How to parse out a preferred name in Watson Assistant?

Question

Watson asks "What is your name?" The user responds, "My friends call me Dick, my colleagues call me Richard, but you can call me Rich." or "I prefer Steve, but most people call me Steven." or "I prefer Bill over William and Will." How can I get Watson to recognize the preferred names of Rich, Steve, and Bill?

Answer 1

Easiest way. Change your question to prompt a unique answer.

• Can I have your first name please
• What is your last name?
• How would you like me to refer to you as?

Technical way you can try using NLU or contextual entities combined with @sys-name. But the work involved will not be worth the trouble for something that may not happen.