Previous releases

The following features and enhancements were introduced in previous versions of 8x8 Engage.

We have introduced the following enhancements :

Enhanced Admin Control: Pause Assigned Queues

8x8 administrators can now control whether users are allowed to pause their assigned queues. This enhancement supports compliance needs in regulated environments by preventing users from pausing queues when they are not permitted to do so.

Configuration Options

Admins can control the Pause feature for assigned queues in two ways:

Globally via 8x8 Admin Console:

  • Go to Work Apps Settings > 8x8 Engage Settings and toggle Allow users to pause their assigned queues under 8x8 Engage settings.

  • Result:

    • Enabled (default): Users can see and use the Pause button in My Active Queues.
    • Disabled: The Pause option is hidden for all users.

    • To learn how to manage settings for 8x8 Work applications, see 8x8 Admin Console - Configure Work Apps Settings.

Per User via JSON configuration file:

  • Add the following setting to the user’s local 8x8work-config.json:

    json

    {

    “app-enable-pause-queues”: false

    }

  • Deploy the file to the user’s machine only after applying this preference. 

    • To learn more about system-level requirements for users, see 8x8 Work for Desktop - About system requirements.

Queue controls UI showing visibility of the Pause button based on admin settings.

To find more details on pausing and resuming calls, see Manage queues on desktop/web - Pause resume queued calls.

Display the channel name and number in a call banner, and an active call interface

8x8 Engage users can now quickly identify the call source, especially helpful when multiple channels route through a single queue. Previously, only queue names were shown, causing confusion.

Where channel info appears:

  • Incoming call banner: Shows both channel name and channel number.
  • Active Call Interface: Displays channel name.

Benefits

  • Instantly identify the source of incoming calls.
  • Avoid confusion in shared queues
  • Help users respond faster

Availability & limitations

Available to:

  • All 8x8 Engage customers.
  • The channel name is visible to 8x8 Frontdesk users in 8x8 Engage environment.

UI showing incoming call alert and in-call view with clear channel name and number for identification

Limitations and display requirements

Not supported on:

  • 8x8 Engage Mobile
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Deskphones

Display requirements:

  • Show the channel name and number only if the channel is saved as a company contact in 8x8 Admin Console > Contacts.
  • Otherwise, only the number is displayed.

To find more details on answering incoming queued calls, see Manage queues on desktop/ web> Answer incoming calls.

Call UI missing channel name, and company contact setup form showing how to fix it through the 8x8 Admin Console

We are introducing the following enhancements :

Ability to set pause reasons in 8x8 Engage Contact Center queues on mobile (Limited Availability)

Important! The pause reasons in 8x8 Engage Contact Center (CC) queues is currently on a limited availability. Contact the 8x8 Support for further assistance.

Customer engagement specialists can now choose a reason when pausing their Contact Center (CC) queues in 8x8 Engage on mobile as needed.

This enhances clarity and workflow visibility for agents employing 8x8 Engage, especially in the areas of analytics or user activity tracking by supervisors.

The following pause reasons are now available:

  • Work offline
  • Break

While paused, agents won’t receive queue calls and can’t interact with the queue.

Note: These options are available in My Queues only when enabled by administrators in the 8x8 Configuration Manager.

How to Pause a Queue:

  1. Navigate to the My Queues screen.
  2. Tap Pause.

  3. Select a reason: Work offline or Break.

    You can switch the reason for the pause whenever necessary.

  4. Tap Resume to rejoin queues and start receiving calls again.

To learn more about pausing the Contact Center call queue, see 8x8 Engage - Manage queues on mobile.

On Android devices: Ability to set pause reasons in Contact Center queues

On iOS devices:

Ability to engage customers with Video Elevation in 8x8 Engage call queues in 8x8 Work for Mobile

Video Elevation, now also available in 8x8 Work for Mobile apps, is an integrated solution for 8x8 Engage users. It enables agents to establish a one-way video connection with customers who require assistance during a call.

Note: You do not need an SMS configured on your account to use the Video Elevation service in 8x8 Engage.

