Hello there! I´m a Options Engineer working with Collaboration and Buyer Expertise options, and one factor I’ve discovered 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 functions and highly effective platforms that present open APIs out there 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 circumstances. That is how one can actually differentiate within the market, and convey worth to our prospects.
My curiosity in leveraging automation to combine functions 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 group of like-minded individuals who might assist me get began. That’s when I discovered Cisco DevNet.
Getting began with a DevNet Studying Monitor
My first step was to study the fundamentals of APIs – how they work, what they’re used for, tips on how to check them, and tips on how to combine them into different functions. RESTful APIs are extensively utilized in net improvement, permitting functions to work together with one another and change knowledge in a typical and scalable method. They supply a versatile and environment friendly manner for various programs to speak and combine with one another.
To get accustomed to APIs I began working towards with Studying Labs out there 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 Monitor. Comply with this hyperlink to entry this studying observe and plenty of others that may get you began. This Studying Monitor guided me to put in all of the required functions 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 exams with coding and APIs.
As soon as I had some fundamentals underneath my belt, my subsequent step was to create a use case and begin a “actual” programmability challenge. I made a decision to combine Webex with ChatGPT utilizing the OpenAI APIs. The principle constructing blocks to implement this challenge are:
- Webex Bot
- OpenAI APIs
- Middleware that runs the bot logic
After I discovered tips on how to 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 challenge that he did for the same use case, and I used to be in a position to reuse his Phyton code. I had discovered 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 acceptable for creating 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 at last ship it again to the Webex Bot.
I confronted one other problem
I used to be operating 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 instrument I used to create these tunnels. The Ngrok service creates a URL that can be utilized to entry your software operating 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.
Once 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 high quality tune the code to acquire the specified final result. In actual fact, it was as straight ahead as altering just a few 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’ll be able to see my challenge on this GitHub repository.
APIs have reworked the way in which we customise experiences and combine functions. I’m not a software program developer, however I used to be in a position to obtain my aim, which was to construct a Q&A Bot primarily based on new applied sciences like ChatGPT. For me, working with APIs is like enjoying 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.
In actual fact, at Cisco we now have our very personal Low Code orchestration platform. It’s referred to as Webex Join and is without doubt one of the most acknowledged Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) out there.
Webex Join is a platform that empowers the creation of good, proactive, and customized interactions throughout digital channels akin to 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 enjoying with Legos.
Utilizing this platform is way less complicated, as a result of I didn’t need to cope with programming languages and coding for my use case. I simply must grasp the functions I needed to attach, and learn to use their APIs.
In a matter of some hours I had my bot up and operating. This time I built-in WhatsApp with ChatGPT. What took me just a few days with Phyton was lowered to a couple 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 challenge.
Right here is the ultimate circulate:
Low code platforms like CPaaS can unlock the Artwork of Attainable, 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. In that case, Cisco DevNet is a good place to start out.
Good luck!!
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