In this chapter, we've covered how to use external APIs to increase the information that is available to the chatbot, allowing you to make much more powerful skills.
We then looked at how to make the experience more enjoyable for the user. The three ways we did this were as follows:
- We used error-handling to reduce the frustration when a user's request doesn't work.
- We used session memory to remember details about the conversation so that we can use them later. This stopped us from repeating and prompting the user every time they didn't provide all of the information.
- We used SSML to modify the way that Alexa says our responses, to make the sentence feel more human. We also used SSML to make jokes funnier, but it can be used to emphasize points or change the tone of the speech.