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Release Notes > Contact Center Central > Spring 2021
Release Notes
RingCentral Contact Center Central | Spring 2021
Stay up to date with the latest features, improvements, and bug fixes for RingCentral Contact Center Central. For Contact Center User Hub Release Notes, please refer to this page.
Release Date: Spring 2021
Coming Soon for Spring 2021 – Central
The following features are scheduled for the Spring 2021 release of RingCentral Contact Center. Users will be able to access these features, depending on their permissions and purchased applications, once their business unit has been updated.
Features are subject to change between now and the final release date.
Features are subject to change between now and the final release date.
Global and API Changes
API Façade
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- Contact Center will continue to update the API framework to use the API Façade and move the remaining clusters in groups to the API Façade. Earlier, in October-November 2020, C9, B3, C26, and C28 were moved. When using the Central Oauth authentication method, the “resource_server_base_uri” value will change to the API Façade URI.
- This change facilitates unification of the RingCentral Contact Center suite and improves the performance of our API framework. It enables use of a single URL for all API requests for an area instead of URLs for individual clusters. The API Façade also allows encryption of some API endpoints, providing better security.
- Ahead of this change, you should add the API Façade URI for your area to your allow list. The URI for the API Façade is: “https://api-{area}.niceincontact.com”.
- If you don't know your area, go to the Ports page and select your cluster. This displays all domain names for your area (including the API Façade). Once your cluster is switched to use the API Façade, your authentication response will reflect the API Façade for your area.
See Examples
NA1 area example:
"resource_server_base_uri":
"https://api-na1.niceincontact.com/inContactAPI/",
The refresh token will not be different and reflects your cluster just as before.
"refresh_token_server_uri":
"https://api-c24.incontact.com/InContactAuthorizationServer/Token"
To make API requests to endpoints like GET /v18.0/agents, use the API Façade resource_server_base_uri response value for the request. Here's an example for NA1.
https://api-na1.niceincontact.com/incontactapi/services/v18.0/agents
Upgrade to .NET Framework 4.8
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- RingCentral Contact Center code will be upgraded for .NET Framework version 4.8. This will resolve errors and improve the overall experience for all products that use the .NET Framework. Those products include Workforce Intelligence, Studio, and DB Connector.
Browser Support Changes
- The web portal will support the new Microsoft Edge, which is based on Chromium. Internet Explorer and legacy Edge will no longer be supported. Customers using Engage QM Integrated, which only supports Internet Explorer, will need to use IE Compatibility mode in Microsoft Edge. You can find complete information about browser support for suite applications in our platform requirements.
New Applications
| RingCentral Contact Center Virtual Agent |
Our Virtual Agent will allow you to integrate your own self-service bot applications into your IVR experience. Additionally, you will be able to add conversational chatbots for any digital channel. Contact Center Virtual Agent will introduce a new Studio action with a screen pop for configuring new or existing scripts to include these self-service options.
This release includes compatibility with prebuilt Google Dialog flow applications for voice and chat.
Data Streams
Data Streams will allow customers to have access to the event streams generated by various suite applications. You can then use data science or equivalent tools to identify call pattern trends, make immediate decisions, and conduct further analysis of the data as needed.
With this release, Data Streams will introduce the IVR log data stream. When enabled and configured, IVR log data will support your ability to make decisions based on near real-time IVR events. You will also be able to store stream data for future review, which can be useful in making projections.
Admin
Login Authenticators
- Login authenticators will offer a new method for managing password policies. You will create and manage login authenticators separately from security profiles. You will be able to associate users with both a login authenticator and a security profile. For backwards compatibility, if a user isn't assigned a login authenticator, their password policy will be controlled by their security profile.
- You will be able to migrate existing security profiles to login authenticators. The process will convert the password policy of a security profile into a new login authenticator and assign the new login authenticator to all users assigned to that security profile.
Advanced Chat
Integration with MAX
- Agents will be able to handle Advanced Chat v2 contacts without manually signing in to the Vergic Engage Platform. They will only need to sign in to MAX to begin handling Advanced Chat contacts. This includes chat, co-browse, and collaboration interactions. The interaction will display in the same way chat interactions are displayed in MAX. Agents will also be able to configure whether an active interaction is displayed in a separate pop-out window.
Agent for Salesforce
The following features are included in version 17.0 and are expected to be released in early March 2021.
Fully Integrated Lightning Agent for Salesforce User Experience Enhancements
Agents will be able to:
- View queue counts and their related icons in a new display bar on the home screen. This will replace Show Queue.
