In addition to built-in slot types, Architect supports five custom slot types: list slot type, dynamic list slot type, regular expression slot type, timeslot, and AI-powered slot type for Virtual Agent. If your custom slot type data is a set of predefined time slots, use the timeslot slot type. Timeslot slot types help you to create a bot that offers time options for customers to select during a messaging interaction. You can either provide a custom list of DateTime values or use a Call Data Action to retrieve calendar events from a third-party calendar event provider.

Add a timeslot slot

1. Create a digital bot flow or open a previous one.
2. Under Natural Language Understanding, click Slots.
3. Click Slot.
4. Provide a meaningful name for the slot.
5. Under Associated Slot Type, click New Timeslot.
6. Type a meaningful name for the custom timeslot slot type.
7. Click Save. The slot is added.

Define time slots for your custom slot

Architect uses a Timeslot Collection variable to store the date and time values that you configure for a timeslot.

1. Create a digital bot flow or open a previous one.
2. Under Natural Language Understanding, click Slot Types.
3. Click the newly added slot type name. 
4. Under Timeslots, Click Add Collection. The Timeslots window appears.
5. If you want to add a custom list of date and time values, do the following: 
   1. Click Timeslot.
   2. Select a date and time.
   3. Select the duration of the timeslot.
   4. Add as many timeslots as needed. The maximum limit is 50 slots per collection.
6. If you want to retrieve calendar data from a third-party calendar event provider, use a Call Data Action in your bot flow. For more information, see Use Architect to create a digital bot to schedule an appointment.
7. Click Close.

Use the Ask for Slot action to add time slots to your bot flow

1. Create a digital bot flow or open a previous one, then navigate to Ask and drag an Ask for Slot action into the flow.
2. Under Slot, select the timeslot that you created previously and then complete the relevant fields.
3. Complete your bot flow according to your organization’s design.

Modify a slot

To modify slot information, from the Slot menu, select a slot and click Edit .

Delete a slot

To delete a slot, from the Slot menu, select a slot and click Delete .