Version 5.3.0
Bright Pattern Contact Center version 5.3 adds a number of new features and enhancements, including advanced search capabilities, Conversational IVR, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration.
Keep reading to learn more about what’s new in version 5.3.
Agent Desktop Performance
Keep Agent Desktop Awake
Previously, when the agent's computer went to sleep mode due to inactivity, the OS would shut down the Internet connection causing the Agent Desktop to log out the user automatically due to connection loss. This negatively affected users' productivity and KPIs. Starting with this release, the Agent Desktop application with a logged-in user will prevent the computer from going into Sleep mode by the inactivity timeout.
This feature does not affect the user's ability to put the computer in Sleep mode manually (e.g., via the Power menu option or by closing the laptop lid).
Note that the auto-logout prevention behavior is unconditional and applies to computers on both Windows and Mac OS.
Safari Browser Extension For Agent Desktop Helper Application
To address the Safari web browser’s dropped support for NPAPI in Safari 12, Bright Pattern has implemented the Safari App Extension, which is supported for Agent Desktop users on Safari 10, 11, and 12 on Mac OS X 10.12 (Sierra) and higher.
The Safari App Extension will be packaged into the Agent Desktop Helper Application (i.e., the BPClientSetup.exe installer); the installer will detect the OS X version the system is running at and install the extension only if it runs on Mac OS 10.12 and later.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Agent Desktop Helper Application.
Agent Desktop UI
Bright Pattern SSO
Bright Pattern now offers single sign-on (SSO) functionality for our contact center platform. SSO allows users to sign in just one time for access to Agent Desktop, Wallboard, and Contact Center Administrator applications.
Home Page
The Agent Desktop section My Grades is renamed Home Page.
Search & Preview Records
The Agent Desktop section Contacts is renamed Search & Preview Records.
Non-Trivial Totals for Supervisor Statistics
In the Agent Desktop application, section Supervision, metrics displayed in the Service Metrics area are no longer always presented as the sum in the totals bar. For example, the totals bar will display the total number of interactions for metric IN Waiting, but the IN Max Wait metric total will display the service with the maximum amount of wait time.
For more information about real-time metrics, see the Supervisor Guide.
AI and Bots
Conversational IVR
Bright Pattern’s Conversational IVR is an interactive voice response (IVR) solution that leverages integrated chatbots and speech recognition technologies for self-service. Unlike traditional IVRs that prompt callers to select from menu options, Conversational IVR lets customers choose the path they prefer by simply saying what they want. Callers can interact naturally in their own words, eliminating the need to memorize options.
Powered by integrations with Amazon, Google, GoVivace, and IBM, conversational IVR utilizes speech-to-text (STT) technology, text-to-speech (TTS) technology, Natural Language Processing, and Natural Language Understanding to learn about customer behavior, collect data, and deliver insights based on what customers say. Using collected data, the conversational IVR can learn and be improved and updated continually through the voice of the customer.
Conversational IVR can be configured in scenarios using the new Play-Listen scenario block. For more information, see the Scenario Builder Reference Guide, section Play-Listen.
APIs
Multichannel Recording API
Version 5.3 allows you to record voice of each participating party on a call into a separate audio file and export these files in uncompressed format via an API. Note that this function requires extra storage and must be enabled for you by your service provider.
For more information, see the Interaction Content API.
Interaction Content API Method Extensions
The Get File and Get Metadata API methods allow you to download recording files in the original stored format (GSM) without converting them to PCM format.
To use the API methods, you need to have the “Allow recording export API access” privilege.
Note that the Interaction Content API was previously called the Recording Retrieval API.
SMS/MMS API
The SMS/MMS API allows for the sending of SMS/MMS messages via text-capable access numbers of the Bright Pattern platform from an external application and tracking the delivery status of those messages. Possible replies can be directed to a chat service associated with the assigned access number.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Privileges and the SMS/MMS API Specification.
