Azure Bot Framework
The Azure Bot Framework (also known as the Microsoft Bot Framework) is a platform for building, deploying, and managing conversational applications. It provides an extensible SDK, tools, and cloud services that enable developers to create bots capable of handling text, speech, and rich interactive messages. Bots built with the framework can connect to channels such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Facebook Messenger, and custom applications.
Typical Use Cases
- Building customer‑facing chatbots for support and FAQ scenarios
- Creating conversational assistants for Microsoft Teams and enterprise workflows
- Automating routine tasks such as data collection or appointment booking
- Integrating natural language understanding into applications
- Prototyping conversational experiences using templates like Echo Bot or Core Bot
Retirement
Although the Bot Framework SDK is still functional, Microsoft has announced its retirement with final long‑term support ending in December 2025. Today we would develop similar, but no doubt better functionality as an Agent utilising one of the more modern models from Open AI, Anthropic or Google.
