Version 5.21.0 Release Notes

Introduction

This Bright Pattern Contact Center release includes several new features: Dialing Restrictions, Hunt and Call Pickup groups, as well as enhancements to Remote Assist.

Dialing Restrictions

The Dialing Restrictions feature gives administrators a new way to control which destinations can be dialed from a contact center. It uses pattern matching to prevent calls to certain destinations similar to the existing Do Not Call Lists , but can be configured for teams and campaigns, applies to both automated and manual calls and, comes with more flexible destination number pattern matching.

With Dialing Restrictions, administrators can:

• Use pattern matching to exclude specific numbers or groups of numbers.
• Configure a default set of dialing rules that applies to all calls.
• Override the default set of dialing rules for specific destinations with custom dialing rules.
• Assign custom dialing rules to specific teams and campaigns.

Hunt and Call Pickup Groups

Administrators can also create Hunt and Call Pickup groups to offer more support for business users and increase the probability that a live person will answer the phone. When a call is made to a hunt group number, extensions for all users assigned to this group ring simultaneously. When a call is made to any member of a call pickup group, it can be answered by any other member of the group. Examples of teams that leverage hunt or call pickup group functionality include internal teams like IT, accounting, and human resources.

Remote Assist Enhancements

New enhancements to existing remote assist functionality include allowing:

• Agents the ability to elevate their account so that the original user is locked out instead of logged off, preserving any applications or other states on the device.
• Users to launch a chat window during a remote assist voice interaction to continue the conversation when the remote assist session is disconnected.
• The ability to transfer directories of files.
• Experts to attend remote assist sessions and confer with agents to troubleshoot issues.

Bright Pattern continues to offer new best-in-class features while exploring ways to enhance existing functionality, enabling customers to optimize their ROI and increase performance efficiency.

System Behavior Changes

Remote Assist

In Service Pattern 5.21, the way privilege elevation works during a remote assist session has changed.

Previously, when an agent switched accounts, the original user was logged off. This meant applications or other states the original user had open were closed. When the session ended, processes that were started in the alternate account were also terminated.

In release 5.21, when an agent elevates the account, the original user is locked out instead of logged off, preserving applications and other states on the device. When the agent ends the remote assist session, processes started during the session will continue to run in the background until completed.

	Agents are strongly advised to switch to a different account when elevating privileges. Once the original user account is elevated, it cannot be reverted to its original state. This means that if the Remote Assist session is disconnected, the elevated privileges are inherited by the remaining user.

Call Detail (CSV) Report Changes

Two new fields have been added to the Call Detail (CSV) report: hunt_group_name and call_pickup_group_name. You can find more information about these fields in the report specification. If you do not want these fields to appear in the report, you can remove them by customizing the BPXML report template. For help with this, contact Bright Pattern's Customer Success team.

Historical Database Changes

When you upgrade to Service Pattern 5.21, the database upgrade process may remove four unused columns from the call_detail table. These columns are empty and contain no data. The default reports don't use them. However, custom reports or custom database export scripts may still refer to these columns.

If this is the case, you will need to update your reports or scripts to remove references to the columns:

• caller_rtp_server_id
• caller_recording_url
• callee_rtp_server_id
• callee_recording_url

Why are these columns being removed?

The MariaDB database has a limit on the number of rows that can be stored in a table. To accommodate this limit, the database upgrade process may remove unused columns from the call_detail table.

What will happen to my data?

Your data will not be affected by the removal of these columns. The columns are empty and contain no data.

What do I need to do to prepare for the upgrade?

If you have custom reports or custom database export scripts that refer to the unused columns, you will need to update them to remove references to the columns that no longer exist.

Added/Updated Features

Remote Assist Enhancements

Remote Assist Chat Over Voice

Remote Assist chat is now enabled during voice interactions, providing an additional channel of communication for customers and agents, and maintaining the Remote Assist session if the voice interaction is disconnected.

Send a Direct Chat Invitation Link

Agents contacted by customers using an external channel like Teams, or third party email and chat, can generate and send a secure chat invitation link to the customer that lets them bypass the queue and continue their interaction with the agent using the Bright Pattern Contact Center. These links are non-transferable, cannot be spoofed, and expire at pre-determined times.

Configure File Size Limitations for File Transfers

The maximum file size for transfer over Remote Assist can now be configured from the default 100MB to up to 1GB. Configuration for file size limitations is managed by providers for customers upon request.

Transfer File Directories

Agents can use Remote Assist to send folders containing multiple files. Folders do not have size restrictions, but each file in the folder must be smaller than the configured maximum file size. If agents attempt to send a file that is larger than the maximum allowed, they receive a notification and the files are not sent.

Invite External Experts to Remote Assist Sessions

Agents can invite external experts to assist with issues during Remote Assist sessions. The external expert can see a client's computer screen via an external view URL link, however they do not have the ability to control the device, elevate the privileges, or transfer files. It is a view-only application.

