Lesson 5: Answer parents' questions with AI

VCVidya Coaching CentreLesson 5 of 6 · 10 min

Goal: A WhatsApp bot that answers fee and batch questions, and hands over to a person when needed.

Parent asks on WhatsAppAI reads Vidya's FAQAnswers, or hands over to Neha

You'll learnAgentsAppy

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The situation

“What are the fees for JEE two-year?” “Is there a batch on Sunday?” “Where is the Wakad branch?” We answer the same twenty questions a hundred times a day on WhatsApp. They’re easy, but each one interrupts a counsellor.

Neha Joshi, Operations head · Vidya Coaching

Routine or AI?

Lessons 1–4 built Routine agents: fixed steps that run the same way every time. Answering free-text questions is different: parents ask the same thing in a hundred different ways. That’s where an AI chat agent fits.

	Routine (Lessons 1–4)	AI chat (this lesson)
Input	a form, a payment, a date	whatever the parent types
Output	the exact message you set	an answer in its own words, from your information
Where it’s built	Auto Appy workflow editor	Auto Appy AI

Create the agent

1. Agents → New agent. Under Customer care, choose Answer common questions. Auto Appy selects AI chat for you.
2. Name it Vidya Bot, job Answer parents' questions on WhatsApp.
3. Click Continue in Auto Appy AI. The bot opens in Auto Appy AI (same login).

autoappy.com/agents/newSample data

AI chat agents are created here and set up in Auto Appy AI.

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Set it up in Auto Appy AI

In Auto Appy AI you give the bot what it needs to answer well:

• Its sources: a short FAQ (fees per course and instalment plan, batch timings per branch, addresses and maps links, demo-class booking link, refund policy). A FAQ bot answers only from these.
• Its rules: be polite and brief, never promise discounts, and say “Let me connect you with our counsellor” when unsure.
• The WhatsApp connection: connect the bot to Vidya’s WhatsApp number and choose who answers when: the bot first, a person on request or outside the FAQ.

The full Auto Appy AI guide is coming in the Auto Appy AI book.

How the AI decides what to say

Animated explainerHow an AI agent works

1A workflow follows the steps you set. An AI agent is given a goal and works out the steps itself.

2Arjun gives it a goal: "Follow up with this week's site-visit leads, personally."

3It thinks about what to do first, then uses a tool: here, reading new leads from the CRM.

4It looks at the result and decides the next move: write a message for each lead and send it on WhatsApp.

5It repeats until the goal is met, then reports back. You choose which tools it may use, and risky actions can wait for your OK.

The same loop applies to AI chat: read the message, look in the allowed sources, answer, or hand over. It can only use the information and tools you give it.

Keep a person in the loop

Start with the bot answering only the FAQ, and hand everything else to Neha. Read a week of conversations in Auto Appy AI before widening what it may answer. Never let a bot quote fees that aren’t in its sources.

When to use an AI action instead

An AI action agent is a workflow with an AI step that decides between tools. Vidya could use one to read each new enquiry’s free-text message and decide whether it’s urgent, which counsellor fits, and what to write back. Start with routines and AI chat; add AI actions once those run smoothly. See Agents in Auto Appy.

✍️Try it yourself

1. Write Vidya’s FAQ as ten question-and-answer pairs. What would you not let the bot answer?
2. List three messages that should always go to a person (for example, a complaint about a faculty member).
3. In Lesson 1’s workflow, how could the demo-invite template tell parents they can ask questions on the same chat?

What you learned

• Kinds of agentsRoutine for fixed steps, AI chat for conversations, AI action for judgement.
• AI safetyLimit sources and tools, hand over when unsure, review conversations.
• AppyNot the same thing: Appy helps you build; agents work for your customers.

Next: Run the centre from one screen →

🎓 For trainers: how to teach this lesson

• Role-play: one student plays a worried parent on WhatsApp, another answers only from the FAQ sheet. Where does the FAQ fall short?
• Discuss trust: which answers would you never automate? (Results, refunds, complaints.)
• Be honest: an AI bot needs a good FAQ more than a clever prompt.