- Automatically view the dial pad when transferring a call.
- Select whether the agent application will display icons or text.
Integrated Softphone Secondary Ring Device
- Agents using Integrated Softphone will be able to connect a second device to play ring tones in addition to their primary device.
Specify Object Types in the Relates To Field
- You will be able to specify which object types your agents can link their contacts to in the Relates To field. This will ensure more accurate reporting of agent results and agent activity.
Cloud Storage Services
Cloud Storage Enabled for All by Default
Cloud Storage Services will now be enabled for everyone by default. You will have access to Cloud Storage Services menus and pages such as the following in the system web portal:
- Long Term File Retrieval
- File Life Cycle Management
- Secure External Access
Changes in Feature Hierarchy
The following features will be grouped under the Cloud Storage menu:
- Advanced Storage for ACD Recordings
- Custom Storage
- Custom KMS
Advanced Storage for ACD Recordings
- ACD Recording users who want to switch to Cloud Storage Services should contact their Account Representative. Once cloud storage is enabled, new ACD Recording files will be saved directly to cloud storage and existing files will be moved to cloud storage. RingCentral Contact Center Recording already uses Cloud Storage Services by default.
Encryption of Files in SEA
- Files copied from active storage to Secure External Access (SEA) will be encrypted using a system-generated KMS key in AWS or the custom KMS key for your SEA account. Your ability to access and download files from SEA using your SEA credentials is unchanged. This will simply add another layer of security for these files.
Interaction Analytics
User Interface Updates
Your experience will be more unified with interface updates that enhance the look and feel. These changes will affect:
- Category Templates
- Discovered Categories
- Search
- Category Rules
- Dataset Categories
- Filters
- Data Retention
- Data Ingest API
MAX
Hide Inbound Hangup Permission
- You will be able to use the Hide Inbound Hangup permission to hide the Hangup button on inbound phone calls. This setting is enabled within the agent's security profile. When enabled, this setting will prevent the agent from prematurely disconnecting from a conversation, ensuring a better customer experience. To use this setting, you will need to manually turn it on.
EOL of Secondary Disposition
- The Secondary Disposition feature will be deprecated in this release. You will need to modify your configurations to use the Tags feature instead.
Partner Applications
Partner Log Reader
Color-Coding
- Predefined rules and colors will make it easier to see skills, script, actions, contact ID, and snippets within log entries. A color key will appear on the log viewer for added convenience.
Search Functionality
- Users will be able to search the content of a log being viewed in Partner Log Reader. The Search bar will show the total number of matching results and which result is currently highlighted. Users can easily move up and down within their search results. This functionality will make it much simpler and faster for users to find items of interest within log files.
Adapters
Directory Sync for LogMeIn
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- Using MAX, agents will be able to consult their LogMeIn contacts through phone or email in a single click. MAX will also display the presence of the LogMeIn contacts. The new unified experience will remove the need for agents to alternate between MAX and LogMeIn.
| Presence Sync for Zoom |
- Presence Sync will enable tenants in a contact center to configure and synchronize agent states between RingCentral Contact Center and Zoom.
International Expansion to Australia
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- Presence Sync and Directory Sync Adapters will be available in Australia.
Performance Analytics for Salesforce Einstein (Analytics for Salesforce Einstein)
The following feature is expected to be released in early March 2021.
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Analyze Omnichannel Session Handling
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- You will be able to analyze the impact of Omnichannel Session Handling on your agents' performance. A discovery story will provide recommendations to improve your KPIs
Performance Management
| The following features are expected to be released in March. |
| Some features may only be available for the new Performance Management platform. These are grouped in the "AX Only" section. If you're not sure which platform your environment is on, click your profile drop-down in the top-right corner. Your version is listed below your account name (as shown in the following image). Environments implemented prior to 2020 are being migrated to the new platform. Contact your Account Representative if you have not received communication on this initiative. |
In-Product Onboarding
- Onboarding training will be available for some commonly-used or new areas and features. This will improve user adoption and help users gain skill quickly.
Multi-Factor Authentication
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA) will add an additional layer of security. You can enable MFA in security policies. Users will then be able to access their MFA options in their profile settings.
BPO Security Settings
- A new BPO group security option will help you incorporate outsourced users into your Performance Management setup. You will be able to specifically control which features of Performance Management an outsourced BPO user can access.
New KPI Module
- A new KPI module will allow you to view more detailed information for the specific metrics you select.
