November 28, 2022 #
What’s Coming #
Idle Timing Setting Reactivation (November 28 Incident)
On November 28, 2022, we temporarily deactivated the Idle Timing feature — which automatically puts Agents in Away status or logs them off after inactivity — in response to a platform issue that caused Agents not to be able to stay logged into Gladly. We reactivated the Idle Timing feature Thursday, December 1 at 10 AM PT, and our team continues to closely monitor platform activities to ensure optimal platform performance.
Avoid SMS Content Violation Error
‘We detected the contents of this message may violate carrier acceptable use policies’ error is typically caused by SMSes going against carrier guidelines, which are strictly enforced outside Gladly’s control. One of the guidelines not being met as infrastructure providers, carriers, and regulators begin to tighten compliance is not including opt-out language to the initial SMSes sent to Customers. So if you support Customers via SMS, please review the tips below to avoid this error:
Outbound SMSes and SMS API
- When initiating an SMS to a Customer, the initial message should include an opt-out language and the name of your company. For example, Hello Chip! My name is Gerard and I’m messaging you to let you know your order is ready for pick up. This message is from Retale. Message & Data rates may apply Reply STOP to opt-out. This language should be included in Messaging Answers used for initial messages or manually inserted by Agents when initially reaching out to Customers via SMS.
- When Customers reaches out to you via SMS, your initial reply (whether manual or a First Contact auto-reply Rule using a Messaging Answer) should include an opt-out language and the name of your company. Something like, Thank you for contacting Retale. How can we help you today? Message & Data rates may apply Reply STOP to opt-out.
Proactive SMS
In the Proactive SMS Campaign message, make sure the initial message (set as a Messaging Answer) includes an opt-out language. For example, Hello Retale Platinum Member. This is a reminder that your membership renews next month 🎉. Message & Data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt-out.
IVR to SMS
- Calling Customers given the option to receive support by SMS through the IVR must explicitly state the opt-out language. For example, your IVR menu recording may say, To receive support through SMS instead, press one. No
- te that message and data rates may apply and you may Reply STOP to opt-out of SMS communications at any time.
- Include an opt-out language in the initial SMS sent to callers confirming their request to receive support via SMS which required you to edit your IVR to update the message. For example, Thank you for contacting Retale! What can we do for you? Note that message and data rates may apply and you may Reply STOP to opt-out of SMS communications at any time.
Tips for Support Heroes After Each Phone Call
We’ve recently seen an uptick in feedback around Support Heroes feeling that they do not have enough time between phone calls. Note that the time between calls is configured through the After Call Work setting. We have a few suggestions that hopefully will help your teams feel less stressed about time their time between phone calls:
- We suggest checking the After Call Work setting to ensure it’s a value that still works for your team, especially during this busy time. Make sure that this value is neither too long nor too short.
- Please communicate with your team about the length of time they have between phone calls while they remain available on the Voice Channel based on the After Call Work setting.
- Clicking Next or Close & Nextbefore the After Call Work time expires immediately routes the next call waiting, overriding the setting.
- For Messaging Channels, clicking Next or Close & Next routes Customers until the Maximum messaging capacity per Agent value is reached.
- As a suggestion, guide your team to enter their call notes as they work with the Customer. They can even save a few seconds toward the end of their call to finalize their notes before the call ends. They may say something to the Customer like, “Please allow me a few seconds to make I have everything we did today noted properly just in case we need to reference this call in the future.” Customers are happy to wait a few seconds to ensure their calls are appropriately documented.
Don’t Forget to Update Your IVR Holiday Hours
It’s time to update the holidays for 2023 in your IVR! Some examples where you need to update your IVR hours to turn it “off” include:
- 4th of July
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas Day/Eve
- Boxing Day
- New Year’s Day
- And any other company holidays you have where you need to make sure your IVR is appropriately configured to handle calls when your team is not working.
Watch the video below to learn how to update your IVR.
See How do I set up our holiday or business hours for more information.
Holiday Release Schedule
Since the holidays are fast approaching, we’d like to take this time to remind you of our holiday release schedule. Please note that there is no release scheduled for the weeks listed below:
- December 19 (Holiday break)
- December 26 (Holiday break)
- January 2 (First week of 2023)
Our Support Team will remain available over the holiday season with modified business hours if you experience any issues with Gladly.