Support for Azure Active Directory

Agents using Azure for Active Directory can elevate their Remote Assist session by adding AzureAD/ to the front of their login information. New text with instructions exists on the Remote Assist pop-up screen for added convenience.

Leverage Tenant Level Short URLs

Administrators can configure Remote Assist session link URLs to improve usability and branding for their organization. Administrators are responsible for hosting the desired URL and configuring the redirection to the original path.

Hunt and Call Pickup Groups

Hunt Groups

When a call is made to a hunt group number, all extensions assigned to the group ring simultaneously. Hunt groups provide access to a contact center through a single point of entry, a pilot number, or a dedicated external number. Administrators configure hunt groups in the following ways:

• Customize the hunt group's name
• Choose whether to display it in the directory
• Assign it external numbers
• Add users or hardphones
• Choose forwarding and voicemail options

Call Pickup Groups

When a call is made to any member of a pickup group and is not answered within a predetermined time, it can be answered by any other member of the group. Call pickup groups are accessible by dialing one extension in the call pickup group. Call pickup groups do not receive a dedicated number. Administrators configure call pickup groups in the following ways:

• Choose the call pickup group's name
• The length of the time delay
• Whether the other extensions can see the originating extension
• The number of seconds to display the notification
• Whether there is a notification tone
• Which extensions are added to the group

Dialing Restrictions

Customize and Create Restriction Classes to Control Outgoing Calls

Dialing Restrictions provides a customizable default restriction class, which is applied to all calls unless a more specific rule in a custom restriction class overrides it. Administrators create custom restriction classes, which can be assigned to campaigns, services, and teams to provide more flexibility to specify which destinations are allowed or prohibited for that team or service and campaign.

Restriction classes comprise a list of destination prefixes and rules to specify whether each destination prefix is allowed or prohibited. The system evaluates a number before a call is made and rejects attempts to call a number which matches a blocked destination.

Configure and Assign Dialing Rules from Multiple Places in Contact Center Administrator

The Contact Center Administrator provides an easy-to-use user interface (UI) for managing the Dialing Restrictions feature. With the UI, administrators can add, change, delete and view restriction classes, destinations, and rules. They can also assign custom restriction classes to teams, services, and campaigns.

In addition to the Dialing Restrictions UI, the Teams and Services & Campaigns configuration pages now have a new field called Restriction override class. This field allows administrators to assign a custom restriction class to a team or service and campaign.

New Privileges Control which Users Can Configure Dialing Restrictions

Two new privileges, Manage campaign and team dialing restrictions and Manage default dialing restriction class, have been added to allow users to manage restriction classes for campaigns and teams and to manage the default restriction class.

By default, the Dialing Restrictions feature is disabled. To enable it, the System Administrator role must be assigned the Manage default dialing restriction class privilege.

New Disposition "Forbidden destination" Identifies Call Attempts to Blocked Destinations

When an agent dials out using a service, the system checks to see if the destination is blocked. If the destination is blocked, the call is rejected with the message "Forbidden destination."

If a blind transfer attempts to call a prohibited destination, the transfer fails, and the interaction disposition is set to "Forbidden destination."

Other New Features

Create Custom Object Types in Zendesk Scenario and Workflow Blocks

Administrators can create custom object types by manually typing the name of the object in the Object type field for the Zendesk scenario or workflow block. Custom object types are available in the following workflow and scenario blocks: Create, and Update Object scenario and workflow blocks, and the Screen Pop scenario block.

Propagation of Callerid and List fields into custom reporting fields for outbound calls

A new field in the call_detail table, from_external_phone is populated with caller ID for manual and Dialer initiated calls.

The new checkbox Save in Custom Reporting Fields in the List Import Wizard enables the Custom reporting field dropdown, allowing you to map Account ID, Person ID and Country from a List so the values of those fields are stored in the historical database.

Notices

This section contains essential notices for this release.

Recommended Browsers

• Google Chrome 107 and later for Windows OS 

• Microsoft Edge 13 and later 

• Mozilla Firefox 94 and later 

• Safari 15.1 and later for Mac OS X
  
  

Recommended Operating Systems

• Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11 

• Mac OS X 10.15 (Catalina) + Chrome OS (support via auto update) 

• Ubuntu 20.04 
  
  

Known Issues

The following are known issues for Remote Assist:

Due to Windows Security features, agents may lose mouse and keyboard control during their Remote Assist session. This only occurs when ALL the following are true:

• Client is using Windows, AND
• Client is logged in as an admin, AND
• The Task Manager is opened on the client's computer, AND
• The Task Manager window has a focus, AND
• The Remote Assist session is not elevated
  
  

No matter how the Task Manager opens, this specific combination of events may cause the agent to lose keyboard and mouse control.

To work around this issue:

• Elevate the session, OR
• Ask the client to close the Task Manager during the interaction
  
  

For Remote Assist sessions initiated through voice calls that have switched to chat after an interruption to the call, the Remote Assist chat session and voice interaction are not merged for the agent.

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