Pat, a support specialist at AcmeJets, receives a call from customer Blake regarding his bicycle's stuck gears. To clarify, Pat initiates a video call and sends Blake a link. Upon acceptance, Blake shows the stuck gear, and Pat identifies a safety pin blocking them. After guiding Blake to remove the pin, the bicycle functions correctly, resolving the issue without the need for expert escalation or dispatching a mechanic.

Video Elevation enables a seamless transition from a phone call to a one-way video interaction with just a few clicks during a call with an external number.

  • Availability: This feature is exclusive to 8x8 Engage call queues. The Video invite button will not appear in regular calls.
  • Initiating a Video Call: During a queued call with a customer, agents can tap Video invite to send the customer an SMS with a link to join a video call. This button is only available in 8x8 Engage call queues. In regular calls, the button is not available.
  • Customer Experience: Customers can join the video call by simply accessing the link in the SMS, without needing to install any software.

  • Agent Capabilities: Once the video connection is established, agents can:

    • Gain visual clarity of the customer's issue.
    • Gain visual clarity of the customer's issue.
    • Take screenshots.

    • Record the video.

    • Receive the customer's location.

    • Remotely swap the camera.

  • Returning to Video: If the video interaction is exited, agents can resume it by tapping the call indicator , the video picture-in-picture display , or the Join meeting ..

    Video Elevation - Engage customers with Video Elevation in 8x8 Engage call queues

  • Video Elevation not available for internal calls. It is available only for external inbound and outbound Engage calls.
  • The customer can view the live video feed that has been shared with them. However, the customer does not see the 8x8 Engage user during the video interaction.

  1. During an external call with a customer, tap Video to switch your call to a video meeting.

    Video Elevation - Initiate the video interaction

  2. In the Video invite via SMS window, enter the contact number for the video invitation and tap Send invite. Inform the contact that they will receive a link via SMS, which they should click to join the event. Once the customer accesses the link, the call upgrades to a one-way video meeting.

    Important! When you enter the customer’s number, the country code is mandatory.

    Video elevation - Create the video invitation via SMS

  3. After establishing the video connection, you have the following options:

    • Tap Take screenshot remotely to capture the customer’s issue. The customer can authorize the user to take screenshots during the call but will not be notified when they are taken.
    • Tap Swap camera remotely to change the camera view and recognize the customer's face. However, this requires the customer's approval before it can be enacted.
    • Tap Ask for location to request the customer’s location details. In response, the customer is prompted to give consent for their information.
    • Tap Start recording to record the video call.

    Video Elevation - The agent gains visual clarity of the customer's issue and can take screenshots, collect necessary information, receive the customer's location, record the video, or remotely swap the camera

  4. Optional, if you exit the video interaction, you can resume it by tapping the call indicator , the video picture-in-picture display , or the Join meeting ..

    Video Elevation - Resume the video interaction

  1. After the agent sends the video invitation, the customer will receive an SMS on their phone that contains the video invitation as a link.

  2. Customers can easily establish a video connection by accessing the link in the SMS without needing to install any software.

    Note: When a video invite is sent from the in-call view of an 8x8 Work for Mobile app, the customer will receive a text message originating from a number with the same country code as their own. However, in the UK and Ireland, the sender identification will appear as Video.

    Video Elevation - Customers can easily start a video connection with a single tap without software installation

  3. The Video Elevation Meeting window opens in the customer’s browser. Once customers click Allow, they can share the video with the 8x8 Engage agent.

    Video Elevation - Sharing the video with the Engage/XF Workspace user

  4. Throughout the call, the customer can allow the 8x8 Engage users to:

    • Capture screenshots remotely to identify the customer’s problem. However, the customer will not receive alerts when these screenshots are taken.
    • Change the camera view and identify the customer's face. However, this requires the customer's approval before it can be implemented.
    • Request the customer’s location details.

