CallHarbor is constantly looking for ways to improve our solution. We aim to have the latest and greatest when it comes to our offerings, our service, and our platform. This November, we added some new updates and new features to our platform, to give you an even more inclusive experience. All of the features & updates listed below are included in your basic user access, and can be used right away. Let’s get into it!
Release of PWA (Progressive Web App)
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are web-based apps that share many of the same features as a mobile native app. PWAs allow improved functionality for users in the browser, push notifications, and more. If you are familiar with the CallHarbor web softphone, you know that it is completely browser based. This is a huge perk, since you can open it from any browser without having to download it onto every device you would use. While our users can still utilize the browser based webphone, we now have the PWA as a great option for those who want push notifications, and the ability for the phone to run in the background.
Installing the PWA is as easy as opening your webphone from the link or from the portal, and choosing the download option that should automatically pop up in the web address bar.
Once downloaded, the PWA will appear in your list of applications from your main menu of your computer. It is able to have a place on the home screen, be pinned to the taskbar, and is available in the Finder/Windows Explorer.
Even when the PWA tab or window is closed, users can still receive calls and messages as push notifications. When the notification is clicked, the PWA opens.
Improved Music on Hold Options
Music on Hold and Marketing on Hold are both great ways to help callers recognize when they are holding, while keeping them entertained or informed. With the new custom Music on Hold (MoH) options, messages can be stitched into the currently playing audio. For example, while a customer is on hold, the music can now be briefly interrupted with a message, such as: “Your call is important to us. Please wait on the line and an agent will be with you shortly.” This is often called a “comfort message” – a message or recording that reassures the caller to not hang up. The message can be used for advertising, for updating wait time, and more, and is configurable (time between messages, copying messages, etc.). It can be used to announce a caller’s place in line, or give them the option to leave a voicemail instead of waiting longer.
MoH can still be customized domain-wide, per queue, or per user. For the message announcements, you have the options to utilize text-to-speech, recording, or bringing in a saved audio file.
Custom Call Center Agent Status
Call Center Supervisors can add custom agent statuses for agents to utilize. Pre-defined statuses are broad descriptions such as “lunch”, “break”, and “available”. By using a custom status, the Supervisor has increased granularity on call center reports.
Note that custom statuses are defined as a period of time when the agent is “offline”. Example custom statuses are “appointment” or “bathroom,” or even specific projects that some of your team may be working on. These are only to be used for periods of time when the agent is not available to take calls. The custom statuses are shared by all agents in the domain/organization and are limited to 8.
Custom statuses are available to agents in two places: in the call center agent home page as part of the portal and in the web softphone under the call center tab. Call Center Supervisors can review and report on the time spent in each custom state by navigating to the Agent Availability tab in Call Center “Reports,” clicking Table Settings, and checking or unchecking custom stats.
Other updated features include:
Domain-Wide Call Recording
Domain wide recording can easily be toggled on and off to save time and turn on call recording for whole domains, rather than individual extensions or call queues. There are still customization options per user and per call queue as well, if that is your preferred method!
Prioritize Calls Waiting in Call Queues
The feature to prioritize calls that are waiting in a call queue allows greater control in how calls are being received. When a call is prioritized, it is sent to the top of the queue and it will be the next one dispatched to a call center agent. In the case of multiple prioritized calls, the calls will all move to the top of the queue in the order of “longest in the queue” first.
Tiered Round Robin
Round Robin is a type of call queue that evenly distributes incoming calls. This is common in situations such as a sales office where each sales agent needs to be given an equal call volume to fairly distribute potential sales, or a support team that doesn’t want to overload a select few members. Tiered Round Robin follows the same principle as traditional Red Robin, with the exception that agents are placed into tiered groups.
Note that this is not a “ring all” call queue. Agents will be rung one at a time for the configured timeout. When a tier has been attempted, then the call will ring into agents in the next tier, and so on. If the queue reaches the last tier and no agent answers, then the caller will be sent to the extension or number that is configured in “Pre Queue Options” or “In Queue Options”.
WebHID Headset Standard Introduced
When using a compatible headset with the updated system, calls are able to be answered, muted and hung up directly from headset while in use.
Status Light Abilities Updated
Status light on hardware is now able to be updated based on phone status. The result of this configuration is that the configured button on your device will show the equivalent of an available user BLF status on the device when the timeframe is enabled and the equivalent of an in-use/busy status (often red) when the timeframe is disabled.
Pressing the button will toggle the timeframe status and play the new status audibly. Shortly thereafter, the BLF will adjust the status accordingly.
CallHarbor is excited about all of our updates and new features. We’re always making sure our customers have the latest and greatest. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to our team at the correct contact below!
Current customer?
P: 833-363-VOIP x2
E: support@callharbor.com
Interested in a demo & overview?
P: 833-363-VOIP x1
E: sales@callharbor.com