Q1 '24 release

 Platform-wide feature

 Paid-for feature

 Enhancement to paid-for feature

General Availability Features

Vonage Premier for Service Cloud Voice

Supervisor barge-in 

When a supervisor clicks Monitor on an active call, in addition to viewing the conversation entries (and real-time transcription), the supervisor can join and listen in, muted. We now also offer the ability for the supervisor to barge in (unmuted) using the Conference button as shown in the image below. This is known as Join mode on the core VCC platform, in which the supervisor joins the call as a monitor, similar to being in a conference call. The supervisor can speak and be heard by the agent and the external participant.

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ContactPad

Updated login for embedded ContactPad 

Vonage has introducted a new login process for ContactPad embedded within iFrames. This update aligns with changes in web privacy, including the phasing out of third-party cookies by browsers like Google Chrome.

Key changes:

• Single login button: Users see a streamlined login interface with a single button and any single sign-on options enabled.

• Pop-out authentication: A separate authentication window appears on login and logout.

• Pop-up permissions: Users must enable pop-ups for Vonage on their first logout.

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This change is part of our ongoing commitment to user security and privacy, adapting to the latest web standards. For any queries or feedback, please reach out to Vonage support.

Administration

Virtual Assistant applet 

Vonage Contact Center has a new Virtual Assistant applet that facilitates the routing of interactions to Vonage AI Studio’s Virtual Assistant. Virtual Assistant uses artificial intelligence (AI) to handle a contact’s request, referencing FAQ content, suggesting actions for updating or reading contact data, or routing the call to a human agent through a tailored interaction plan. Contacts engage with a virtual agent resulting in an outcome of either abandoned, escalated to a human agent, or resolved.

To route interactions from VCC to Virtual Assistant, a VCC admin user needs to configure an interaction plan that includes the new Virtual Assistant applet, and have an active Vonage AI Studio account.

As part of setting up the Virtual Assistant applet, the admin should provide the virtual agent’s detail, define which parameters to send to and receive from the Virtual Assistant, and routing definitions as shown in the image below.

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Menu - Tone applet updates 

Updated applet: As part of this release, we have added capabilities from the new Announcer applet into the Menu Tone applet, providing the ability to reference WAV files, dynamic audio, and text-to-speech from within the Menu Tone applet for the first time. In addition, the Menu - Tone applet has been renamed to Menu applet.

‘Report a problem’ actions appear in Audit Log 

If an agent experiences a problem when using ContactPad, they can report the problem to VCC. This sends a detailed system report from ContactPad for investigation.

Audit Log — available within the VCC admin portal — has been extended and now logs when an agent clicks Send report in ContactPad. This enables admins and supervisors to view when agents report a problem within ContactPad.

WebRTC

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure support for ContactPad with WebRTC 

An increasing number of enterprise customers are using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) to manage the environment contact center agents use on a daily basis. Using WebRTC with VDI can present challenges such as increased latency and packet loss, both of which reduce call audio quality. These challenges occur because audio is not routed directly to the agent and is instead routed through the remote desktop server.

Since the release, Vonage offers VDI support. To use a VDI, the agent should open a specific webpage in a browser on their local computer which enables WebRTC media to be routed directly to the agent. This bypasses the remote desktop server and avoids the problems caused when audio is not routed directly.

Headset controls for ContactPad WebRTC 

WebRTC provides the best user experience for agents by bringing all of the VCC call controls into ContactPad. Without WebRTC, agents have to answer the call outside the contact center and then use ContactPad for all other call controls. The agent has to find and switch to ContactPad to answer, reject, hangup, mute, and unmute calls — even if they are busy elsewhere.

As part of the release, Vonage offers headset control support for USB-connected headsets that are compatible with WebHID. Using a compatible headset means that agents can perform basic call controls even if they are in an application, window, or tab that does not contain ContactPad. Using WebHID means that no additional software will be required. Note that different headset models and manufacturers support different combinations of call controls.

Distinct reporting of WebRTC permissions issues 

Vonage is pleased to announce a significant enhancement in ContactPad's reporting functionality, focusing on WebRTC connection failures. This update brings more granular insights into the two primary reasons for WebRTC connection failures experienced by agents - connection issues (reported as Connection Unavailable) and permission problems (reported as Device Unreachable).

Previously, ContactPad informed users about the category of failure, but now, we have taken a step further by allowing users to distinctly report on these issues through both Real-time and Historical Analytics.