    Video Elevation - The customer can access the video meeting in a new browser window, and allow the Engage/XFW agent to direct them on how to position the camera

Customers can find past video interactions in the Meetings > Past Meetings tab. Video interactions will now appear within the regular meeting list. These video meetings can be easily identified by their unique icon and title, which sets them apart from other scheduled meetings.

Video Elevation - Access video interactions history

To find more information about managing queue on mobile, refer to Manage queues on mobile. You can find the same content under Manage queues on mobile: Engage customers with Video Elevation in 8x8 Engage call queues?.

We are introducing the following enhancements :

Ability to view recorded interaction details

8x8 Engage users with Conversational IQ (CIQ) enabled can now view interaction details for their recorded interactions. This feature allows you to access advanced interaction analytics by selecting a recording from the Call Recordings navigation menu or reviewing call logs from the Calls menu.

Note: Without the CIQ add-on, no data is displayed in the interaction details.

Key capabilities include:

  • Call details: Displays data such as interaction type, call duration, and the date and time of the interaction.
  • Interaction summary (Beta): Displays an AI summary of the conversation. This feature is currently only available to Beta customers. To have this feature enabled, contact your 8x8 Account Manager.
  • Topics: Displays the category of key discussion topics during interactions based on the topics created in 8x8 Contact Center Analytics.
  • Sentiment mapping: Displays a visual representation of customer sentiment throughout the call based on AI analysis.
  • Call talk time: Displays detailed metrics on agent and customer talk duration, and hold time.

Notification banner for delayed calls

A notification banner is displayed when finishing, missing, or rejecting a call from My assigned queues to inform you that there is a delay in receiving new calls. The banner serves as a real-time reminder so you can stay informed when these system delay conditions are applied. The delay time offered varies depending on the admin settings. By default, the delay is set at 10 seconds for rejected or missed calls.

Let’s say you are wrapping up an important conversation when you receive a call. You reject the call to focus on adding important notes following your conversation. To ensure you can focus on your call, the system temporarily delays offering you a new call, and a notification banner displays on the screen.

To find more information about managing queue on desktop, refer to Manage queues on desktop/web. You can find the same content under Manage queues on desktop/web: Notification banner for delayed calls.

Ability to pause assigned queues during active calls

We are introducing the ability to pause new calls from being offered. Let’s say you are busy and need some time to manage your workload a bit more efficiently. Click the Pause button from the top of the My assigned queues panel to prevent the system from offering a new queued call. A banner notification displays at the top to inform you that your enabled queues are paused. When you are ready to receive new calls, simply click the Resume button from the panel on the left or Resume now from the banner notification displayed at the top to start receiving calls.

To find more information about managing queue on desktop, refer to Manage queues on desktop/web and about pausing and removing queued calls under Manage queues on desktop/web: Pause and resume queued calls.

Removed pause reasons

Pause reasons are now removed from My assigned queues. Prior to this release, you could select a reason for pausing queued calls. With this release, pause reasons are no longer available by default. The ability to pause queued calls is not affected by this update.

To find more information about managing queue on desktop, refer to Manage queues on desktop/web and about pausing and removing queued calls under Manage queues on desktop/web: Pause and resume queued calls.

Ability to reject calls for receptionists using 8x8 Frontdesk in 8x8 Engage

Receptionists using 8x8 Frontdesk in 8x8 Engage can now decline queued calls from the call card. This enhancement allows you to reject a queued call so the caller can be redirected to the next available receptionist and reduce the time spent waiting in the queue.

The reject button is only available for customers using 8x8 Frontdesk with 8x8 Engage.

To learn more about now to manage queues ion desktop, see Manage call queues on desktop/web.

Introducing the queue name in the call panel for receptionists using 8x8 Frontdesk in 8x8 Engage

To help receptionists using 8x8 Frontdesk in 8x8 Engage understand the nature of incoming queued calls, the queue name is now displayed in the call panel, under the customer’s name or phone number. This feature offers immediate context about the nature of the call, allowing you to prepare accordingly and provide faster, more effective service.