Resolved Issues #
Incorrect Node Deleted Message – In certain scenarios, the Start node in an IVR would not allow the selection of the next node due to a false node deletion error. This is now fixed.
Don’t Miss Out #
EVENT
Product Roadmap Customer Webinar
Join us on December 7, 10 AM PT | 1 PM ET for a Product Roadmap session and get a peek into features and enhancements we’re working on. See you there!
REVIEWS
You’re in good company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
November 15, 2022 #
What’s Coming #
Don’t Forget to Update Your IVR Holiday Hours
It’s time to update the holidays for 2023 in your IVR! Some examples where you need to update your IVR hours to turn it “off” include:
- 4th of July
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas Day/Eve
- Boxing Day
- New Year’s Day
- And any other company holidays you have where you need to make sure your IVR is appropriately configured to handle calls when your team is not working.
Watch the video below to learn how to update your IVR.
See How do I set up our holiday or business hours for more information.
Platform Readiness for Peak Holidays
Gladly invests in reliability, performance, and uptime year-round through ongoing investments in scale testing, production monitoring, and controlled rollouts of new functionality. We also regularly forecast and plan for additional loads Gladly may experience during the holiday season. Please see Platform Readiness for Peak Seasons to learn how we ensure the stability and uptime of the platform during peak seasons.
Holiday Release Schedule
Since the holidays are fast approaching, we’d like to take this time to remind you of our holiday release schedule. Please note that there is no release scheduled for the weeks listed below:
- November 21 (Thanksgiving)
- December 19 (Holiday break)
- December 26 (Holiday break)
Our Support Team will remain available over the holiday season with modified business hours if you experience any issues with Gladly.
Resolved Issues #
Channel Wait Time Report Inbox Filter Not Working – We fixed an issue that prevented the Inbox filter from working in the CSV version of the Channel Wait Time report.
Sidekick Landmark for ADA Compliance – The Sidekick widget is now a landmark for ADA compliance and has “Live Chat” as the default button name. If Sidekick is set as an icon, it’s still set as a landmark and read as “Live Chat” by screen readers.
Don’t Miss Out #
EVENT
Product Roadmap Customer Webinar
Join us on December 7, 10 AM PT | 1 PM ET for a Product Roadmap session and get a peek into features and enhancements we’re working on. See you there!
REVIEWS
You’re in good company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
November 8, 2022 #
What’s Shipped #
Lookup Adaptor Debugger Non-JSON Enhancement
The Lookup Adaptor Debugger can now detect if a Lookup Adaptor is sending a non-JSON object inside of the lookup response array which may prevent Customer data from getting fetched.
What’s Coming #
ACTION REQUIRED: Gladly Voice Umatilla, Oregon Edge Location Update
Please forward this information to your internal IT contacts.
What is this?
The Umatilla location update aims to improve call quality and reliability while allowing for seamless failover in the event of a Gladly Voice outage.
Who does this apply to and what do we need to do?
Umatilla will soon be available as a new edge location with Gladly; however, you may need to take the following actions as a user of Gladly Voice:
- If you maintain media IP firewall block lists, you’ll need to open a firewall to allow traffic from these Umatilla media ranges.
- If media IP block lists and firewalls aren’t opened to allow traffic from Umatilla media ranges, you will not be able to take advantage of optimal call quality with Gladly Voice and the new failover options.
When do we need to do this?
We recommend allow-listing traffic for Umatilla before November 10, 2022. Contact Gladly Support if you have questions.
How do I know I configured this correctly?
If all Voice tests pass on https://networktest.twilio.com/?region=us2 when run on an Agent computer connected to the network they will connect to when supporting Customers, then no further action is required.
Platform Readiness for Peak Holidays
Gladly invests in reliability, performance, and uptime year-round through ongoing investments in scale testing, production monitoring, and controlled rollouts of new functionality. We also regularly forecast and plan for additional loads Gladly may experience during the holiday season. Please see Platform Readiness for Peak Seasons to learn how we ensure the stability and uptime of the platform during peak seasons.
Holiday Release Schedule
Since the holidays are fast approaching, we’d like to take this time to remind you of our holiday release schedule. Please note that there is no release scheduled for the weeks listed below:
- November 21 (Thanksgiving)
- December 19 (Holiday break)
- December 26 (Holiday break)
Our Support Team will remain available over the holiday season with modified business hours if you experience any issues with Gladly.