Service Level Module
- A new module allows you to conveniently view specific service level percentages, as well as the number of interactions in and out of SLA. You will be able to view SLAs by account, campaign, skill, or point of contact.
| Form Breakdown Module |
- A new module will provide an in-depth analysis of coaching and survey forms. Users with access can view information such as how all agents responded to specific questions, how specific agents responded to all forms, and so forth.
Change Dashboard Ownership
- You will be able to change ownership of a dashboard from a user's profile. If a user leaves your organization or changes positions, you will not need to recreate the dashboards owned and created by the user.
Time Format Selection in Metric Selector
- When configuring time metrics in the metric selector, you will be able to specify a format for the displayed time.
| Coin Budgeting |
- A new Budget tab in the Gamification Command Center will help gamification administrators better manage coin distribution to users. They will be able to plan a monthly budget of coins to pay out and view details for how coins were awarded.
| Challenges History Admin Updates |
- Gamification administrators will be able to view additional information for historical challenges. Drilling down into details of past challenges will improve understanding of agent performance and features of challenges to which agents respond most.
| Milestone Game |
- With this new game type, participants will need to achieve a series of milestones to win the game. Participants will be able to earn coins at each milestone, encouraging participation throughout the entire game.
| KPI Module for Custom Wallboards |
- Custom Wallboard slides will have a new KPI module type, allowing KPI metrics to be displayed on a Wallboard.
| Avatar Updates |
Two updates will make user avatars more fun and interactive:
- A new add-on category will allow users to select a safety mask for their avatar.
- Users’ profile bios will display with their avatars in the Avatar Gallery.
Performance Management (AX) Only
| Time Zone Support |
- Individual users will be able to set their time zone in their profile settings. This improves accuracy of reporting by narrowing down data to a specific time zone.
Reporting
Data Download Reports
| Monitor Calls Data Download Report |
- Customers will be able to run a report that shows a list of interactions with agents or contacts that were monitored. This report will list who was monitoring the interaction and the length of time the interaction was being monitored.
Studio and DB Connector
| Upgrade to .NET Framework 4.8 |
- Studio and DB Connector will only function with Windows operating systems that have the 4.8 .NET Framework version installed. You will need to update any computer already using these applications to the 4.8 .NET version if you haven’t already done so.
| Call Recording Studio UI Update |
- Action interfaces will be updated with MP3 as the call recording file type. In 2020, we updated call recordings to be saved as MP3 files, which is now reflected in the action interfaces.
DB Connector Error Logging
- Enhanced error logging will help RingCentral alleviate potential interruptions of the DB Connector. These logs will lead to improved maintenance and performance.
Spring 2021 Cumulative Update 1
These are the bugs and known issues that are fixed in this update:
ACD
- If an email contact was interrupted by a chat or call, the email status would change to park and be routed to a different agent after the chat or call was completed. Upon completing that email contact, it became stuck in the queue.
API
- The Delete removeProspects API was returning an invalid type error when the externalID field contained alphanumeric characters.
- Some invalid Studio Snippet parameters using REST API action parameters were being incorrectly validated which caused the environment to crash.
MAX
- After an agent logged in to MAX using WebRTC, if they opened another application on top of MAX, the first call delivered would not ring.
- If an agent was handling both an email and a call with ACW, between when the call ended and the ACW timeout, any changes to the email would be lost.
Omnichannel Session Handling
- If a contact dropped a call while it was still routing, the agent who would have received the call would be set to Unavailable - Refused if they had no other active contacts.
- Custom override chat scripts weren't running when the agent sent a message.
Studio
- When you passed masked personal data in parameters, they appeared in global variables in the script trace.
Spring 2021 Cumulative Update 2
These are the bugs and known issues that are fixed in this update:
ACD
- Bulk uploading a large list of agents was causing an error to occur.
- In a few rare cases, contact routing could temporarily stop.
Channels
- Prechat forms submitted by customers in Omnichannel Chat were not always being displayed for the agent.
Digital First Omnichannel
- When a case was assigned to another available agent and the original agent closed the tab, the case would become unassigned.
MAX
- The concurrent chat count was counting all active contacts instead of just active chats.
Spring 2021 Fixed Issues
These are the bugs and known issues that are fixed in this release:
Developer Portal
- When users tried to log in to the Developer Portal, it displayed a message that it was down for maintenance.
MAX
- Agents assigned to outbound skills were unable to set their disposition to Call Back - Schedule Time and then complete the interaction.
PartnerHub
- When Salesforce Service was enabled for a user and the user's Salesforce password expired, the user couldn't update ports in the Port Manager.
- When a user completed a request to provision a new POC, the status of the new POC would be New instead of Complete.
