A Microsoft Teams bot for documented company answers
The ChatDocument Microsoft Teams bot brings company knowledge into the conversations where employees ask for help. Send a direct message, mention the bot or receive automatic answers in help channels. Responses use the same sources and permissions as the browser, with citations employees can open. The bot comes with Business and Scale.
Ask without leaving the discussion behind
An employee planning travel asks "Who approves an exception to the travel policy?" A support colleague asks "Where is the documented workaround for an export error?" The bot answers from company documentation so the conversation can move forward with a source to inspect.
ChatDocument connects SharePoint and OneDrive alongside Google Drive, Confluence, Notion, Dropbox and Slack. Uploaded PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, websites and help centers can also contribute. Sources stay where they are, and new or edited documents are picked up on their own.
The Teams bot uses that shared company knowledge. A question can draw on accessible department spaces rather than depending on the employee remembering which drive, wiki or help center contains the answer. This is useful when an approval process spans the teams involved in the task.
Choose the conversation that fits the question
Direct messages give employees a way to ask the bot directly. Mentions bring a documented answer into a channel discussion. Automatic answers in help channels support recurring requests where people already turn to HR, IT or Operations.
Choose an audience appropriate to the task. Source permissions and private spaces define the documentation employees can use, and sensitive department questions belong in the appropriate conversation.
| Teams interaction | Example employee question |
|---|---|
| Direct message | "How do I request parental leave?" |
| Mention in a discussion | "Which agreement applies to this engagement?" |
| Help channel question | "How do I request access to the reporting dashboard?" |
| Hand off to a person | "Who can clarify an exception the policy does not cover?" |
Keep the original guidance within reach
Every sentence links to the document, section and space behind it. Clicking the citation opens the passage. Employees can read the original wording when an approval depends on a condition or a procedure needs more context than a brief chat reply provides.
A question about travel approval should lead back to the relevant policy. A question about a support workaround should point to the maintained runbook or help center guidance. ChatDocument answers in the language of the question while keeping the source available to inspect.
Learn how cited answers make the supporting documentation visible.
Follow the same permissions as the web app
Employees only get answers from documents they are allowed to open. Permissions inherited from sources apply to the Teams bot as they do in the browser. A person cannot use a question to obtain guidance quoted from a restricted document.
Department spaces give HR, Sales, Support, Legal, IT and Operations owners for their knowledge. Private spaces support sensitive material. Roles include admin, space owner, member and reader. The same workspace supplies the knowledge behind the answer regardless of where the employee asks.
Make a missing answer clear enough to resolve
When the documents do not hold the answer, ChatDocument says "not in your documents" and shows the closest passages it checked. The bot can hand off to a person so an unresolved policy question reaches someone who can clarify it.
For "Can a contractor receive access outside the standard approval process?" the nearest access procedure might not cover the exception. Showing that limit helps the employee ask the right follow up of the policy owner without relying on an invented rule.
Business and Scale include gap detection, with unanswered questions grouped for the right owner and conflicting or outdated documents flagged. Owners can verify useful answers with a review date and version history after checking the guidance.
Include Teams questions in the workspace allowance
The Microsoft Teams bot comes with Business and Scale, together with the Slack bot. Questions in either chat tool count toward the shared team plan allowance alongside browser questions. Compare capabilities and usage limits on the pricing page.
FAQ
Does the bot only use SharePoint documents?
No. It uses the same company sources as the web app, subject to the employee's permissions. SharePoint and OneDrive can be part of that connected knowledge.
Can the bot answer automatically in help channels?
Yes. It supports automatic help channel answers as well as direct messages and mentions. Responses link back to company sources.
What if the employee needs a person?
The bot supports hand off to a person when the documentation does not answer. ChatDocument states the missing answer and shows the closest passages it checked.
Give Teams conversations a documented answer
Connect company sources and make the guidance behind routine questions easier for employees to use.