We're excited to announce a significant upgrade to our infrastructure! We've successfully migrated to a new direct connection between our data centers, dramatically improving our inter-datacenter connectivity.

Key Improvements

• Eliminated Single Points of Failure: Our new infrastructure features switch-level redundancy between datacenters
• Automatic Failover: Network issues can now resolve without manual intervention
• Consistent Performance: Reduced variance in latency for more predictable service quality
• Enhanced Resilience: Better protection against firewall issues and internet congestion

Performance Metrics

Our average ping times are consistent with previous tests while bringing subtantially more stable and predictable performance. 

What This Means for You

• Improved Service Reliability: Experience fewer disruptions and more consistent performance
• Faster Incident Recovery: Quicker resolution when network events occur
• Future-Ready Foundation: Enhanced infrastructure to support our continued growth and new features

This upgrade represents a major step forward in our network architecture and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing you with the most reliable service possible.

Release Date: February 2025:

CX Manager

Case Management

• We added the ability to control+click and command+click on 1) Cases in the Cases list 2) Chat tiles in the top nav bar and 3) the main navigation list. Doing this will open the new screen in a new browser tab without impacting your current screen.
• We added the ability to merge cases from the Case edit screen. Click on View All on the Cases section of the Customer panel and from there you can select your Cases to merge. This will make it easier to quickly find related or duplicate Cases for a customer and merge them together without complex filters.
• We fixed a bug where some picklists were retaining hidden values after a user would enter an invalid value into a required picklist field and then delete the value. Now when a user removes a value from a picklist it will properly clear the value and the field will search as expected.
• We fixed an issue where the type ahead text in a picklist field would sometimes get stuck causing the picklist to not show all the values even after the text was removed. Now deleting the text in a picklist will reset the fitlers and show all available options.
• We fixed an issue that caused Tags and Categories to continue to show on the Tags and Category fields on a Case after a Team was deleted from the Tag in Settings. Now when you delete a Team that is related to a Tag, that Tag will no longer show as an option on the Tags picklist on the Case Edit screen for users on that Team.
• We fixed an issue where the Cases Selected count that shows at the top of the Cases list when you select multiple Cases would sometimes show an incorrect count. Now when you select multiple Cases on one or more pages it will always show the proper count both before and after merging Cases.
• We fixed an issue where some Cases would periodically fail to display Events and would have improper access controls.

Customers

• We fixed an issue where custom URL fields that were accessed from the Customer screen were not opening the links in a new tab when clicked. Now when you click on the URL in a URL field type on the Customer Location panel, it will open in a new browser tab.
• We updated the functionality of custom product fields so when you add a product from the Add Product list it is saved to that field rather than only saving to the list of available products for that Location.
• We fixed a bug where custom product picklist fields would peridodically disappear from the Location Layout when accessed from the Customer Panel on the Case edit screen.
• We fixed an error that was being thrown when pressing the Add Product button on Product fields on a Location. 

Communications

We fixed an issue where sending an email to an email integration inbox with multiple email addresses in the To: field would only show the the email integration inbox email address and all other email addresses in the To: field would not be displayed. Now all email addresses in the email’s To: field will show on the Communication Panel To: field. 

Journeys

• We added the ability to cancel any open Action in a Journey from the timeline view so you can close out any Action that is stuck or no longer needs to be completed. Canceling a Task will also now post an event to the events timeline to show the date and time that the Task was canceled. 
• We added the ability to force complete an Action in a Journey from the timeline view so you can mark any Action as Complete if it was completed out of order.
• We added functionality to automatically close out any outstanding actions on a Journey when the Journey Closed Out function is used from the timeline. This ensures that that there will be no orphaned Tasks after a Journey is manually closed.
• We updated the icons in the timeline for Steps and Stages that contain Actions that are skipped. Previously it would show the Stage and Step as skipped when they contained a skipped action. Now they will continue to show as In Progress or Completed.

Knowledge

We fixed a bug where the Load More Events button was not showing at the bottom of the Events tab on Knowledge Articles.

Connectors & APIs

• We added Zoho and IRIS CRM to our list of connectors. We will discuss the details of each one in a future post.
• We fixed an issue where changing the name of a Connector was not properly saving.

Messenger (Web & SDK)

• We added rich text formatting for AI agent responses in Messenger to make long responses easier to read (line breaks, lists, clickable links).
• We disabled in-app surveys for canceled cases to prevent incorrect or accidental ratings.
• We added additional retry logic when opening Messenger in case chat ever gets stuck loading messages.
• We added a configuration option to Messenger to show or hide a button that allows customers to immediately route a conversation to a human while they are chatting with an AI agent.
• We fixed an issue where timestamps were showing an incorrect time. Now all timestamps in Messenger will show based on the user's computer timezone.