With this enhancement, you can:

  • Quickly recognize the nature of the call (e.g., support, sales, billing).
  • Adjust your approach based on the queue.
  • Access the right tools more efficiently.

We have been introduced the following enhancements in December 2024:

Enhanced experience for customer engagement specialists during call queued transfer

During a call transfer to queues, non-US tenants are also shown the available agents, busy status, and call-waiting metrics.

8x8 XF Workspace users can view the available agents, busy status, and call-waiting metrics during a call transfer to queues

To learn more about transferring queued calls, see the Transfer queued calls sub-topic.

We are introducing the following enhancements in October 2024:

Ability to transfer informal Contact Center calls to other queues on mobile

As an 8x8 Engage specialist, you can now transfer an informal Contact Center (CC) call to any enabled CC queues.

The Contact Center (CC) transfer process is only activated for engagement specialists and is triggered when the call originates from a specific CC queue (identified by its queue name). During the transfer process, the user has various options, including transferring the call directly, initiating a warm transfer, or choosing from a list of other available queues to transfer the call to.

To transfer an informal Contact Center call to a queue:

  1. While on a call, notify the other party that you will transfer them to a colleague.
  2. Tap Transfer and select Transfer to queue to bring up a list of queues without placing the other party on hold.
  3. Select a favorite or suggested queue from the list, or enter the queue name you want to transfer to and confirm.
  4. The queue transfer has been processed, and you have been disconnected from the call. The contact you selected receives a call from the other party.

To learn more about managing your queues on mobile, see 8x8 Engage - Manage queues on mobile.

Transfer Informal Contact Center (ICC) calls to other queues in 8x8 XF Workspace and 8x8 Engage

Ability to pause and resume Contact Center queues on mobile

As an 8x8 Engage specialist, you can now pause or resume their Contact Center (CC) queues through 8x8 Work for Mobile. When your queues are paused, customers will not receive any queue calls and cannot take any action on the queues.

To pause/resume CC queues for engagement specialists:

  1. Log in to 8x8 Work for Mobile.

  2. Swipe up or tap My Queues at the bottom of the main screen.

  3. On the My Queues screen, click Pause queues , click Break (for iOS only), and select a reason: Work offline or Break.

  4. Optional: Click the selected reason for pause and choose another one from the list, if necessary.

  5. Your queues are currently disabled, and you cannot act on them. You will only receive calls once you resume them. A timer in the screen's upper-right corner shows the paused time until the queues are resumed.

    Note: When the My Queues section is collapsed, the counter still displays on the right side of the My Queues section.

  6. Click Resume queues to enable your queues and start receiving calls again.

    When you resume the queues, the counter will no longer be displayed. Your queues are enabled, and you can receive calls again or search for, enable, or disable queues.

To learn more about managing your queues on mobile, see 8x8 Engage - Manage queues on mobile.

Customer engagement specialists can pause and resume their Contact Center queues (on Android devices)

Example 1: On Android devices

Customer engagement specialists can pause and resume their Contact Center queues (on iOS devices)

Example 2: On iOS devices

Ability to control how users can handle additional incoming calls during another call

8x8 Work admin can control how users handle additional incoming calls during another call:

  1. While configuring the user's settings in 8x8 Admin Console, go to Voice Basic Settings.
  2. Under Enable call waiting, choose how users will handle incoming additional calls, when they are in another call:
  • Turn on Enable call waiting to allow the user to receive direct DID calls while on an 8x8 Engage queue call.
  • Turn off Enable call waiting to prevent the user from receiving direct DID calls while an 8x8 Engage queue call.

Note: Users on a direct DID call do not receive 8x8 Engage queue calls, regardless of whether the Enable call waiting option is enabled or disabled.

To learn more about how admins can customize an 8x8 Engage user account, see Create 8x8 Engage user accounts in the 8x8 Admin Console.

Note: These enhancements are only available with 8x8 Work for Desktop and 8x8 Work for Web version 8.14. To check your version number, navigate to the Profile Menu and select About. To learn more about downloading the latest version of 8x8 Work, see Download 8x8 Work for Desktop.