Studio
- The Login With Session ID feature was not functioning for organizations that recently received the Contact Center UI Upgrade.
Spring Cumulative Update 3
These are the bugs and known issues that are fixed in this update:
ACD
- From the CallTransferred CTI event, the TransferredSession, SessionId, and SipEndpoint fields were blank when populated from a warm transfer with an external source.
API
- Chat transcripts retrieved via API were missing system responses in the admin API results.
Workforce Management
- Transferred or reskilled chat contacts in the agent application were not being counted or reported in WFM.
Digital First Omnichannel
- Scheduled reports were being created but not sent to the specified email address.
MAX
- Emails sent with unsupported language encoding were generating errors when delivered to an agent. When this occurred, the agent would become stuck in a contact wrap-up state.
- In chats, MAX would sometimes display a special character instead of the correct character. For example, a chat might display "%20" instead of a space.
- After enabling Integrated Softphone for MAX, the Accept button in the pop-up window was not clickable when a call was delivered.
Personal Connection
- Uploading several dialer lists simultaneously could cause one of the lists to become stuck.
- When MAX was configured with both web scripting and a screen pop for incoming calls, only the web scripting screen was displayed.
Reporting
- The IEX_Queue_30min data download report was displaying as blank for some customers.
April Minor Release
These features are being included in the April 2021 Minor Release.
IEX WFM Integrated
Import Third-Party Data into IEX WFM Integrated
- The IEX WFM Import/Export add-on allows you to import data from outside sources into IEX WFM Integrated. This is helpful when you have a recurring or regularly-scheduled need to import data. It is also be useful for one-off imports, such as when setting up a new system. You can import data from third-party systems such as HR or forecasting systems. IEX WFM Import/Export supports 5 categories of data. You can import contact forecast data, historical data about a Contact Type, MU scheduled opens data, agent schedule changes, and agent vacation/RPO data.
- IEX WFM Import/Export uses a secure FTP (SFTP) server so that the data you import is transferred securely. You can create text-based files containing the data you want to import, place them in a specific file structure, and IEX WFM Import/Export automatically uploads them to the SFTP server and imports the data. Data must be formatted correctly. Each category of data has its own requirements for formatting and file names.
Workforce Management
Export Net Staffing
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- From the Schedule Manager, users can now export net staffing to a CSV file for a better view of the data. The net staffing can be exported by scheduling unit for a single day or week.
| Adherence Report Update |
- Users can now drill to a raw data report with all adherence data for a specific agent from the Agent Summary widget.
| Export Time-Off Summary |
- From the Time-off Summary page, managers can now export time-off data by scheduling unit, with the additional option to filter the data by activity. The data is exported to a CSV file.
Filter Requests by Scheduling Unit
- In the Requests page, managers can now filter requests by scheduling unit.
Automatic Approvals for Time-Off Requests
This feature was added as a release adjustment.
Managers can now create rules to automate responses to time-off requests, in the new Approval Rules page in WFM.
Rules apply to specific scheduling units and activity codes, based on selection. In addition, managers can apply conditions to the rules based on:
- Agent seniority
- Remaining group time-off allotment
- When the request is created
Requests that meet all conditions will be approved automatically.
For requests that do not meet the conditions, the manager can either:
- Set the rule to decline the request automatically
- Set the rule to redirect the request for manual approval
There is no change on the agent side. Agents will not know that their requests were handled automatically.
Managers can see which requests were approved or declined automatically in their Requests page.
In order to create approval rules, users must have the View and Manage permissions enabled in the Approval Rules permission. This permission is available in Admin > Security > Roles & Permissions, in the WFM > General Permissions section.
Spring Cumulative Update 4
These are the bugs and known issues that are fixed in this update:
MAX
- If MAX was hidden behind another application, the first incoming call would not ring through. (MAX-6959)
- Intermittently, inbound calls were not being routed to agents in MAX. (ORC-8006)
These are the bugs and known issues that are fixed on this update.
API
- The contact/completed API was not applying the updatedSince filter to records that had been updated with a new ACW value.
- When using APIs, if an agent lost connectivity while on a call, the system was not setting that agent to an unavailable state and ending the session.
Channels
- When a chat was started from a mobile device, some parameters were not being passed back to the script.
IEX WFM Integrated
- When an agent was updated in the Admin app and synced to IEX WFM Integrated, the External ID and Personal ID fields were being updated incorrectly.
MAX
- Custom screenpops were opening in MAX as overlapping windows in the same tab instead of each screenpop opening in a separate tab.