the responses, select whether to delete static responses, interactive responses, or both:
   • Static responses: These are standard text responses.
   • Interactive responses: Instead of a text response, the bot responds with a Script.
4. Click Delete # Understandings or Update # Understandings to get a confirmation screen, and then confirm to delete or update those understandings.
5. Finally, a completion screen will indicate the number of understandings and/or responses deleted, skipped, or failed.

Generative AI Tools

1. Select how to update these understandings:
   • Respond with Generative AI: If a learner's message matches to this understanding, we'll generate a response using information about your institution and about that learner. (See Generative Responses.)
   • Manage responses manually (Advanced): If a learner's message matches to this understanding, we'll select the appropriate response from the provided options. (See Answer Selection.)

Other Knowledge Base tools

The sidebar includes many other features: 

• Knowledge Scraping / Knowledge Sources
• #Commands
• Fallback Responses
• Organization Attributes
• Knowledge Maintenance