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COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Chatbot

Created by: Twilio

Studio
SMS
JavaScript
COVID use case
Social Impact
Quick Deploy

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Regulations require that you first register your number to use these resources to send SMS traffic to US and Canadian mobile destinations. If you are sending to Canada or the US and have not already done so, please see our documentation to register your Twilio phone number or Toll-Free number before you use this template.

Interactive chatbots have been studied to have a positive impact on COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and intentions. For organizations working to increase vaccine confidence in populations you serve, this template provides an interactive chatbot platform that can answer individuals' vaccine-related questions.

Individuals ask their questions by sending an SMS to a pre-configured phone number, and are responded to by a FAQ chatbot which is built using trusted data sources for answers. The chatbot is powered by Google Dialogflow ES and Twilio Studio flow connects the chatbot with Twilio's Programmable SMS channel. The application can be extended to other digital channels such as Voice, Whatsapp or Webchat.

The chatbot template includes 2 pre-built chatbot agents:

An agent trained the on American Medical Association's COVID-19 vaccine FAQ for US audiences.
An agent trained on the India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's COVID-19 vaccine FAQ for Indian audiences

Prerequisites:

Configure Google Cloud Platform and Generate JSON Auth Key
Follow this guide for step-by-step instructions on how to do this.

This template uses Google Cloud Platform and Dialogflow to power the conversational chatbot agent that interacts with the user. You will need to setup a Google Cloud project, enable the Dialogflow API, and generate a JSON authentication key from a GCP Service Account for Twilio to use to interact with Dialogflow.
Create a Dialogflow Chatbot Agent
Follow this guide for step-by-step instructions on how to do this.

The conversational chatbot is powered by an integration between Twilio and Google Dialogflow, a natural language understanding platform used to design and integrate a conversational user interfaces. You may import the pre-built Dialogflow chatbot agents included in this repository, or configure your own chatbot agent.
Confirm completion of prerequisite steps
Before moving onto the Quick Deploy section, please make sure the following is true:
1. You have an active Google Cloud Project with the Dialogflow API enabled
2. You have a JSON authentication key associated with a Service Account from your Google Cloud Project, and you have the file handy (you'll need it below)
3. You have created a Dialogflow agent and configured it either using one of the pre-built agents or have created your own

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Launch and test this app in a few minutes with Quick Deploy. No server needed. Quick Deploy will automatically configure and deploy this app using Twilio Functions. Learn more about Twilio Functions

Get a Twilio phone number
Your app requires a Twilio phone number to operate, this is your application's source number to receive messages or calls.
You will get a US number that is configured for this application. You can change this or port over an existing number later. International number regulations
Google Cloud Project ID
Your Google Cloud Project ID
Google Cloud Project ID
How do I get this?
Google Application Credentials
A JSON key file for your Google service account. If deploying via CodeExchange, paste the JSON contents of the service account key below.
Google Application Credentials
How do I get this?
Language Code
Language to be used by chatbot. Defaults to U.S. English (en-US). Do not change if using pre-build chatbot agents. If changing, set to Dialogflow language tag (e.g. es).
Language Code
How do I get this?
Click the button below to deploy your app
This will use the details entered above to deploy your application to Twilio Functions.
You will be able to view the application in the browser and edit it using the Functions UI.

Currently only available in JavaScript. Request hosting support for other languages

Install Node.js
The Node.js runtime is required to run the Twilio CLI and the sample code.
Download and install Node.js
Install Twilio CLI
The Twilio CLI is a command line tool that allows you to interact with Twilio APIs and services, and is necessary to deploy this template.
The suggested way to install the Twilio CLI on macOS is to use Homebrew. If you don't already have it installed, visit the Homebrew site for installation instructions and then return here.
Once you have installed Homebrew, run the following command to install the Twilio CLI:
brew tap twilio/brew && brew install twilio
Not using macOS? View the docs on all other installation methods.
Install the Serverless Toolkit
Beyond the base commands, Twilio CLI's functionality can be extended through plugins. In this case, the Serverless Toolkit plugin is needed to deploy the serverless functions that will power this template.
twilio plugins:install @twilio-labs/plugin-serverless
Learn more about Twilio CLI plugins
Login to the Twilio CLI
In order for the CLI to access your Twilio account and execute commands on your behalf, you need to log in and provide your Twilio credentials. This can be done by running:
twilio login
You will be prompted for your Account SID and Auth Token, both of which you can find on the dashboard of your Twilio console.
Create and configure a project with this template
To create a new project with the name example and the current template, run the following command:
twilio serverless:init example --template=covid-vaccine-faq-bot
This will create a new directory called example (or whatever name you picked) and will download all necessary files and dependencies for you.
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Check your template's README
Depending on the template, there might be additional setup instructions necessary to make the project work.
Check the instructions for this template to see if there are any additional steps to complete.
Host on Twilio
You can now deploy your code by running the following command:
cd example twilio serverless:deploy

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Chatbot

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Check your template's README