best service to create new chat app

Question

I want to create an internal chatbot for my company that dynamically adapts to the type of question it receives. For example, the chatbot should be able to:

1. Call APIs: Prompt the user for required parameters before making the API call, make the api call and display the result.
2. Search Files: Depending on the question, search through specific files or datasets.

I've been researching the best Azure services for building this chatbot, but the options are overwhelming, and it’s unclear which one fits my use case best. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

Copilot Studio: This doesn’t seem like a good fit. It appears that everyone using the chatbot would need a Copilot license. The functionality seems limited, and there are many guardrails that might restrict customization.

Azure Bot Framework SDK: I like how easy it is to build and deploy a basic bot with this SDK. It seems I could add intelligence by integrating it with a newer version of LUIS, but I haven’t tested this. However, I’m uncertain whether Microsoft plans to continue actively developing this framework.

Azure Bot Composer: It looks like a wrapper around the Azure Bot Framework, but I believe it’s deprecated, so it might not be the best choice for a new project.

Azure ML Prompt Flow: This seems very flexible and capable. However, I’m unsure about deployment. For example, how would I integrate the chatbot into a custom web page or Teams? Would I need to handle this manually using REST APIs? Additionally, questions about cost and compute—e.g., whether compute is running continuously—remain unclear.

Azure AI Studio Prompt Flow: It’s not clear how this differs from Azure ML Prompt Flow. The overlap is confusing.

I might have missed other relevant services, but as of now, I don’t have a clear understanding of which Azure service is the best starting point for building this kind of chatbot.

Would you have any advice on the right direction or additional clarity on these options?

Answer 1

Hi Brecht Porrez,

Greetings & Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum! Thanks for posting your query!

For your chatbot, the best approach depends on your specific requirements. If you need full control and flexibility for advanced features like API calls and file searches, the Azure Bot Framework SDK combined with Azure OpenAI Service (for intelligence) and Azure Cognitive Search (for file lookups) is an excellent choice.
For a quicker and more user-friendly setup, consider Azure AI Studio Prompt Flow or Power Virtual Agents, which integrate well with Teams or web apps but might offer less customization. To enhance your solution further, tools like Azure Logic Apps can help manage API workflows efficiently.

Hope this helps. Do let us know if you have any further queries.

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