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Hello there! I´m a Options Engineer working with Collaboration and Buyer Expertise options, and one factor I’ve realized is “one measurement doesn’t match all.” To ship probably the most impactful enterprise outcomes, prospects want digital options tailor-made to their distinctive wants. Fortunately we’re surrounded by SaaS purposes and highly effective platforms that present open APIs accessible to anybody with the abilities to make use of them. Briefly, in case you provide the motivation, the instruments are there to embrace automation as the inspiration for constructing customized use instances. That is how one can actually differentiate within the market, and convey worth to our prospects.
My curiosity in leveraging automation to combine purposes and optimize workflows was the set off that began my journey into community programmability. I knew I needed to start out by connecting with a neighborhood of like-minded individuals who might assist me get began. That’s when I discovered Cisco DevNet.
Getting began with a DevNet Studying Observe
My first step was to study the fundamentals of APIs – how they work, what they’re used for, check them, and combine them into different purposes. RESTful APIs are extensively utilized in net growth, permitting purposes to work together with one another and alternate knowledge in an ordinary and scalable method. They supply a versatile and environment friendly manner for various methods to speak and combine with one another.
To get accustomed to APIs I began training with Studying Labs accessible within the Cisco DevNet developer portal. As a result of I’m a Options Engineer working with Collaboration options, I select the Webex – Begin Now – Studying Observe. Observe this hyperlink to entry this studying observe and lots of others that may get you began. This Studying Observe guided me to put in all of the required purposes in my PC to start out working with APIs and coding. It additionally gave me the instruments I wanted to start out doing my first checks with coding and APIs.
As soon as I had some fundamentals below my belt, my subsequent step was to create a use case and begin a “actual” programmability undertaking. I made a decision to combine Webex with ChatGPT utilizing the OpenAI APIs. The primary constructing blocks to implement this undertaking are:
- Webex Bot
- OpenAI APIs
- Middleware that runs the bot logic
After I realized create a Webex bot, my subsequent step was to get accustomed to the OpenAI APIs. Anybody can create a free OpenAI account. (On the time of penning this weblog, you get a free credit score of $5.00 to make use of, which is sufficient to do some experimentation with their APIs.)
Getting the fundamentals of Python
Subsequent up, I wanted to create my bot logic. Speaking with my mentor, Julio Gomez, he shared with me a undertaking that he did for the same use case, and I used to be in a position to reuse his Phyton code. I had realized the fundamentals of Phyton and the way it works. Thus, I used to be in a position to adapt the Phyton code to make use of with my Webex bot and the OpenAI API that I had recognized as probably the most applicable for growing my Q&A bot primarily based within the ChatGPT person expertise.
To make it simpler to adapt the code, I divided it into constructing blocks primarily based on the completely different features: obtain a textual content message from the Webex Bot; course of the message and ship it to OpenAI APIs; obtain the reply from the OpenAI; and eventually ship it again to the Webex Bot.
I confronted one other problem
I used to be working the bot logic on my PC and I needed to expose it to the web. The Webex cloud platform requires your bot to be reachable from a publicly accessible endpoint. Utilizing Webhooks, the Webex bot sends notifications as occasions to the endpoint that subscribed to the webwook, for each interplay between you and the bot.
For that goal, I created an inbound tunnel between my native PC and the web in order that the port your bot is listening on turns into publicly accessible. Ngrok is a well-liked device I used to create these tunnels. The Ngrok service creates a URL that can be utilized to entry your software working in your native PC. This URL is then used to create a Webhook to your Webex bot to ship notifications when somebody interacts with it.
After I reached the purpose the place I had a working software, I used to be prepared to start out my preliminary testing. I needed to nice tune the code to acquire the specified consequence. The truth is, it was as straight ahead as altering a number of parameters within the JSON payload, associated to the OpenAI APIs. Right here is the documentation of the OpenAI API that I used:
Lastly, I used to be in a position to create a Q&A bot in Webex leveraging the LLM (Giant Language Mannequin) developed by OpenAI. The top customers are then in a position to ask inquiries to ChatGPT from the Webex App, as in the event that they have been chatting within the native ChatGPT person interface.
The diagram beneath is a high-level structure of what I constructed. You possibly can see my undertaking on this GitHub repository.
APIs have remodeled the best way we customise experiences and combine purposes. I’m not a software program developer, however I used to be in a position to obtain my purpose, which was to construct a Q&A Bot primarily based on new applied sciences like ChatGPT. For me, working with APIs is like taking part in with Lego blocks. It’s enjoyable!
My journey in programming continues
Then one other thought got here to my thoughts – Would I be capable to create the bot with little or no code, and even no code? I put myself into one other problem, which was to make use of an orchestration platform that leverages a low code / no code framework to create workflows and automation utilizing APIs.
The truth is, at Cisco we’ve our very personal Low Code orchestration platform. It’s referred to as Webex Join and is among the most acknowledged Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) available in the market.
Webex Join is a platform that empowers the creation of sensible, proactive, and customized interactions throughout digital channels reminiscent of WhatsApp, Apple Messages for Enterprise, Google Enterprise Messages, Fb Messenger, Instagram, SMS, and so on. It orchestrates buyer journeys end-to-end by automating enterprise processes.
I opened the drawing canvas of the applying referred to as Circulation Designer and began constructing my Bot logic. It was so simple as dragging and dropping packing containers, connecting them with arrows, and following the method. Once more, like taking part in with Legos.
Utilizing this platform is far easier, as a result of I didn’t should take care of programming languages and coding for my use case. I simply have to grasp the purposes I needed to attach, and discover ways to use their APIs.
In a matter of some hours I had my bot up and working. This time I built-in WhatsApp with ChatGPT. What took me a number of days with Phyton was lowered to some hours as a result of I used to be coping with APIs, webhooks, and parsing JSON payload knowledge. Webex Join (CPaaS) did its “magic” and executed the code behind the scenes which simplified the entire undertaking.
Right here is the ultimate circulation:
Low code platforms like CPaaS can unlock the Artwork of Doable, with APIs to create pleasant person experiences.
I hope this was useful. And even perhaps made you curious to start out your personal journey into programmability. If that’s the case, Cisco DevNet is a good place to start out.
Good luck!!
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