V4 Update #6: Live screenshot sharing and file transfers in live chat

Welcome to the sixth in a series of Version 4 development updates and previews.

In preview #5 we looked at staff management, group management, the new permissions interface and an interface screencast.

In this preview we’ll take a look at two completely new innovations we are introducing in V4: screen capture sharing and live file transfers during a live chat session.

File transfers in a live chat session

Operators can now send files to chatters in a live chat session.  The file transfer is proxied by the server on which your support desk is hosted. The file is securely uploaded to the server from your computer, and then a link to the file is sent to the end user. This makes for a completely seamless user experience.

Clicking on the Push file icon opens the operating system file browser. Select a file from your computer, and voilà.

After the upload to the server has completed, the end user receives a link to the file. Clicking on this link opens the browser’s file download dialogue.

Screen capture utility

Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words (or more accurately in the case of a support agent a thousand words saved). The new screen capture utility is built into the operator’s desktop application, supports multiple monitors and will allow you to crop to any section of your desktop.

When selecting the Fullscreen capture option, the application is automatically minimized. You can then select any area of your desktop by clicking and dragging, using a magnifier for guidance (as shown in the top-left of the screen below).

If you need to include the space taken up by the magnifier in your capture, the magnifier area will reposition itself (in other words, it will jump out of the way of your cursor).

After selecting the area of the desktop, pressing the Enter key takes the capture.

The screen capture is uploaded to the server. The end user receives a thumbnail preview of the screen capture. Clicking on this thumbnail opens a full resolution version in a new window.

Screencast

Apologies for another soundless screencast. We’re preparing for some narrated screencasts for more complex demonstrations in the future.

Feedback from the last preview

Can we have some merge variables in [predefined and canned responses] so we can do like “Hello <CUSTOMER_NAME>. I am Craig Brass. How can I be of assistance?”?

(from craigbrass) Yes – we will be implementing merge variables for both predefined ticket responses and canned live chat messages.

I would love to see the ability to go in and put in a schedule of when staff are suppose to work and if its not during their work time they cannot login.

(from Steven Lawrence) We will keep this in mind for the future, but we have no plans to implement this at launch.

It would be excellent if you guys could work on a simple but frequently used feature which we consider to be absolutly integral to that of a support and ticketing system; the notion of creating and assigning tickets which are related to a customer.

(from Oliver Gleave) Thank you for the suggestion – we have noted it.

I noticed on the screencast at 2:03, a “Parent Department” field. How is this feature going to work with permissions? Children departments will inherit permissions? Is it a simple aesthetic setting that will show the department as a sub-department?

(from Andres Berdugo-Dewak) We will post more information about this at a later date.

Great, very nice features but I wonder, what about the reporting? Has it improved also?

(from Camilo Olea) Absolutely. We are implemented a new reporting engine which will allow you to define and produce your own custom reports.

Another report I would like to see is “The top X ticket openers in Department Y over time period Z”. Basically so that I can easily see what customers are becoming issues.

(from Tony Valenti) We will likely ship with this reports. If we do not, you will certainly be able to create the report yourself with little trouble.

I just wonder if an option similar to the announced ‘Enabling and disabling staff accounts’ will also be supported for user accounts? That’s a feature we’ve been waiting for from the very first day we launched Kayako SupportSuite.

(from Galina) Yes, you will also find this functionality in user accounts.

When you disable a Staff member, will that staff member entry be hiddend from the pull down menus when assigning tickets to other staff members?

(from n8) Yes, the staff account will be hidden from assignment menus, etc.

will REST API be compatible with (dot)Net?

(from Kai) The REST API will be platform independent (that is the beauty of an XML based API).

1.developer license, ability to run kayako with url “localhost” or something like that. This way I can test the upgrade or changes in code before moving for production environment, without having to buy an additional url license

(from jorge) Although we are already happy to add additional developer licenses for free, we will give consideration to doing this by default.

4.automatic alerts( notes and/or replys ) to client and staff, when the tickets don´t have any move from a predefined ‘x’ days. This should be fixed by department.

(from jorge) We already have this one covered.

6.Independence of labbels. Staff should only see the one from their department. Nowadays everybody sees all.

(from jorge) Great suggestion, it has been logged.

Suggestions?

It is never too late to file your feature requests. To do so, create a new thread in the relevant section on our forums.

To comment on this preview, leave a comment on this post or post in the discussion forum thread. We look forward to hearing from you!