How do I create, host, and deploy a MS teams bot in my customer's organization?

Question

I have found this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/54759822/80353

but i am still unsure how to get started.

I am a developer and can write in Javascript, C#, and Python. I'm not familiar with bot framework SDK.

The answer in the stackoverflow contains 1 broken link. If there are multiple options, please recommend 1 out of the list of multiple options for me.

Situation and Context

I am a one person software business. I help to maintain purchase order system in my MNC customer.

The users in my MNC customer tend to reach out to me via MS Teams. I have no idea nor do I suspect my users have any idea who is the admin for their MS Teams.

Probably some IT department in another country.

I want to do two things easily with a MS Teams bot.

1. when I talk to my customers on MS teams, i can easily and manually trigger my bot to create a new ticket on my helpscout account.
2. sometimes I am away from keyboard, i would like the bot to be available for the customer to talk to the bot and DIY some small task. E.g. file another request. or find out status of their last requests.

In other words, this bot is a two sided bot:

• Vendor (i.e. my one person software business) which use helpscout as ticketing software
• Customers of that Vendor (i.e. the people installing the bot for their employees in their MS teams to intearct with the vendor)

My issues

My issues are three parts.

1. how to write the software
2. how to host the bot
3. how to deploy the bot such that my customer MS teams admin can install it for my customer end users

Write the software:

I can write the code myself. I just like to know what to use to get started. From my own research, it seems the answer is Javascript version of Bot Framework SDK

Am I correct?

I have tried power virtual agent but it failed.

What's the costs associated with writing my own bot using BOT Framework?

I could also write the bot in a more generic way if possible.

For example, I can write a bot such that

businesses like me who use helpscout for ticketing can also use the bot but add their own helpscout API key so that it connects to their helpscout account for them to service their customers on their customers' MS teams

basically, two directions:

1. my bot only works for my company and my helpscout account and services whoever i have as customers (easier lift)
2. my bot works for any software company like mine with their helpscout account and services whoever these vendors have as customers (harder, but more universal)

Host the bot:

How and where do I host the bot?

What's the costs associated with hosting the bot?

Deploy on the customer MS teams:

How do I show the customer admin how to do this?

What's the costs associated with installing the bot on my customers' MS teams?

Answer 1

To create and host a Microsoft Teams bot, you can use the Microsoft Bot Framework. Microsoft Bot Framework and Azure Bot Service are a collection of libraries, tools, and services that let you build, test, deploy, and manage intelligent bots. The Bot Framework includes a modular and extensible SDK for building bots and connecting to AI services. Creating a bot: Typically, a bot is a web service hosted in Azure. In Azure, you can configure your bot to send and receive messages and events from various channels. You can create bots in any number of environments and languages. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/resources/bot-v3/bots-create Deploying the bot: When you're ready for your bot to be available on the web, deploy your bot to Azure or deploy to your own web service or data center. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/provision-and-publish-a-bot?view=azure-bot-service-4.0&tabs=userassigned%2Ccsharp Azure Pricing: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/pricing/details/bot-services/ Cost Management: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/

Thanks,

Prasad Das

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Answer 2

@Anonymous Thanks, To create and host a Microsoft Teams bot, you can use the Microsoft Bot Framework. The Bot Framework is a set of web-based tools, libraries, and templates that enable developers to create bot applications that interact with users in a variety of ways, such as through text/SMS, Skype, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.

Deploy your bot to Microsoft Teams:

To deploy your bot to Microsoft Teams, you will need to:
Create a new Microsoft Teams app in the App Studio (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/build-and-test/app-studio-overview).
Add your bot as a bot to the app.
Publish the app to your organization's app catalog.
Install the app from the app catalog.

To deploy your bot on a customer's Microsoft Teams organization, you will need to work with the customer's Microsoft Teams administrator to install the bot. The administrator will need to follow the steps outlined in the Microsoft Teams documentation to install and manage the bot within their organization. There may be costs associated with obtaining and managing a Microsoft Teams license for the customer's organization.