High-level Architecture Design
The block diagram below outlines various components that come together to form the Unified Communications Interface (UCI):
Adapter: An adapter translates between messages received from communication channels on specific providers and the internal XMessage format (followed by UCI). A new adapter is required for every new combination of communication channel and service provider (e.g. - WhatsApp + Gupshup; WhatsApp + NetCore; WhatsApp + Twilio). An adapter config references the communication channel, service provider and associated metadata such as a specific business account phone number.
Transformer: A transformer is a stateless processing object that takes inputs and converts the input into a processed output. Transformers may in turn call external services if needed.
Conversation Logic: Conversation logic defines the overall flow for a specific conversation. A conversation logic object references a sequence of transformers that will be applied to arrive at the final response at a specific point in the conversation and the associated adapter config for this conversation logic.
User Segments: A bot can either be an open public bot or a closed targetted bot. In the latter case, a closed user segment has to be defined. User segment contains user data including a mechanism to fetch them from a federated user registry.
Conversations: A conversation orchestrates a conversation with a specific conversation logic assigned to a set of users. A bot object references user segment(s) and conversation logic(s).
Following is a summary of the relation between the different blocks of UCI :
Adapter = Communication Channel + Service Provider
User segment
Transformer
Conversation Logic = {Transformers} + Adapter
Bot = {Conversation Logics} + {User segments}
| Real World | UCI Platform |
|---|---|
Set of end users in a state | User segment 1 containing user registry uri, user ids, user metadata including phone numbers |
Single end user phone number part of the state (eg. 938490834) | User phone number field in user segment object |
Communication Channel referenced in the Adapter 1 config | |
Gupshup | Service provider referenced in the Adapter 1 config |
Business account phone number 908092348 | Meta data for adapter 1, referenced in Adapter config |
If fail, then this message | Transformer 1 referencing an XForm with pass/fail message logic |
Translate message from English to Hindi | Transformer 2 referencing a translation microservice |
Given fail, send message via Whatsapp to student | Conversation logic 1 = Transformer 1 + Transformer 2 + Adapter 1 |
Given fail, send same message via SMS to student | Conversation logic 2 = Transformer 1 + Transformer 2 + Adapter 2 (where adapter 2 config references SMS communication channel and SMS service provider) |
Lifecycle of conversation | Conversation = Conversation logic 1 + Conversation logic 2 + User segment 1 |
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