AI Agents

• We enabled auto case creation and team assignment when routing from an AI agent to a human.
• We added multilingual capabilities with auto language detection to our conversational AI agents.

If you are interested in testing our the beta of our conversational AI agents, please let us know! We would be happy to set one up for you, trained on your knowledge.

Reporting & Dashboards

We updated the default timezone for dashboards to display date/times in PST. If you want the default timezone updated for your organization's dashboard, please reach out to the Customer Success team.

Admin & Settings

• We added a Teams field to restrict Tag and Category acess to the add and edit screens for Tags and Categories in Settings. Leaving this field blank will make the Tag or Category available to all users.
• We added a new Manage Tokens permission to break Tokens access apart from the Edit Organization Settings Permission. This new permission will automatically be given to all users with an Admin Role and can be manually added to your custom packages from Settings > Roles & Permissions > Select Role > Edit Permissions > Administration Settings.

We updated the Edit Organization Settings Permission to control fewer options in Settings. The details are described below:

1. The Manage Teams permission now controls showing/hiding the Teams navigation item in Settings (even with Edit Organization Settings off) 
2. The Manage Users permission now controls showing/hiding the Users navigation item in Settings (even with Edit Organization Settings off). Note that you will need to disable both "Manage Users Passwords" and "Manage Users" to have "Users" nav completely removed from Settings.
3. The View Reports permission controls showing/hiding the Reports nav item on the main Nav list (even with Edit Organization Settings off). Note that you will need to disable both "View reports" and "Manage Reports" to have "Reports" option fully removed from main navigation.
4. The Create New Knowledge Bases permission now controls showing/hiding the Knowledge nav item in Settings (even with Edit Organization Settings off). Note that you will need to disable both "Create New Knowledge Base" and "Edit Knowledge Base Settings" to have "Knowledge" item fully removed from Settings.
5. The Manage Communications Channels permission controls showing/hiding the Channels and Settings options under Communications header in the Settings navigation (even with Edit Organization Settings off) 
6. The Edit Organization Settings now only shows/hides the General Settings navigation item in Settings.

Security

• We added additional IP checks during user session validation.
• We added additional rate limiting to our login screen to prevent automated attacks.
• We improved our application defense against possible clickjacking.
• We updated application dependencies to mitigate any third party vulnerabilities.
• We improved application security by limiting the number of concurrent user sessions. Users can still work in multiple tabs at the same time.

As part of our commitment to delivering the best possible chat experience, we will be sunsetting WebConnect on June 30, 2025 so all chat conversations will happen on Messenger after that date.

This decision allows us to focus on enhancing our new and improved Messenger product, which offers advanced features, a modern interface, and better reliability to meet your evolving needs.

What You Need to Do

To ensure uninterrupted service, all customers currently using WebConnect will need to update their code snippet to the new Messenger version before June 30, 2025. You may already be using Messenger, but if you are not, the process is simple and takes just a few minutes:

1. Log into app.goboomtown.com as a user with proper admin permissions.
2. Go to Settings in your account.
3. Navigate to Channels.
4. Open the the active Messenger configuration screens for your active instances.
5. Copy the updated Messenger code snippet from the Install Code tab.
6. Replace your existing WebConnect snippet with the updated Messenger one on your website.

If you need assistance, please reach out to help@ovationcxm.com and we would be happy to walk you through the process.

Am I Already Using Messenger?

Most organizations are already using the new version. To confirm if you are already using the latest Messenger code snippet, you can look at the code snippet on your website. If the code snippet references “Webconnect” anywhere in it, you are on the old version. If the code snippet references “Messenger”, you are on the latest version.

Here’s a sample of an updated snippet:

Why the Change?

Messenger provides a superior customer communication experience, including:

• Enhanced design and usability.
• Advanced customization options.
• Faster performance and better support for future updates.

By transitioning to Messenger, you’ll not only maintain your current capabilities but also unlock new tools to engage with your customers effectively.

Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute!

We recommend making the switch as soon as possible to get ahead of the deadline. Starting now will ensure your customers continue to have a seamless experience.

