U7 Adds Contact Center with Facebook, SMS & Live Chat

[ENCOM-GEFFRAY]

@Constantinos Constantinou What I blame mainly is the lack of communication on your part.
With each update it is up to us integrator to bring you back the anomalies.
When you make a CFD it is not meant to be recompiled with each new version ... It is up to you to ensure retrocompatibility, and when it is not possible to inform widely about the prerequisite and associated ffects. There is a clear lack of method in prod settings.

 

[StefanW]

@Paul Reynolds ,

3CX Live Chat and Talk as WordPress plugin is deprecated and replaced by 3CX Live Chat. If you have it, uninstall it and update it with the new plugin. There is another WordPress plugin which is solely for WebMeeting/Webinar integration. https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/3cx/

We give you two options to run live chat on your website.
If you use WordPress and want a simple setup, then install the above-mentioned plugin and past your queue or extension Click2Call URL inside the plugin. If you have a need to show on your website different Chat boxes depending on the pages or you don't use WordPress, use the Code Generator and manage the "script code" manual. https://www.3cx.com/live-chat/code-generator/

The use of the Click2Call URLs directly, I personally call them signature URLs, can be embedded in your emails. Nothing you would use on your website directly normally.

Also, the WP plugin or code generator has more options to customize the experience over direct usage of the link itself...

 

[Constantinos Constantinou]

So does the new method of setting up Live Chat (https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/live-chat/) replace the existing ones I already had setup ("Click2Talk" attached to a Queue)?

Should I delete those settings and set them up again in the "Messaging" menu? Or just leave the existing. Is there some benefit to setting up in the Messaging menu over what I already had set up or is it just moving the existing setting into a central location (if the latter it might have been nice if my existing already showed up there).

Thanks.

@Paul Reynolds ,

Configuration of sites allowed to use Live Chat will persist also after applying the update to U7.

"Live Chat" is incorporated on "Messaging" screen as a way to aggregate all the configuration options in one place. Also now on "Messaging" you will get a better understanding what site routes to which Extension/Queue.

The first time that you will try to configure "Live Chat", already configured domains will be listed for you to use them in the configuration of the routes.

 

[n2]

As a silver partner, you should already know why and hold off on updates for systems using CFD.


SMS only for now. MMS is coming later (don't ask for a timeline, we don't know.)

My guess is they will work on getting more providers before enabling MMS for them all.

As a silver partner, you should already know why and hold off on updates for systems using CFD.


SMS only for now. MMS is coming later (don't ask for a timeline, we don't know.)

My guess is they will work on getting more providers before enabling MMS for them all.

As a silver partner, you should already know why and hold off on updates for systems using CFD.

Sorry Frederick, your response is off-track - 1) The client did the update and when things broke we were called in. It has nothing to do with partner status and frankly, only has to do with a release that apparently does/did not take into account those using CFD and the impact it might/would cause. 2) There is nothing mentioned in the change log that CFD would be impacted. 3). Why push a release when it is known that many have automatic upgrades enabled and in doing so, will break the CFD? The response from StefanW is lacking in that he posts a response indicating an old version that needs to be updated to a new version, but fails to mention the version that is needed or how to get.

There is no download in the resource section of the partner portal by which to locate this "new" version , which then forces one to do a search to find what might be a new version, which appears to be from September...and it is also impacted. As 3CX does not install Beta software automatically, perhaps there was or is a way to determine if CFD was employed and if so, follow the Beta procedure and not install. I suspect that others will run into this issue when their settings for auto update is triggered. In this instance, the updates were set for Sunday, but the client logged-in, saw the update pending and went ahead and installed. He never installed the Beta beforehand. It took down all inbound calls to a school district in Kansas with close to 400 extensions. They were running debian which I ended up having to revert to an older Windows version as the install for debian brings in the latest version (u7 at this point) as a function of the install procedure.


SMS only for now. MMS is coming later (don't ask for a timeline, we don't know.)

My guess is they will work on getting more providers before enabling MMS for them all.

