Introduction to Aura channels

Overview of Aura Virtual Assistant channels, foundations and available ones

The current document includes content with low technical complexity.

For in-depth, low-level technical content related to channels, access the section channels technical documentation.

Introduction

An Aura channel is a communication means a Telefonica client may use to interact with Aura Assistant, to request for products or services.

Aura Virtual Assistant is multi-channel, as it is designed to communicate through different types channels to make requests and receive responses.

In any case, it is able to adapt to the channel’s specific requirements, providing a consistent and engaging experience across different environments while maintaining its personality and tone.

What languages do Aura Assistant talk?

To be able for a channel to communicate with Aura Virtual Assistant, it has to “speak” a language Aura can understand. As Aura platform is based on Microsoft Azure Bot Service and Bot Framework, it uses the general-purpose communication mechanism called Direct Line API, provided by Microsoft.

In this framework, Aura Virtual Assistant is able to communicate:

Directly with channels that “talk” Microsoft Direct Line
Directly through communication protocols based on Direct Line, such as Auraline
Through the use of adapters for channels that do not support Direct Line.

Direct Line

As Aura platform is based on Microsoft Azure Bot Service and Bot Framework, it uses a general-purpose communication mechanism called Direct Line, provided by Microsoft.

However, having a connection means is not enough, and Aura Virtual Assistant has designed a normalized semantic model built on top of the Direct Line protocol, to optimize the communication of Aura with channels or services: Aura Request - Response Semantic Model.

Do you need more technical details regarding Microsoft Direct Line? Access the document Direct Line communication protocol

Discover the Aura Request - Response Semantic Model.

Auraline

Aura Platform Team has developed a proprietary communication protocol: Auraline, based on Direct Line but eliminating the dependency on Microsoft Azure Bot Service.

Auraline provides significant advantages, including cost saving, higher flexibility, easy integration for channels and the ability to plan future developments according to specific needs. Additionally, it enables addressing new backend-to-backend scenarios, such as managing a channels aggregator system or responding across multiple channels or applications instead of a single one.

As the Direct Line protocol, Auraline uses the Aura Request - Response Semantic Model, within the version v3 of the channelData property.

Find detailed information regarding Auraline communication protocol

Use of adapters

For channels that do not support Direct Line, it is required to use an adapter that “translates” the information coming from the channel to a language Aura can understand. This is the case of WhatsApp channels.

The adapters are provided by aura-bridge and are based on the last version of the standard Aura request/response model.

Which channels are currently supported by Aura?

The following table shows the channels currently supported by Aura Assistant for each of the three communication protocols explained in the previous section and organized by its origin: Telefónica channels or third-party channels.

Communication protocols	Telefónica channels	Third-party channels
Channels supporting Direct Line protocols	Mobile apps (Meu Vivo) Movistar Plus IPTV (STB+desco)
Channels that require an adapter to communicate with Aura	N/A	WhatsApp Google RCS Business Messaging

Mobile apps (Meu Vivo)

Meu Vivo is a key Vivo channel that currently supports Direct Line protocol.

This app offers complete Telco experiences in Vivo, with an intuitive interface and easy interaction and with all the potential of this channel for showing both text and visual elements. The current application is built as a set of WebViews embedded in a native container. And the communication with Aura is done through Direct Line protocol based on a JSON model attached in the activity of the Bot.

Aura in Meu Vivo channel

Movistar Plus

Movistar Plus is a Telefónica proprietary channel that supports Direct Line and Auraline protocols.

Aura is integrated in Movistar Plus mobile app, providing a fast and easy interaction with the customers focused on TV experiences, mainly for searching for TV content and launching them on TV.

Although text messaging is available, the use of voice control boosts the agility of TV searching.

Aura in Movistar Plus channel

IPTV (STB+desco)

IPTV (STB+desco) is a Telefónica proprietary channel that supports Direct Line and Auraline protocols.

Aura is integrated in Movistar+ vocal remote control, offering TV experiences such as searching for TV content, navigating through menu sections, asking for recommendations, changing language, subtitles activation or open Movistar Apps.

It allows users to interact with the M+ service using only their voice, helping them to look for content faster and controlling the reproduction while keeping their privacy safe (it only listens when users keep pressing the mic button).

Aura IPTV

Aura is available on a widespread and close at hand channel such as WhatsApp. It offers an easy and agile interaction, with key benefits:

Direct and concise text responses to the users
High speed interaction with the user
Better engagement Aura-user, as WhatsApp channel is widely used by most of our users and always available in the mobile phone

Presently, Aura contains the functionalities listed below in WhatsApp. Moreover, OBs can build their own use cases in this channel.

Global use cases: onboarding, authentication, handover use case (the user asks for an agent to solve her request).
Small Talk (greetings, goodbyes, thank yous, swearwords)
Use of files and templates in experiences
Use of interactive messages in experiences
Use of emoticons in experiences
Use of footer in experiences

Aura in WhatsApp

Do you need technical details regarding WhatsApp experiences in Aura?

Descriptive documentation related to WhatsApp channel in Aura

Guidelines for the activation of WhatsApp channel

Guidelines for use cases development in WhatsApp

Aura WhatsApp design toolkit

Google RCS Business Messaging

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a communication protocol designed to enhance traditional SMS and MMS messaging. The channel Google RCS Business Messaging allows sending different types of messages to the user, such as texts, suggested replies, suggested actions, etc. Additionally, RCS enables its users to incorporate richer content through features like video, images, cards, carousels and other interactive elements.

Aura allows Google RCS Business Messaging channel to communicate with the users through an application installed by default in their phones, with lower costs than WhatsApp.

Do you need technical details regarding Google RCS Business Messaging channel?

Google RCS Business Messaging channel descriptive documentation

Guidelines for the activation of Google RCS Business Messaging channel

Guidelines for use cases development in Google RCS Business Messaging channel