Release Notes: Chat Notification + Beacon API Updates

What's New: Beacon and Live Chat

Chat notification updates

Rejoice! In addition to a bunch of notification bug fixes and reliability updates:

• We added a new browser notification and notification sounds whenever a customer sends a new message during an ongoing chat. Only the User assigned to the chat will hear the sound, and it’ll only play when you’re not viewing the chat, so things don’t get too noisy.
• We also updated the color of the in-app chat notification from blue to yellow so that it stands out a bit more.
• Based on popular demand, we doubled the volume of sound notifications.

Beacon API updates

We’ve added a couple of notable methods to the Beacon JavaScript API:

• Beacon('suggest') can now be called with no parameters to refresh content suggestions based on the current URL. This is super helpful if you’ve got Beacon in a single page app, where the URL changes, but the page doesn’t reload.
• Introduced the Beacon('article') method. You can use this to open a specific Docs article within Beacon, using the article’s ID. If the Beacon is closed when this method is called, it will also open the Beacon automatically. Huzzah!
• We’ve also added a new data attribute to the Beacon('article') method mentioned above, so you can now link to an article within a standard href. To see how it works, head over to the developer docs for an example.
• Beacon('identify') can now be used to delete custom attributes. You might use this if a customer updates or removes profile or account information, and you just want to clear that stuff out from the Beacon sidebar app.

Beacon release notes

Curious about what we’ve been tinkering with on the Beacon front? From bug fixes to new features, the Beacon Release Notes Doc is a great way to stay in the loop on all things Beacon.

MORE NEW STUFF

All Channels report

The Conversations report has been renamed to the All Channels report, in preparation for some other reporting updates we have in the works. Nothing about the report has changed except for the addition of a new Volume by Channel chart, which compares your daily volume between Email, Phone, and Chat Conversations.

Attachment scanning

Security updates are important updates. We’re now scanning all incoming attachments for viruses and malware. If an attachment is flagged, you’ll see a new red notification banner in the thread that contains the attachment. You can see the file name, but you won’t be able to click to open or download the attachment.

Customer Team Roundup 💪 ✨

In support, little things can make a big difference — even seemingly small changes can save your whole team some precious time. In this section, we highlight the maybe-overlooked (but very powerful!) changes that are making our own customer champions cheer.

Up this month: Kelly

• Rocket: Are you a big emoji fan like I am? Rocket is a Mac app that you can use to add emojis to, well, pretty much anywhere. It’s easy to use when replying to customers, and allows you to quickly search for just the right one to jazz up that email. 🍕✨

• “Get Started with Beacon and Live Chat” Classes: Heard about this Beacon thingy, but not quite sure how to make it work for you and your team? Come along to one of our classes to learn more about its nifty features, and how Beacon truly is better than bacon 😉

Before you go

Upcoming events