The notion of

 

[StefanW]

@ENCOM-GEFFRAY @n2

after the blogpost release of U7, we had added the remark in regards to CFDs which are complied with an old version (October 2019). As my college already stated, we cannot look back to any given version ever made. We acted as quick as possible to bring this to the attention of our customers. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

For the future, I also have to state, that we cannot guarantee that you don't have to recompile your flows ever again as they are been compiled in the runtime of the PBX. When we upgrade the .net version of the PBX, which we do for security reasons, this might require you to rebuild them with a new CFD Studio.

Therefore we shall agree that you must update and ensure the usage of the latest CFD version and do due diligence in test environments (reasons why we have Alphas and Betas); as we will do our due diligence to run those CFDs in our latest PBX with the latest available CFD Studio for our partners; or we will inform you prior if we see this is not possible with the current version due to reason XYZ.

@n2
Point taken that it is currently not easy to locate the CFD feature page on 3cx.com and has been sent on internally. For ease of reference:
Feature Page: https://www.3cx.com/phone-system/call-flow-designer/
Executable: https://downloads-global.3cx.com/downloads/3CXCallFlowDesigner.exe
Change Log: https://www.3cx.com/blog/change-log/vad-change-log/

 

[StefanW]

@n2

MMS is in our radar but we wished to deliver SMS in its purest form first and finetune if needs be before adding multimedia elements to it. It adds the complexity which file extensions are supported by some and not by others to the mix.

 

[n2]

@ENCOM-GEFFRAY @n2

after the blogpost release of U7, we had added the remark in regards to CFDs which are complied with an old version (October 2019). As my college already stated, we cannot look back to any given version ever made. We acted as quick as possible to bring this to the attention of our customers. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

For the future, I also have to state, that we cannot guarantee that you don't have to recompile your flows ever again as they are been compiled in the runtime of the PBX. When we upgrade the .net version of the PBX, which we do for security reasons, this might require you to rebuild them with a new CFD Studio.

Therefore we shall agree that you must update and ensure the usage of the latest CFD version and do due diligence in test environments (reasons why we have Alphas and Betas); as we will do our due diligence to run those CFDs in our latest PBX with the latest available CFD Studio for our partners; or we will inform you prior if we see this is not possible with the current version due to reason XYZ.

@n2
Point taken that it is currently not easy to locate the CFD feature page on 3cx.com and has been sent on internally. For ease of reference:
Feature Page: https://www.3cx.com/phone-system/call-flow-designer/
Executable: https://downloads-global.3cx.com/downloads/3CXCallFlowDesigner.exe
Change Log: https://www.3cx.com/blog/change-log/vad-change-log/

Stefan - Thanks for the reply.

However, I need to point out that what you have provided as links implies that this is what we should be using. However, you have another user in the forum who you responded to which has also run into the issue and they indicate they have been and are using the release (16.6.53.0) which is the same as that which these links refer to (Richard_M post in https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/call-flow-apps-not-working-since-upgrade-raspberry-pi.78018/). I have yet to see, read or come across the CFD version number that is officially supported with U7. The reference is usually made as "old" and "latest" or "new/newest". What version number should I be looking for specifically?

I also need to point out that the change logs for CFD (your link from above) makes no mention of any issue nor does the changelog for U7 (https://www.3cx.com/blog/change-log/phone-system-change-log/).

So, prey tell how would anyone have the wherewithal to know and understand that the U7 release (not Beta) would cause such an issue? Did not the Beta reveal the issue? What about the Alpha? You pointed out these aspects above, but did not 3CX test? If so, what did 3CX find? Additionally, what was installed was neither Alpha or Beta, but a release labeled as "FINAL". I understand that things may change and certain actions may need to be taken, but kindly direct me to any warning, statement or other that in any way, shape or form, advises of the incompatibility. I suspect more will be forthcoming from others as the auto update triggers kick in over the coming days.

Sorry to rant, but it cost me time and effort and a conversion from Debian to Windows to fix the client. The client is asking me no less of the questions that I am posing to you. They moved from Jive to 3CX this summer and his comment was "we never had any issues with Jive". Whether or not that is true, I have no way to know, but still he has an issue with 3CX. He was none to happy as you might imagine.

I could not reload Debian as the files pulled in during the install are the latest. I spent time looking at the forum, changelogs and other trying to find the issue and even submitted a ticket and no one had really posted anything at that point. Now, I will, at some point, have to move back to Debian and then reload the flows using the "newest" unknown version of CFD whenever that becomes available.