Call Center Configuration
Configurable Notifications for the Start and Stop of Call Recordings
Version 5.3 presents the options Play notification when recording starts and Play notification when recording stops in the Contact Center Administrator application, section Quality Management > Call Recording and Monitoring.
These individually configurable options allow you to choose whether notifications play at the beginning and/or end of recorded calls. Additionally, you may configure whether a prompt is played to an agent, a customer, or both. Note that separate tones or pre-recorded prompts may be uploaded for either of the configurable options.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide.
Grayscale Screen Recordings
Administrators can now specify Agent Desktop screen recordings to be saved in grayscale rather than color, which results in significant bandwidth savings. This option is set in Screen Recording properties in Contact Center Administrator.
Individual Volume Controls for Ringtone and Notifications
Ringtones and Alerts has been added to the available selection of Agent Desktop’s user settings. From this setting, users can change the volume of the ringtone as well as the tone of external chat and preview record notifications.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section Ringtones and Alerts.
System-Level Volume Controls for Ringtones and Notifications
Volume slider controls have been added to the Contact Center Administration application, section Call Center Configuration > Audio Treatments, making it easier to adjust the volume of ringtones and notifications in your call center.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide.
Case and Contact Management
Advanced Case and Contact Search
Version 5.3 expands full-text search capabilities to include email bodies in the Agent Desktop application, section Search & Preview Records (formerly known as Contacts). This is made possible through the implementation of Elasticsearch, a leading edge search engine that quick searches on powerful and flexible criteria.
When enabled, agents may do the following:
- Make partial word searches
- Make multi-word searches (e.g., an email’s subject line or a complete sentence)
- Use robust advanced search criteria options (e.g., flagged cases can be found by entering the search flagged: yes|no)
- Conduct searches that include both case and contact information (e.g., searches can display cases based on their email contact matches)
- Conduct searches that are a mix of text and non-text criteria (e.g., find cases with an “Open” state that were opened more than seven days ago by entering the search modified > MM/DD/YY AND Open)
For user information, including expanded search options, see the Agent Guide, section Advanced Search.
Expanded Case Management Settings and Case State
Version 5.3 expands case features to allow better organization of your contact center’s personal and team queues; features include new management settings and case states.
Case states in the Agent Desktop application are expanded to allow a variety of customizable choices; these states include the following: New, Open, Pending, Resolved, and Closed
The Contact Center Administrator application contains the following additions to section Case & Contact Management:
- Resolved case becomes closed after
- Resolved is one of the new states available for Agent Desktop cases. For this setting, if a case has been categorized as Resolved, it will be automatically closed after a specified number of days; the default number of days is 14.
- Setting final disposition resolves case
- For this setting, selecting the disposition on a case to any option in the Final category will resolve the case.
- Case Pending Reasons
- Pending is one of the new states available for Agent Desktop cases. This section is where you create the Pending reasons for cases that require further action (e.g., needing manager approval, more customer information, etc.).
For more configuration information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Case Pending Reasons and section General Settings. For more information regarding case state, see the Agent Guide, section Case State.
Creating Cases Outside of Interactions
It is possible for agents to create a case for a saved contact without an interaction. The Add a case button, found in Search & Preview Records, Contacts tab, creates a new case with the “add note” field open and the option to send an email. When a case is created in this way, it puts the creating agent in a Busy state.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section How to Create New Cases.
Creating Follow-Up Cases from Closed Cases
Version 5.3 introduces the Create follow-up case button for closed cases. While there is no way to reopen a closed case, it is possible to create a new “follow up” case, instead.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section How to Send a Follow-Up Outbound Email.
Link Button for Easy Access and Collaboration on Cases and Contacts
Version 5.3 introduces the link button for cases and contacts. Clicking this button copies a direct access URL to the specific case or contact, which can be shared with the other agents or supervisors of your contact center.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section My Cases Interface and section Search & Preview Records Interface.
