Ecru

Last update January 26, 2022

What's New?	Learn More
Answers	New subtype added for NER attributes. Import intents and validation improved. New sections are now available in the documentation!
Things	UI changes for Things settings.
Exchange	New home for integrations and apps built by Infobip and our independent software vendors.
New Integrations	Two new integration apps available for customers using Salesforce Sales Cloud and Oracle Eloqua.
Mobile Identity	API now supports mobile verification. New endpoints and error codes added.
Conversations	UI changes for Conversations Settings. Pre-chat forms in Live Chat. Viber Bots available in Conversations.
Shared Features and Components	New changes in Knowledge Base. New Shared Component added - Expression Language
Viber Bots	Viber Bots is a new communication channel that is available in Answers, Conversations, and Conversations API.
WhatsApp	New inbound and outbound message types are available in the Infobip WhatsApp API.
Moments	Variable enhancements in Moments. Save Events into Variables. Flow Performance improvements. Frequency Capping is now live. Introducing a new Moments form type - Live Chat forms.

Answers

New subtype for NER attributes

Attributes have been upgraded. Attribute types now appear under their dedicated columns under attribute settings.

NER attributes now support subtypes, allowing you to define "to" and "from" values received by users. This means you can now have a NER attribute with two anticipated responses.

See NER attributes for more information.

Intent import template and validation improved

Import intents template has been updated to include clearer guidelines when adding intents manually. Formatting validation guidelines have also been added to the docs to avoid import conflict.

New sections for docs

Authenticated dialogs explanations and instructions have been updated to give you a better understanding of how to set them up, and what is going on in the background when they are active.

A new Quickstart section has been added to get you familiar with Answers fundamentals before jumping into the deep end.

A simple step-by-step guide has been added on building simple keyword-driven chatbots guiding you through the chatbot building experience and interface.

A new Chatbot types section has been added to give you a better understanding of various chatbot uses and dedicated chatbot functions.

A new Chatbot structure section has been added to give you a better understanding of the core components of chatbots and the components which make them functional.

Things

Changes to settings

In line with the new UI and Apps upgrades, all IoT-related settings and options now appear under the Things module, and no longer under Apps.

This consolidated view over all IoT options, settings, and dashboards makes it easier to manage all IoT processes under one place in the web interface.

The following windows are now available under the Things module:

Analytics
SIM manager
Alerts
Pricing
Orders
Guide

Exchange

Exchange (opens in a new tab)is the new home for apps built by Infobip and our independent software vendors. Here Infobip customers will find apps that let them connect internal systems for customer data, ticketing, and marketing with their Infobip solutions. For example, a customer can integrate their Slack or JIRA applications with Infobip Conversations, or connect their Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Magento data with Infobip People.

With apps like these customers can extend the value of their internal systems by adding new touchpoints and interactions, all while keeping the data consistent across systems.

To access Exchange, log into the Infobip web interface and look for the Exchange icon in the left navigation.

Once you select Exchange you will see all the available apps. A filter lets you view apps for specific Infobip products, like Conversations or SMS, or for a category of products, like chatbot or eCommerce. For each app you can easily see who developed it, where in the world it is supported (many are global), the languages it is available in, and a guide for how to install, configure and use it.

If your user account has the required permissions you can add an app directly to your account. But if not, then all you need to do is click the Request from Admin button. Once you install an app you can leave feedback for the developer.

New Integrations

Salesforce Sales Cloud for SMS & WhatsApp

For customers that use the Campaign feature in Salesforce Sales Cloud, this new app lets you communicate with your leads and contacts via our SMS and WhatsApp channels. The app supports messages personalized with lead and contact data, and you can get delivery reports and activity logs.

See theSetup & User Guide for more details.

Oracle Eloqua for Viber

For customers that manage their marketing campaigns with Oracle Eloqua, we now offer an app that lets you send messages via the Viber channel. The app supports:

Outbound text messages with placeholders
Outbound messages with text, image and/or button
Decision services that can check whether the message was delivered to and seen by customers
Reports about sent messages and service instances

For more information see the Oracle Eloqua integration docs.

Mobile Identity

Number Intelligence Query added to API

New endpoints added to Mobile Identity API (opens in a new tab) to support mobile verification.

New error codes

New error codes have been added to cater to API mobile verification. Codes 307, 308, 309, and 310 are now available.

Conversations

Navigation Changes

To keep up with the new UI and Apps upgrades, you can now find all Conversations-related settings and options inside the Conversations module, not inside Apps (now Exchange).

This makes it easier for you to manage all Conversations processes in one place within the Infobip web interface.