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This means that when a WebRTC connection fails, ContactPad notifies the user about the nature of the issue, whether it is a connection or permission problem, and allow for this information to be distinctly tracked and analyzed within Analytics.

Real-time Analytics

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Historical Analytics

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This enhanced reporting capability enables support teams to diagnose and address the root causes of connection failures accurately.
This feature is part of Vonage's ongoing commitment to providing robust and insightful communication tools, ensuring our clients have the necessary data to make informed decisions and maintain high-quality service standards.

Insights

Historical Analytics shows Virtual Assistant results 

In Historical Analytics, administrators can access basic analytics related to Virtual Assistant performance, including the numbers of abandoned, escalated, or resolved calls. 

This functionality is applicable exclusively to accounts subscribed to Vonage AI Studio and that have interaction plans featuring the new Virtual Assistant applet. To learn about this new applet, see Virtual Assistant applet earlier in this page.

Note that accounts using the existing Virtual Agent applet cannot view the basic analytics in Historical Analytics.

Team Monitoring 

Vonage is excited to announce the full release of Team Monitoring, an innovative addition to our Insights suite, available to all from Q1 '24. Initially available in beta since Q2 '23, Team Monitoring is designed to enhance management and support capabilities for administrators and supervisors within modern contact centers.

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Key features of Team Monitoring:

• Agent management: Enables effortless adjustment of agent presence and real-time viewing of interaction status, ensuring supervisors can respond quickly to changing situations.

• Skill and group views: Offers supervisors a comprehensive overview of agent skills and group alignments, optimizing team organization and resource allocation.

• Call monitoring flexibility: Supervisors can now monitor calls directly from their embedded ContactPad using either WebRTC or PSTN, providing flexibility and ease in call monitoring.

• Dynamic monitoring modes: Allows seamless switching between monitoring modes — listening, coaching, or joining calls — facilitating real-time support and guidance.

• Enhanced reporting: Features new monitoring metrics in Real-time Analytics and comprehensive dimensions within Historical Analytics, delivering deeper insights into team performance and monitoring activities.

• Embedded Real-time Analytics dashboards: All real-time analytics are now conveniently accessible in one place through embedded dashboards, streamlining access to key metrics and data.

Team Monitoring's overhaul of call monitoring functionality is a highlight, offering detailed reporting and a choice of using configured phone numbers or WebRTC softphones for call monitoring. This new product area is tailored to meet the dynamic needs of modern contact centers, providing essential tools for effective team management and monitoring.

With Team Monitoring, Vonage continues to demonstrate its commitment to offering robust, user-friendly solutions that empower supervisors, and enhance team performance in the ever-evolving landscape of customer communication and support.

Real-time Analytics user experience improvements 

Real-time Analytics access and navigation has been aligned with other insights products — Historical Analytics and Team Monitoring. Supervisors can access Real-time Analytics from within the Insights product area of Vonage Contact Center and view existing dashboards either in a list view or as tiles. If no dashboards appear, supervisors can initiate creating a new dashboard in the same way as they do in Historical Analytics and Team Monitoring.

Historical Analytics actions appear in Audit Log 

Audit Log — available within the VCC admin portal — has been extended and now includes logs of the actions made within Historical Analytics. From now on, it is possible to report on all the events of creating, editing, viewing, copying, and deleting dashboards. The audit logs contain the username who made the changes, together with the ID and the name of the respective dashboard. For the copy action, audit logs contain the ID and the name of both the source and the target dashboards.

Conversation Analyzer

Conversation Analyzer in Historical Analytics 

This is now available as GA after a successful pilot. This feature enables users to access insights generated by Conversation Analyzer within Historical Analytics. These insights give users a more complete view of the overall customer experience and satisfaction. With the pre-built default dashboards showing analysis of the categorization data, users can instantly identify insights and trends, and assess their team’s compliance and product knowledge.

Platform

Infrastructure refresh in Asia-Pacific 

Over the past two years, Vonage has been performing a global infrastructure refresh project with a seamless and phased migration. The final phase will complete during Q1 2024, with the refresh of the infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

If you are a customer or you use Global Voice Assurance (GVA) in the APAC region, the telephony region dropdown within User Admin will include new_singapore and new_sydney instead of Singapore and Sydney.

When migration has been completed, the telephony region will revert to the original naming of Singapore and Sydney. In addition, any references to Cloud 12 and Cloud 14 will be removed from the status page, and these locations will be referred to as Sydney and Singapore.
No action is required — agent telephony regions will be automatically migrated.

Interaction content storage in Canada (Montreal)