Chat
Proactive Offer Chat Widget Sizing Treatment
Please note that in release 5.3.0 the Proactive Offer chat widget sizing treatment was changed. Previously, contact buttons were placed outside of the offer area, which caused layout issues. Starting with release 5.3.0, the buttons are inside the widget. We advise all customers who used Proactive Offers before version 5.3.0 to review and adjust the sizing of the widget dialog and possibly add line breaks to separate widget content from the buttons.
Documentation
Bright Pattern Contact Center help documentation has been redesigned and reorganized to make it easier to find information.
Bright Pattern Contact Center Docs Home
The documentation home page offers visual cards organized by topic: Agents, Administration, Supervisors, What’s New, Tutorials, Reporting, API Reference, Integrations, Support, and FAQ.
Cards contain drop-down menus with easy-to-navigate links. See the new look of Bright Pattern Contact Center Docs at help.brightpattern.com.
Tutorials
We provide tutorials for every type of user: agent, administrator, and supervisor. To accommodate new how-to articles, we have reorganized the Agent Guide, Contact Center Administrator Guide, and Scenario Builder Reference Guide.
The Agent Guide focuses on topics related to agent experience (i.e., setup, working in Agent Desktop, tutorials, and troubleshooting).
The Contact Center Administrator Guide is now supplemented by Tutorials for Admins, which presents a wide range of “how-to” material for administrators configuring contact centers. Topics include AI and bots, integrations, scenarios, services, and so forth.
The Scenario Builder Reference Guide includes new chat and voice scenario exercises, which utilize annotated templates that can be downloaded and imported into a contact center for training purposes.
New Guides
The Embedded Agent Desktop SDK Specification includes a detailed description of the API used to embed the Agent Desktop widget into webpages to support requests for information about agent states and interactions, as well as control agent and supervisor login, status, call flow, call recordings, transfers, and outbound dialing.
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration Guide provides integration configuration procedures and explains how to enable access to Microsoft’s Web API in order to access Dynamics 365 data from Bright Pattern scenarios.
Doc Archives
Help documentation for Bright Pattern Contact Center version 3.x has its own dedicated space: help3x.brightpattern.com.
Customizable Disposition Buttons for Email
New for email services, dispositions may be configured as buttons that appear in the toolbar of both team queue and personal queue in Agent Desktop’s My Cases; these buttons allow agents to quickly disposition emails and remove them from the queue.
Disposition buttons are configured in the Contact Center Administrator application, section Services & Campaigns > Dispositions Tab, with the new settings Show in toolbar in team queue and Toolbar icon.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Dispositions Tab.
Option to Suppress Thread ID in Email Subject Line
The option Insert thread id in email subject is added to the Contact Center Administrator application, section Scenario Entries > Email > Services tab. When disabled, an email case’s thread ID will be removed from the email’s subject line. Note that this setting is automatically enabled for existing email entries; if you are creating a new scenario entry for email, this setting is not enabled.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Email.
Post-Transactional Email Surveys
Version 5.3 lets you send post-transaction surveys to your customers via email. Our customizable HTML survey forms can be tailored to any service for any language and can be sent automatically to the customer based on the interaction’s disposition.
The customer receives the email with a link to the online survey, completes the survey, and gets an auto-generated “thank you” response. Conveniently, the customer’s survey data are saved to Activities and attached to the associated case.
Survey forms are configured in the Survey Form Editor application, which is accessible through the Contact Center Administrator application, section Quality Management > Survey Forms. Survey forms may be sent through the Workflow Builder application or the Scenario Builder application, when configured in an EMail block. Note that the Survey Form Editor is part of Bright Pattern Contact Center quality management features, is enabled per tenant.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, as well as the Workflow Builder Reference Guide, section [[5.3:Workflow-builder-reference-guide/HowtoSolicitPost-TransactionalSurveysviaEmail|How to Solicit Post-Transactional Surveys via Email].
Forms
Activity History Forms Display Custom Fields
Version 5.3 introduces Activity History forms. Activity History forms pull information from the activity forms agents fill out during interactions. This information is then saved to the case and contact history corresponding to the interaction and is accessible in Agent Desktop’s section Search & Preview Records (formerly Contacts).