Ok, so I have had my say and I do appreciate your involvement, but going forward, please put something in the changelogs that indicates known issues or other so that we have a resource to refer to. While I don't know if the issue was known beforehand (the release), I can only ask that 3CX not push a release if there are such issues without due warning well ahead of time.

Thanks,

 

[Nikola Paskov]

I wonder how its possible nobody to see this in last 2 main releases u6 and now u7:
https://skr.sh/s5XeF4kPp6s

Same is in the Call queue Click2Talk/Meet tab. There was one more place at least I found back in time such problem but now I cant find it.

To fix it when u6 was alive I was forced to downgrade to 16.0.5.622 and now after testing u7 I'll have to downgrade agian.

P.S. BLF menu corrupted too: https://skr.sh/s5XsJrs95FV

 

[Evolute IT]

I wonder how its possible nobody to see this in last 2 main releases u6 and now u7:
https://skr.sh/s5XeF4kPp6s

Same is in the Call queue Click2Talk/Meet tab. There was one more place at least I found back in time such problem but now I cant find it.

To fix it when u6 was alive I was forced to downgrade to 16.0.5.622 and now after testing u7 I'll have to downgrade agian.

Just clear your cache? It's probably just that.

 

[edossantos]

However, I need to point out that what you have provided as links implies that this is what we should be using. However, you have another user in the forum who you responded to which has also run into the issue and they indicate they have been and are using the release (16.6.53.0) which is the same as that which these links refer to (Richard_M post in https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/call-flow-apps-not-working-since-upgrade-raspberry-pi.78018/). I have yet to see, read or come across the CFD version number that is officially supported with U7. The reference is usually made as "old" and "latest" or "new/newest". What version number should I be looking for specifically?

Please note that the issue reported in that thread is not related to this. We're investigating that issue, which seems to affect installations on an ARM Raspberry Pi only.

Rebuilding the apps with CFD 16.6.53 will fix the issue if you have apps built with a very old version of the CFD. You can use this version to work with 3CX v16 U7. We will release a new version of the CFD for Update 7, but until then you can use 16.6.53. As a rule of thumb, your CFD version should not be greater than the 3CX version. For example, CFD 16.6.53 targets 3CX v16 Update 6 and it can be used with Update 7, but not with Update 5.

 

[Nikola Paskov]

Just clear your cache? It's probably just that.

Nope it isnt. Its the same in two different installs - one of them I'm currently configuring and after initially installed it - problem was the same and I downgraded it too.

 

[Constantinos Constantinou]

@n2 Security fixes and updates is number one priority for our Phone System. For this reason on Update 7 of PBX, we had an updated database connector assembly.

Tests on Call Flow Designer are run on the build that is publicly released which at the moment is 16.6.53.0 (https://downloads-global.3cx.com/downloads/3CXCallFlowDesigner.exe). As my colleague correctly mentioned 16.6.53.0 build output is supported by Update 6 and Update 7 of PBX.

By taking this into perspective build outputs on 16.3.19 of CFD verified back then with Update 3 and Update 4 of the PBX.

Alpha and Beta releases are very important for us, and the same it should be also for the customers. Especially BETA releases are released for you to run any verifications prior moving to production.
That's why staging environments is something that is always suggested on environments with complexities like CFD.

 

[N_G]

@ENCOM-GEFFRAY point taken and will keep this in mind.

 

[SteveITS]

The repository 'http://repo.saltstack.com/apt/debian/9/amd64/archive/2019.2.0 stretch Release' does no longer have a Release file.

3CX has a script to run to fix this, read through:
https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/update-failing-saltstack-issue.74217/

 

[gbourgeois]

What complete rubbish. You can update 200 instances via our instance manager easily and in a supported manner.

Very well then,
it is not only to "start the update" ...

What you do not offer is the possibility to schedule the exceptional automatic backup at a specific date and time from the instance manager AND to process the update only if the backup was successful.

With all the respect you deserve (sincerity) , @Nick Galea , before you invite me to open a idea post / vote as , I put emphasis on, after opening a post / vote, he requires a lot of popularity for ... your team consider the idea...and a lot of time before it gets put together.

