Not by itself. It answers according to the instructions the department's staff write and, if one is registered, according to what an MCP server returns. Documents cannot be uploaded to it.
A WhatsApp chatbot for residents' enquiries about procedures
When a resident replies on WhatsApp to a notice from your department, an AI agent answers following the instructions your staff write. If the instructions are not enough, it hands the conversation over to a person in the department with a webhook notice, and that person can take it.
What it is and what it needs from your department
The agent brings no information about procedures or rules of its own: it answers what the department's staff tell it in the account's instructions. That is why the people who know the procedures should write and review those instructions.
For anything the instructions do not cover, the agent can query tools on an MCP server that the department or its provider registers. If there are none, or the query is not enough, it hands over to staff.
How an enquiry is handled
A notice is sent
The department sends a notice on WhatsApp, such as an appointment reminder, and the resident can reply to it.
The agent answers from the instructions
It replies on WhatsApp with what the account's instructions say, written by the staff.
It queries a tool, if one is registered
It can use the allowed tools of an MCP server, and only those.
It hands over to staff
If it cannot handle the enquiry, it sends a webhook notice and a person in the department takes the conversation.
Illustrative example
An enquiry about a case file
- A building-permits directorate notifies on WhatsApp the holders of a case file that they still have to submit documents.
- A resident replies asking until when she can hand them in.
- The agent answers with the deadline that the staff wrote into the account's instructions.
- She then raises a complaint about a different case file, which the instructions do not cover, and the agent hands the conversation over with a webhook notice.
- A person at the directorate takes the conversation and follows up on the complaint with her.
Frequently asked questions about the procedures chatbot
The agent hands the conversation over to a person in the department with a webhook notice, and that person can take it.
No. The agent answers only on WhatsApp; messages by SMS and email are send-only.
The data of each Textra customer is isolated from that of the others. Within an account there are three roles: admin, editor and viewer.
Keep reading
Let's look at your most frequent enquiries
Tell us what residents ask you and we will show you how the agent would work in Textra.