When configuring Activity History forms, note that they are defined per service type (i.e., chat, email, voice). Additionally, they may include custom Activity History fields.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Activity History Forms, and the Form Builder Reference Guide, section How to Configure Activity History Forms.
Clone Pages of Activity Forms
The clone button has been added to the Form Builder application for activity forms; the button is located next to the add page button in the pages palette.
Clicking clone creates a new page titled "Clone of <page name>" and all controls are copied from the cloning page. Additionally, you can change the default page name when creating a new page by clicking the green + button. After clicking this, the page name should read "Page 2", "Page 3," and so forth, instead of "New Page".
For more information, see the Form Builder Reference Guide, section How to Configure Activity Forms.
Integrations
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration
Bright Pattern Contact Center now integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications to provide single sign-on, Dynamics 365 data-driven interaction routing, screen-pop, activity history, and click-to-call functions.
This integration adds new scenario blocks: Microsoft Dynamics Create Object, Microsoft Dynamics Delete Object, Microsoft Dynamics Screen Pop, Microsoft Dynamics Search Object, Microsoft Dynamics Select Account, and Microsoft Dynamics Update Object.
For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration Guide and the Scenario Builder Reference Guide.
New Authentication for IBM Watson Assistant
Watson Assistant has been added as a bot/chat suggestions engine integration type because IBM Watson no longer supports username/password authentication for their newer generation of services.
Watson Conversation integration has been renamed Watson Assistant (Conversation) in order to support backward compatibility.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Bot / Chat Suggestions Engine Integration.
Screen Recorder Stores Directly to Amazon AWS
Release 5.3 provides two options for screen recordings storage: local storage and Amazon AWS.
Local storage is the default. When Amazon AWS storage is selected, screen recordings will be uploaded directly to your S3 bucket. You can specify exactly where (i.e., to which S3 bucket) such recordings will be stored in AWS integration account properties.
AWS integration account properties now include property “Region” for specifying the geographical region where Amazon S3 will store your buckets.
For more information, see the Contact Center Administrator Guide.
Single Sign-On with Google G Suite Apps
Bright Pattern integrates with Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 identity providers, allowing you to configure single sign-on (SSO) functionality for Agent Desktop and Contact Center Administrator.
We’ve implemented SSO with Google G Suite applications (e.g., Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, etc.), so you can sign in just once to access all your apps.
For SSO configuration steps, see the SAML 2.0 Single Sign-On Integration Guide.
Reporting
Expanded Agent Selection Features in Agent Reports
The following features have been extended to the following reports:
Features
- The ability to select multiple agents
- The select all checkbox
- The checkbox to show/hide disabled or deleted agents
- Perform incremental searches by partial name
Affected reports
For more information, see the Reporting Reference Guide, section Report Generation.
New Time Frame Report Parameters
To support the ISO week definition, where the first day of the week is Monday, the new time frame reporting parameters Last Week (Monday - Sunday) and This Week (since Monday) have been added to ad-hoc reports, scheduled reports, and Agent Timeline.
For more information about generating reports, see the Reporting Reference Guide.
Reporting Data for Agent City and Country
The new fields agent_country and agent_city have been added to both the agent_activity table and agent_performance table. These fields display the country and city listed per user in Users > Location tab and enable grouping of agents in reports by location.
For more information, see the Reporting Database Specification.
Scheduled Reports UI Changes
Version 5.3 introduces various changes to the sections of the Contact Center Administrator application dedicated to reporting.
Section Reporting > Report Templates now includes the Used In tab, where users may see what reports a report template is associated with, create and customize a new report from the template, schedule report generation and delivery, and delete reports.
Section Reports introduces updates to the user interface, including report generation buttons. For original, unmodified reports, the buttons are renamed Customize, 'Rename, and Clone; for cloned reports, the Delete button is included. Note that it will be possible to delete cloned reports only.
For more information see the Contact Center Administrator Guide, section Report Templates, and the Reporting Reference Guide, section Report Generation.