In this release of 8x8 Engage, we are introducing the following enhancements:

As an 8x8 Engage user, you now have the ability to transfer 8x8 Contact Center queue calls to any enabled inbound phone queues. This new feature empowers users and ensures customers are routed to the appropriate queue. Let’s say you receive a call intended for a specific queue, you can simply transfer the active call to the suitable 8x8 Contact Center queue in 8x8 Work for Desktop and 8x8 Work for Web. When transferring a call, the Queues tab displays a list of available queues. It also shows queue metrics such as the number of available agents, the number of calls in progress, and the number of calls waiting in a queue. You can leverage these metrics to ensure that you are not transferring a customer to a queue with no available agents.

To transfer a call:

  1. While on a call, click Transfer.
  2. From the Queues tab, select a queue from the list.

  3. Click Transfer to complete the transfer process.

To learn more about managing your queues on mobile, see To learn more about managing your queues on mobile, see 8x8 Engage - Manage queues in desktop/web.

As an 8x8 Engage user, you can pause inbound calls to your assigned queues. Pausing queued calls allows you to stop receiving new interactions while on a scheduled break, or while working offline. You can specify a reason for the pause, allowing your 8x8 Engage supervisor to accurately track your status. When pausing interactions from My assigned queues, you can specify one of these reasons:

  • Break: It indicates you are not available to receive new interactions, and access to all user-related features is disabled.
  • Work Offline: It indicates you are not available to receive new interactions, but all user-related features are enabled and accessible.

Note: 8x8 Engage supervisors can view reporting for paused queues along with he reason for the pause in 8x8 Analytics for Contact Center and 8x8 Supervisor Workspace.

To pause calls to your assigned queues:

  1. Log in to 8x8 Work for Desktop or 8x8 Work for Web.
  2. From the navigation menu, click My assigned queues .
  3. Select the phone queue(s) you would like to pause.
  4. Click Pause. From the drop-down menu, select a reason to pause calls.

All inbound calls routed via the selected queues are paused, and a timer is displayed indicating the duration of the pause.

Note: As an 8x8 Engage user, you can change the reason for pausing interactions from a queue without having to first resume queue calls.

To resume calls to your assigned queues:

  1. Log in to 8x8 Work for Desktop or 8x8 Work for Web.
  2. From the navigation menu, click My assigned queues .
  3. Click Resume now or Resume to start getting calls again.

To learn more about managing your queues on mobile, see 8x8 Engage- Manage queues in desktop/web.

Video Elevation is an integrated solution that allows 8x8 Engage users to establish a one-way video connection with customers in need of assistance. With this feature, you can switch from a phone interaction to a one-way video interaction with a few clicks. This new feature ensures you can get a clear visual of the customer’s problem by extending a video call invitation to gather all the information necessary for a quick call resolution. While on a queued call with a customer, click Video invite to send an SMS with a link to a video call. The customer can simply click the link received via SMS to establish the video connection, without having to install any software.

Video Elevation - Send an SMS with a link to a video call

Let’s say Pat is a customer support specialist at AcmeJets, a window shutter manufacturer. Pat receives a call from Blake, a customer, claiming that the recently installed shutters cannot close. To get a clear understanding of the problem, Pat decides to elevate the conversation to video and sends out an meeting link to Blake’s mobile phone. Blake accepts the invitation and Pat can now see the window shutters installed. With the camera pointing at the shutters, Blake tries to close them. Pat notices that a safety pin is preventing the shutters from closing. After instructing Blake on the correct removal of the safety pin, the shutters work as intended. The interaction ends successfully without having to escalate to an expert or dispatch a technician to the customer’s location.

Note: The live video feed shared with the customer can only be viewed by the 8x8 Engage user and the customer. The customer cannot see the 8x8 Engage user during the video interaction.

Select Past meetings from the Meetings tab to access a list of previous video interactions.

Video Elevation - See the list of passt meetings

To learn more about how to communicate with Video Elevation, see 8x8 Engage- Engage with customers using Video Elevation.