Resolved Issues #
Sidekick Custom Button Not Respecting Display Rules – We fixed an issue where Sidekick Display Rules did not translate to the Sidekick custom-button CSS classes which caused custom buttons to appear when they shouldn’t.
Broken Inline Images for Email Answer Auto Replies – Inline images in Email Answers would sometimes not appear when sent to Customers. This is fixed.
‘Tab’ Key Navigation Not Working In Help Center – We resolved a bug that prevented users from navigating and making selections in Help Center using the tab key.
Don’t Miss Out #
REVIEWS
You’re in good company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
November 1, 2022 #
What’s Shipped #
Shopify Order Display Update
To prevent timeout errors when fetching Shopify orders, the Order Card for Shopify now displays up to 10 of a Customer’s most recent orders. Previously, we attempted to display up to 50 orders, which sometimes caused timeout errors resulting in no orders displayed. Use the Total Order field to see the total number of orders a Customer has.
Customize Link Text To View More Answers Under Help Center Sections
While you can configure the number of Answers to display under each Section in Help Center, if you have more Answers than the # of Preview Answers value, you can update the See More Link Text field to customize the text to view all the Answers nested under a Section.
Ordergroove is Now Available for Gladly
Ordergroove, a subscription management software, is now available as an out-of-the-box integration with Gladly. When connected to Gladly, you can:
- Help your Customers understand when their next payment is for their subscription.
- Quickly identify products in the subscription through images.
- Quickly see how many subscriptions the Customer has (both active and not).
What’s Coming #
ACTION REQUIRED: Gladly Voice Umatilla, Oregon Edge Location Update
Please forward this information to your internal IT contacts.
What is this?
The Umatilla location update aims to improve call quality and reliability while allowing for seamless failover in the event of a Gladly Voice outage.
Who does this apply to and what do we need to do?
Umatilla will soon be available as a new edge location with Gladly; however, you may need to take the following actions as a user of Gladly Voice:
- If you maintain media IP firewall block lists, you’ll need to open a firewall to allow traffic from these Umatilla media ranges.
- If media IP block lists and firewalls aren’t opened to allow traffic from Umatilla media ranges, you will not be able to take advantage of optimal call quality with Gladly Voice and the new failover options.
When do we need to do this?
We recommend allow-listing traffic for Umatilla before November 10, 2022. Contact Gladly Support if you have questions.
How do I know I configured this correctly?
If all Voice tests pass on https://networktest.twilio.com/?region=us2 when run on an Agent computer connected to the network they will connect to when supporting Customers, then no further action is required.
Platform Readiness for Peak Holidays
Gladly invests in reliability, performance, and uptime year-round through ongoing investments in scale testing, production monitoring, and controlled rollouts of new functionality. We also regularly forecast and plan for additional loads Gladly may experience during the holiday season. Please see Platform Readiness for Peak Seasons to learn how we ensure the stability and uptime of the platform during peak seasons.
Holiday Release Schedule
Since the holidays are fast approaching, we’d like to take this time to remind you of our holiday release schedule. Please note that there is no release scheduled for the weeks listed below:
- November 21 (Thanksgiving)
- December 19 (Holiday break)
- December 26 (Holiday break)
Our Support Team will remain available over the holiday season with modified business hours if you experience any issues with Gladly.
Resolved Issues #
Daily Trends Dashboard CSVs Had ‘NULL’ Value on Header Row – When downloading a CSV version of the Daily Trends dashboard, some of the CSVs like Channel Wait Time and Service Level Trending showed a NULL value on the first non-header row. This is now fixed.
Work Session Report Sometimes Incorrectly Displayed Work Session ID – We fixed a bug where Work Session IDs in the Work Session report would sometimes change unexpectedly if the Ended event came in before the Accepted event so the Work Session IDs would be initially reported on as the Ended event ID and then subsequently switch to the Accepted at event ID.
Task Not Emitting Closed Event – We resolved an issue that caused closed Tasks to sometimes not emit a “task closed” analytics event.
Don’t Miss Out #
Connect Learning
New Course
Don’t forget to check out the Learn How Not To Take Things Personally Connect Learning course. It’s a great addition to other courses to complete alongside How Your Tone Affects Service and How to Communicate With Empathy. You’ll need to create an Connect Learning account to access all Connect Learning content.
REVIEWS
You’re in good company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
