What is a DocBot?
A DocBot(tm) is a "document robot", an intelligent email address which responds to email sent to it by taking the actions you define.
For example, suppose you have a "technical support" DocBot. You could have the email address "tech-support@…" at your organization send out standard technical help documents
based on the question sent to it.
When people send email to tech-support@…, the DocBot looks at their message for words or phrases it recognizes ( that you've defined). If it sees one, it responds automatically
by emailing the document you've chosen. If the DocBot doesn't see a phrase it knows about, it instead mails back another document (the "standard response"), which explains what tech support
documents are available, or how to contact your tech support department.
In this example, you might make your standard tech support help documents available with a DocBot. If your organization uses Microsoft Word, Lotus Notes, or some other program, you could have your
DocBot look for phrases that mention these programs. Thus, if someone sends a message to your document with the sentence "How do I use Lotus Notes", the DocBot would respond with a Lotus Notes
"Frequently Asked Questions" document.
You can get more sophisticated with DocBots and create "command phrases". Perhaps you want people to type "get Lotus Notes FAQ" or "get Microsoft Word FAQ". You could have your standard DocBot
document (the one sent when no commands match up) explain what commands are available and what they do.
Best of all, you can create and maintain all your DocBots using the web interface. People in your organization can use their favorite Web Browser to create and maintain their DocBots, and do not
need to ask the computer people to do anything for them.
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