You can now find these windows inside the Conversations module:

Analytics
My Work
All Work
Templates
Tags
Logs
Settings (opens in a new tab)(where all of these UI changes now lie)

Also, Integrations under Apps have been moved to Exchange (opens in a new tab)as the new home for apps and integrations to connect Infobip products to external software and tools.

Other Changes

The Account Manager role only has settings permissions, while Shopify and JIRA integrations have been added to the Integration Manager role.

The current setup you have will be automatically adjusted for all existing users so no actions are required from your side!

Viber Bots in Conversations

Use Viber Bots in Conversations and allow your agents to utilize this channel for better customer engagement, and faster support.

Pre-chat Forms in Live Chat

EARLY-ACCESS

The Ecru release brings forth a Closed Early Access ability in Live Chat to collect data about your customers upfront, with pre-chat forms. That means even before the chat has started! You can create your own form and a list of questions you would like to collect in a structured way.

The main benefit of these forms is a customer qualification or anonymous person interest, which can help agents faster understand the issue their customer is facing and speed up the resolution time. This way, the pre-chat forms represent a sort of gate into the communication with your business. Using the pre-chat forms you can directly enrich anonymous visitors' profiles on your web pages.

Since this feature will be in Closed Early Access, you need to contact your dedicated Account Manager to set it up.

Analytics

Survey Report - Adding the Conversation ID

Adding a new column, the Conversation ID, to the Survey report. This report contains important information about each survey that is submitted. TheConversation ID is crucial for analyzing surveys and offers additional information for the given conversation.

Shared Features and Components

Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base as Standard Part of the Conversations Enterprise Plan

After running the Early Access phase in Knowledge Base during 2021, we have made theKnowledge Base standard features available to all customers using the Conversations Enterprise plan without any additional costs. Read more about the Conversations Enterprise Plan.

Support for Roles and Permissions

Having in mind different user roles such as the Knowledge Base Manager and Knowledge Base User, we are aiming to help you better manage the work within your organization and introduce qualitative control for the content created within the tool.

Expression Language

We have added expression language functionality to Moments and People to give you enable you to make calculations on data in Moments and People.

Use Expression Language in conjunction with Moments and People features to create computed attributes and extend variables to enhance the user experience with data that is current, dynamic and user centric. For example, change the behavior and contents of messages you send based on an end user’s details, an end user’s previous actions, or conditions (such as the time of day).

Viber Bots

New Communication Channel is Now Available

Viber Bots is now available in Answers, Conversations and Conversations API.

Viber Bots is a two-way communication channel that helps you communicate with end users. End users can use the Viber Search function to find your Viber Bot or click the Bot icon on your company profile image in your channel.

Viber Bots offers rich media such as stickers and emojis, and rich messaging options such as custom keyboard and carousels.

Product Messages are Now Available over API

The following outbound message types are now available in the Infobip WhatsApp API:

The following inbound message type is now available in the Infobip WhatsApp API:

Order message

Moments

Variable Enhancements in Moments

For this release variables have undergone a number of enhancements to make your flows even more dynamic and give you even greater control when using variables as placeholders for temporary journey data within flow.

You can now collect journey related data from many different sources - from Flow API and Inbound message parsing to customer events properties. Use this data for a more personal experience by segmenting audience based on the situation and personalizing message content. This has wide reaching capabilities such as if users provide negative feedback in a survey you can act on this and automatically escalate to a manager immediately. Also, use this to send a reminder to the client after they book an appointment where the reminder contains all details they will need to attend.

Each person has their own journey so adjust the data for the user using Update variable element and Expression languagewhen they pass through the flow. Great for scenarios such as updating a shopping delivery order status variable from 'Pending' to 'Dispatched' or Cancelled once the user has completed their purchase or making calculations based on variable inputs like find if an order is delayed and for how long, then react to it by sending an apology message to the client.

Save Events into Variables

As part of the variable enhancements for this release you can now save events into variables using the Wait for an Event flow element. Use this element and variables to provide a much more enriched user experience. Capture data like appointment times or specialist names as a variable and then use the variable later in your flow to send a message notifying the user of the appointment.

Frequency Capping is now live

When you run multiple marketing campaigns at the same time across your business, there is a risk that you may send your users too many messages in a short time period. This may lead the user to feel overwhelmed and there is a risk that the they will disengage from your marketing communications completely.

Frequency Capping has been added to limit messaging users too often and ensure that only the most important communications is delivered.

With frequency capping you can control the number of messages that a person will receive during a defined time span and prioritize the importance of your Flows to ensure that key communications, like password reset messages, always arrive.

Flow Performance Metrics Improvements

This month we've worked hard to improve the flow performance metrics for send message elements so you have much greater visibility on the performance of your flows.

View performance metrics for Profiles in flow, profiles exited flow, active profiles, goal performers, messages sent and traffic cost.

Introducing a new form type - Live Chat forms