We truly appreciate your understanding and support as we work to provide the best solutions for your business.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Release Date: 01/16/24: 

Security

• We improved the account lockout functionality to prevent improper password resets as part of the flow.
• We mitigated a vulnerability related to an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR).
• We improved our defense against Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) between Messenger and CXME.
• We hardened the password requirements function to reduce potential vulnerabilities.
• We mitigated a potential account takeover vulnerability related to the password reset flow.
• We improved our defense againt SQL injections throughout the CXME application.
• We improved our file scanner service to block .msi file types.

Admin & Settings

We added a field called 'Restrict Access To Teams' to the add and edit screens of Tags and Categories in Settings. This field can now be left blank and all Teams will have access to the created Tag or Category. If one or more Teams are added to this field, the Tag or Category will only show to users on that Team when accessed from the Details tab of a Case.

Release Date: December 2024

CX Manager

Communications

• We added the ability to rename communication threads on Cases. This will allow you to more easily differentiate between multiple threads on a Case. To rename a thread, click on the name of the active thread, change the name, and save.
• We added additional logic when our communication services get disconnected to pull the latest message history when it reconnects to ensure that no messages or chat tiles go missing when the service is reconnecting.
• We fixed an issue where pressing Enter would not properly send a text message from the communications panel (only clicking the Send button would send the message). Now pressing the Enter key will properly send an outbound SMS message.
• We fixed an issue where including a line break in an outbound SMS messages from the Communications Panel would result in the message not being sent. Now you can include line breaks in your messages and it will properly send all parts of the message.
• We fixed an issue where sending an outbound email from the popped out composer would display the Communications Panel with the composer extending to the top of the screen after clicking Send. Now the composer will be the standard height after sending an email from the popped out composer window.
• We fixed an issue where vertically expanding the composer for chat and SMS messages would not give the user the full space to type.

Cases & Navigation

• We improved the type-ahead functionality on our picklist fields in CXME. You can now search for options with partial matching and you can match words on any order rather than needing to find results by an exact match.
• We updated the display of blank Date and Date/Time fields to not show any value when they are have no value. Previously they would display all zeros when the field data was blank.
• We updated the browser tab titles throughout the application. The tabs now follow the pattern, "{Current Screen Name} - OvationCXM". This will make it easier to identify your tabs when you have multiple tabs open.
• We added a new 404 screen in the application. Users will be directed to this screen in the future if they try to navigate to a bad URL.
• We fixed an issue where a user could be logged out of CXME due to inactivity while a report was being downloaded in the background. A user will no longer be logged out automatically while waiting for a report to download.
• We fixed an issue where clicking ‘No’ when asked to confirm the cases you selected to merge would result in an endless spinner. Now clicking ‘No’ will return you to the previous screen.
• We fixed an issue where if a user returned directly back to My Work after cloning a Case from My Work, it would result in an endless spinner. Now you can navigate back to My Work after cloning a case and it loads correctly.
• We fixed an issue where The Action > Assign modal was displaying two Owner Team fields for Work Orders.

Journeys

In addition to launching APIs and Canvas, Paths, Selection Action, Journey Close Out, Parallel Steps, Parallel Actions, we also fixed several bugs across Jourenys builder and timeline:

• We fixed an issue where adding a Journey to a Case could temporarily hide the display of the communications panel
• We fixed a bug where dragging a Step to a blank area of the canvas would add a new Step.
• We fixed a bug where Stage and Steps in the Journey Timeline would show as Completed when the first Action within them was completed.
• We fixed a small bug where clicking Cancel after adding a Parallel Steps container failed to cancel the node. 

Integrations & APIs

We launched our Hubspot Connector and you can read more about it here.

Reporting & Dashboards

• We added new date/time fields to our dashboards so now you can add a single fields on tables that show the date and time in one cell rather than needing separate fields for date and time. We will be rolling this update out to all existing dashboards.
• We are continuing with the migration to our new dashboards and expect the migration to be completed before the end of the year.

Admin & Settings

We fixed an issue where the team name wasn't appearing in the 'Route issue to Team' field on the Messenger configurator when first accessed.

In addition to being able to execute multiple Steps at the same time as described in the Parallel Steps post, we have also added the ability for journey builders to decide if they want to start Actions within a Step in a defined order (sequential) or all at the same time (parallel). We call this Parallel Actions.

Previously, all Actions within a Step had to be run in sequence where each Action would only begin after the Action before it was completed. 

Now if you have a set of Actions that all need to be complete before progressing the Journey, but it doesn't matter what order they are completed in, you can have them all start at the same time. This means that if you have three Tasks in a Step that is set to a Parallel Action Order, all three Tasks will start at the same time and can be completed in any order. Note that the next Step will not begin until all Actions within the first Step are complete.

