To edit the name, icon and/or description that appears in chat on Teams, go to your bot dashboard on The Bot Platform.

Then hit 'Update bot name and icon':

Here you can change the bot name, icon, description and accent colour. Please note the name and description need to be fewer than 30 characters and the icon must be square and a .png file.

If you have allowed us to install the bot on your behalf, when you hit save you will be taken through to sign into Teams (you will need to be a Global admin). Once you've done this you will be taken back to the platform and will see a success message.
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If you have manually uploaded the app yourself (as a Teams admin), you will need to re-download the manifest file and upload it in the Teams admin again.

To see these changes in Teams, you'll need to log out of Teams and then back in.

How you brand your bot can be very important to its success. A user sees the bot in their Teams chat, just as they see their colleagues. How you present your bot in a chat setting is similar to how to present yourself to your colleagues and employees.

We've worked on a wide range of bots now and have seen a plethora of branding approaches. Here's some examples.

Characters and mascots are a great way to brand your bot. Some teams and companies already have pre-existing characters that they can use - this familiarity can make the user more comfortable with using the bot. It also means that the bot is easier to find in the chat list.

You can also make up characters. We have seen companies create characters which are a play on words on what the bot does. For example, one customer launched a values survey bot with the name "Val". Val was branded in such a way, that it felt like you were talking to a colleague. The bot was so widely used that it was referred to Val instead of a survey bot - a great way to simply and effectively incorporate employee engagement schemes into peoples' day to day work.

Another benefit of branding with a character is that you can design the tone of voice to fit it perfectly. This tone of voice can extend past the writing itself and into GIFs. For example, a team used a fox mascot to brand their bot, so therefore only incorporated fox or woodlands GIFs to keep their theme consistent and engaging.

If you have a team or event that heavily centres around a pop culture reference or event, then that's a great aspect to incorporate into your bot branding. We've seen multiple bots that mimic famous movie characters etc to brand their bot - images, tone of voice, GIFs and all. This is a great way to break the ice and get the user more familiar with the bot. Bots like this can even invite the use of Easter Eggs (secret messages within the bot that reflect the pop culture references) - you can do this by using keywords.

Simple is also a great way to go. This approach is usually best suited for more serious bots. A simple logo and a straight to the point name will let the user know that this is more of a tool for completing a task quickly and efficiently. Keeping it simple means you can be a bit more flexible with how you use tone of voice in your bot.

If you have any questions about bot branding, then please reach out to us using the Intercom widget found on the right hand side of the platform. We'd love to share our knowledge with you!