Function documentationKnowledge Search

 

The knowledge search is the entry point for searches in a knowledge base. For example, in the interaction center (IC), agents use the knowledge search to find solutions to problems or other issues that are reported by customers through channels such as telephone, e-mail, and chat.

Knowledge bases are defined by your system administrator and assigned to the knowledge search. Your system administrator does this in the Customizing activities Name and Configure Knowledge Base and Configure Application.

Integration

Only the languages supported by the search engine are supported in the knowledge search.

The default search engine is TREX. For more information, see Software Agent Framework (SAF).

Prerequisites

  • Your system administrator has configured the Software Agent Framework (SAF). For more information, see Configuration Help for Software Agent Framework.

  • Your knowledge administrator has compiled the knowledge bases using the Knowledge Base Compilation application. For more information, see Knowledge Base Compilation. If the knowledge bases are not compiled, the dropdown boxes for the Database and Language fields in the knowledge search are blank, all buttons in the knowledge search are disabled, and an error message is displayed.

  • Knowledge bases that are searched using a non-TREX search engine must presently be compiled using the search engine's own mechanism and processes to compile knowledge base content into search indexes. In Customizing, see BAdI: External Search Engines.

Features

  • Text Search

    Search

    Description

    Example

    Any of These Terms

    (Search Terms in IC WebClient)

    The search returns documents containing at least one of the terms you have entered.

    If you enter hardware and software, the search returns documents containing hardware or software or both.

    This Exact Phrase

    (Exact Phrase in IC WebClient)

    The search returns documents containing the exact phrase you have entered.

    If you separate your terms with a delimiter, the search returns documents containing all of the terms you have entered. The default delimiters are , (comma) and ;.(semicolon).

    If you enter hardware and software, the search returns documents containing hardware and software.

    But None of These Terms

    (Exclude Terms in IC WebClient)

    If you enter a phrase, the search returns documents that do not contain this phrase.

    If you separate the terms with a delimiter, the search returns documents that do not contain any of these terms. The default delimiters are , (comma) and ;.(semicolon).

    This search can be used only in conjunction with the Any of These Terms, This Exact Phrase, and/or Attribute Search.

    If you enter hardware in the Any of These Terms search and software in the But None of These Terms search, the search returns documents containing hardware, but not documents that also contain software.

    All search options can be combined. The search is then carried out using an AND logic.

    Example Example

    If you enter hardware and software in the Any of These Terms search, and enter computer in the This Exact Phrase search, and enter games in the But None of These Terms search, the search returns only documents containing the terms hardware and/or software, and the term computer, but not the term games.

    The search options are not case-sensitive.

    Wild cards can be used only in This Exact Phrase searches and in But None of These Terms searches. You can put the wild card at the beginning or at the end of the search term. For example, if you enter the search term info*, the search returns documents containing info and information.

    End of the example.

  • Knowledge Search Profiles

    In the Customizing activity Define Knowledge Search Profiles, you can define a knowledge search profile to determine which knowledge bases are offered to IC agents in the Database dropdown in the knowledge search.

  • Attribute Search

    In the attribute search, you can include up to 5 attributes and exclude up to 3 attributes.

  • Combined Text Search and Attribute Search

    If you carry out a text search and an attribute search, the search results contain only documents that satisfy the search criteria in the text search AND all search criteria in the attribute search. This means that the more search criteria you enter, the fewer and more exact your search results are.

  • E-Mailing Files Attached to Documents from Knowledge Bases Created with Business Add-In

    In the Customizing activity Map Knowledge Base to Business Object Repository (BOR), you can map knowledge bases, which you have created with the Business Add-In BAdI: Knowledge Bases, to the Business Object Repository (BOR). As a result, when an agent uses the knowledge search to search the knowledge base, and adds a document from the knowledge base to the cart in order to e-mail the document to the customer, any files attached to the document are also e-mailed to the customer.

Activities

  • Increasing the Default Maximum Number of Documents Returned

    The default maximum number of documents returned is 50. If you would like to increase this number, ask your system administrator to change the setting in the Customizing activity Configure Application.

  • Refining Your Search Results

    To refine your search results, select the search terms that the documents must contain and choose Search.

  • Adding Documents to the Cart

    To send a document (for example, a solution) to a customer from the knowledge search, you must add it to the cart. Adding the document to the cart helps the system to learn which search terms to suggest in the Search Refinement step in future searches.

    You can add documents from different knowledge bases and in different languages to the cart; that is, if you select a document from the hit list and add it to the cart, you can search against another knowledge base, even in a different language, and add one or more documents to the cart alongside the document from the previous search.

    (IC only) Even if you tell a customer about the document (for example, a solution) over the phone, you should still add the document to the cart because it is then tracked by the interaction record. This means you can later view the historic data about your interaction with the customer, should you wish.

  • Giving Feedback

    To improve the quality of document content, it is important that you give feedback on the document, for example, the solution successfully solved the problem. If necessary, you can subsequently change the feedback that has been entered for a document.

    The feedback options in the dropdown box are defined by your system administrator in the Customizing activity Name and Configure Knowledge Base.