By default, all Steps are created as Sequential (they will start the next Action only after the previous Action is complete). But you can change a Step from Sequential to Parallel by simply adjusting the Action Order toggle at the top of the Step form. With either Action Order option, the next Step will still not start until all Actions within the current Step are complete.

An example of Parallel Actions would be when you have several Tasks assigned across various teams that need to be completed before progressing the journey, but the order that they are completed doesn't matter. This allows all Tasks to be created and assigned out at the same time, which reduces the amount of time that people are waiting for their Tasks to show up in their queue. For example, three teams need to approve a legal agreement and the order of approval does not matter. The approval Tasks can be sent out to all three teams at the same time and the journey will only progress once all approvals are received.

The latest update in Journeys is the ability to execute Actions within multiple Steps at the same time. We call this Parallel Steps. 

Historically, all Steps had to be run in sequence where each Step would only begin after the Step before it was completed.

But what about when you have two teams or two work streams that need to be completed but are not dependent on each other in order to get started? This is where Parallel Steps come in.

You can now drag multiple steps into a Journey side-by-side so they can run at the same time. These Steps are placed into a Parallel Steps container so they all start at the same time and the Journey only progresses when all Steps within the container are complete. This allows teams to complete work faster while ensuring active work does not get ahead of any dependencies.

An example of Parallel Steps would be when you have two separate teams working to onboard a new customer, but in completely different capacities. For example, one team is helping the customer upload the menu for their restaurant while another team is helping to build a custom integration. This work can happen at the same time, but you can’t progress to the Go Live Stage until both of these work streams are complete and the customer has finished the software configuration.

What other capabilities would you like to see within the Journey Builder? We would love to hear your feedback.

You now have the ability to manually or programmatically close out a Journey that did not successfully reach the end.

Not every customer journey is a successful one. Sometimes processes fail, interactions go stale, applications are denied, or customers churn. In these scenarios, the journey did not reach the desired outcome and will need to be closed out.

Closing out a Journey marks the overall Journey as Closed so it will no longer show as Active in Analytics. It will also close out any active or pending Actions that are still open in the Journey so you don’t have Actions left in a limbo state.

There are two ways to close out a journey, manually and programmatically.

Manually Close Out a Journey

We added a button to the top of the journey timeline that allows users to manually close out a Journey that is still active. Selecting this action will immediately move the Journey to A Closed status and it will no longer be editable.

This is helpful when a customer is on track to complete a journey, but stops responding or churns. Something happened that was not expected and requires human intervention to resolve.

Programmatically Close a Journey

The other way a Journey can get closed out before reaching the end is when a customer hits an intentional dead end within a Journey. This can happen within a Path where one of the conditions leads to the Journey being closed out.

For example, if a customer is going through underwriting and they are rejected, that may be the end of this journey for that customer. Or if a customer does not accept your Terms and Conditions, that may remove the customer from an onboarding process. You may take additional actions before closing the Journey such as sending them an email or running an automation to close out their account. The final Close Out Action will automatically end the journey for you when it is reached.

Finding Friction Points In Your Customer Journeys

When a Journey gets closed out - either manually or programmatically - we flag that Action and can display it within your analytics dashboard so that you can identify where customers are falling out of journeys in order to focus on the areas that need the most work to improve the overall experience.

We successfully migrated our file hosting infrastructure to Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This upgrade will bring improvements to the performance, reliability, and scalability of how you add, access, and download files and images.

We now have a unified file hosting service for all of our data center locations and environments, which will lead to a more seamless experience when interacting with files across all of our products and services.

This transition is part of our ongoing efforts to improve our infrastructure and provide you with the best possible experience. If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to our support team.

Thank you for your continued trust.

We recently introduced the Selection Action to the lineup of Actions available within the Journey Builder. 

What is the Selection Action?

The Selection Action allows teams to build manual decision points into a Journey and progress a Journey down a specific Path based on that decision.

How does it work?

In the Journey Builder

When building a Journey, you can add a Selection Action to a Step and define the possible options for the user to select. The options will appear as a single select picklist on the Journey Timeline.

In the Journey Timeline

When a Journey instance gets to a Selection Action, the Journey will pause and wait for a selection to be made before progressing to the next Action.

The selected option is saved down to the context data of the Journey and can be used later in the Journey.

Using Selection Action Data

A common use case for a Selection Action is have the Journey instance owner make a decision and then a specific Path is selected based on that decision. This can be done by adding the Selection Action output to the Condition of the Path.

If you have any questions or feedback on the Selection Action, please let us know.