Scenarios and Workflows
Bright Pattern Case and Contact Management Workflow Blocks
The Bright Pattern Create Object and the Bright Pattern Update Object blocks have been added to the Workflow application.
The Bright Pattern Create Object block allows objects to be created in the Bright Pattern Contact Center database, and the Bright Pattern Update Object block allows existing database objects to be modified. Object types include case, contact, company, and activity history (for Bright Pattern Create Object only).
For more information, see the Workflow Builder Reference Guide.
Enhanced Bright Pattern Search Object Block
The Scenario Builder application’s enhanced Bright Pattern Search Object block allows you to add multiple search conditions within a single block, and expands the searchable Case object type to include Reporter Id and State.
For more information, see the Scenario Builder Reference Guide, section Bright Pattern Search Object.
Play-Listen Scenario Block
Version 5.3 introduces the Play-Listen scenario block, a key part of Bright Pattern's conversational IVR. It enables natural conversation in an automated scenario, using a combination of integrated text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies, along with integrated chatbots to "talk" to customers on inbound voice calls and "listen" for their spoken or DTMF (i.e., touch tones) response.
Play-Listen may be used in voice scenarios with Configure a Bot and Ask a Bot blocks when configuring conversational IVR. For more information, see the Scenario Builder Reference Guide, section Play-Listen.
Popping Case and Contact Information to Agents
Specific case and contact information can be popped to agents at the start of interactions if a direct access URL is included in a Web Screen Pop block in the Scenario Builder application.
For more information, see the Scenario Builder Reference Guide, section How to Create a Chat Scenario That Pops Case or Contact Information.
Random Function in Scenario Builder Application
The function random(max) is available to use in the Set Variable scenario block; when used, this function takes one integer parameter and returns a random integer number in the configured range (i.e., 0 to whatever number is defined as “max”). This function can be used, for example, to launch a random percentage of surveys.
For more information, see the Scenario Builder Reference Guide, section Built-In Functions.
Telephony
Dial Pad Button Added to Agent Desktop Call Controls
The Dial Pad button is added to the controls available to agents on active calls; this button pops a dial pad that allows agents to click on the keys or use their keyboard to enter DTMF keys. Note that this control may be used to speed dial through external IVRs.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section Call Controls.
Speed Dial Through External IVRs
Version 5.3 allows the comma symbol (i.e., “,” ) to be added to phone numbers and extensions entered in the number input field for the purpose of speed dialing through external IVRs. Each comma represents a one-second pause the system takes before entering the next DTMF key (i.e., 1-9, #, *); multiple commas may be configured consecutively for a longer pause.
Commas may be added at the end of a regular number or extension and then between subsequently dialed DTMF keys. Some examples of dialed numbers include the following:
- 18005556677,,,1,,4
- 16506046789,,1,1234567890#
- 1002,3,2
Phone numbers and extensions dialed with comma symbols will appear in Agent Desktop’s Recent list and can be saved to a contact record with the symbols included.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section How to Speed Dial Through External IVRs.
Streamlined Call Transfers and Conference Calls
The Initiate transfer or conference button streamlines phone controls in the Agent Desktop application. When an agent is on a call and this button is selected, a search window will pop open. From here, the agent can search for a contact to blind transfer the call to, dial directly, or dial as a conference call.
For more information, see the Agent Guide, section How to Make Consultations and Transfers.
Wallboard
Wallboard Font Size Adjustment Control
Version 5.3 introduces a font size adjustment control for Wallboard widgets. Accessible in Edit mode, the control allows you to adjust the font size Agent Grid and Service Grid widgets.
For more information, see the Wallboard Builder Reference Guide, section Title and Controls.
Wallboard Time Series Widgets
The new Time Series widgets allow you to display service and team data in a linear, time-based chart. Chart data is updated every 10 seconds and is displayed in 30-second increments. Viewable data ranges from 15 minutes to seven days.
For more information, see the Wallboard Builder Reference Guide, section About Time Series Widgets.