So consider, If the update command in SSH puts 3CX at risk thus and invalidates the support.
cosider the possibility of making available shell scripts flie that would update the PBX / as offert for the 3CX Debian patches ; " debianpatches/9/16/0/5/20200619-os-update.sh "

One of the logical strengths of Linux is precisely terminal mode.
Why not make it simple .. Command line queries give the flexibility of WHEN, WHAT and FROM ... without having to ask you to develop additional functionality.

... For what its worth ...

 

[N_G]

@gbourgeois thank you for your additional explanation - this helps a lot. To be clear the respect is mutual Well, please do put these things in the ideas section as adding more features to the instance manager is absolutely in our vision and quite possible because its entirely separate from the PBX......

This particular suggestion of the backup makes sense indeed.....

 

[cmp1]

@Nick Galea :
The re-write of the Chat Logs in conversation style is nice for auditing, but causing some issues and concern.
Every time a page is rendered, it pegs the CPU(single threaded) to 100% - or a multi-core system to 100% of 1 core, and has significant delay. 30-45 seconds, at times a minute to render a page, and with pagination every time page is changed.... Search same.

Once within a chat conversation - one can go through the pages quickly as they have been queried.

I believe there must be a small improvement made here; simply entering the Chat Logs screen, if it has the possibility of performance impact of High CPU, could, and likely will impact voice quality and stability of the system - then same as logs, should not be a default high load event.

Filtering on the main chat logs screen does not appear to have any benefit, and causes additional troubles, as it filters by create data. Many users re-use the same chat day in and day out, thus filtering by Created Date: today, yesterday, last 7 days does not return those conversations.

Is there any way that the screen can be changed to not load on enter, due to the potential performance hit. One should have to specify the search properties and load the screen rather than just default load on enter.

 

[FridayIT]

YES!!!! It finally happened! The ICS files generated by 3cx webmeetings now show "busy", have a reminder, and a placeholder location in outlook. I just pushed the update to my test environment and I am very happy this is now happening. No more workarounds/hacks needed for this.

I spoke too soon. this works for 3cx sent meetings, but for meetings that we select generate ical it still doesn't add an alarm, and set a reminder. we will still have to do this manually for every new meeting invite. I know what needs to be changed in the structure of the ical, but I'll have to wait and see if this happens in the next release.

 

[gbourgeois]

@Nick Galea

Adding a participant to an active conference ;
This is no longer possible ?
We noticed that it is no longer possible to add a new participant to an ongoing conference with "blind method".

I have attached a video to show you.
Once I have added participants, it is no longer possible to add new participants with the "Add" / "Blind" method.

 

[FridayIT]

So I did some testing on the SMS functionality and these are the takeaways I have.

Lets get the big plus point out of the way:
Setup was a breeze for us, we signed up for an account and set the service up in a few minutes.

In regards to feedback on the SMS messaging experience, please see below.

Performance is good, I ran a test with a couple of lines and had no issues with reachability.

The whisper function is implemented very well was impressed with the layout of this. Only thing I would like to see is a way to "review" previous chats.

From the management side, I can see the message history in the management portal which is great for audit, but I think we need a way for queue managers to easily access their teams history for calls that came to the queue within the webclient. Right now the current implementation will "save" whatever the agent had visibility over, but unless the manager has access to the full page, they cant view their teams full conversation,

It would also be nice to be able to have the option of "copying" parts of a conversation when performing a transfer. this way the client and the agent don't have to "repeat" themselves.

Might be nice to have the ability to see previous chats at a glance if a user sends an SMS again after "marking as done" I'm really mixed on this one though, I can see both sides, possibly an option to view previous chats, as we don't want information overload.

Another concern with the current implementation is that agents who are not logged into the "queue" are notified of incoming SMS messages. For a queue I see this as needing a way to manage, as our queue managers don't necessary need alerts on every chat request, but may need to take over at times.

I'd also love to see a bit of automation with this, like a scripted introduction message, right now if people message when the department is closed, they would not hear back until they re-open... not the best experience.

Right now, for individual use I can see it as a product that is ready to go, for call centers or for working as a team I think it needs a little more time in the oven to reach it's full potential.