Previous releases

We are introducing the following enhancements and changes of the 8x8 Work for Desktop7.17 release:

• Ability to quickly set call forwarding from profile panel
• Improved visibility for unread voicemails and faxes
• Optimization for Citrix
• Additional changes
  • Removed integration with Plantronics Hub
  • Removed presence status from call queues, ring groups, and auto attendants

Ability to quickly set call forwarding from profile panel

Let’s say you need to leave your desk in a hurry, but want to ensure that your calls will be forwarded instead of left ringing; you now also have the ability to quickly set basic call forwarding directly from your Profile panel! Advanced call forwarding settings remain available under Settings > Account settings > Call forwarding rules.

You can toggle call forwarding on or off, and select the call forwarding destination, such as your voicemail or a teammate’s extension. While you have call forwarding enabled, a banner notification shows up as a reminder to disable call forwarding once you are able to take calls again.

Improved visibility for unread voicemails and faxes

If you have difficulty seeing which voicemails or faxes are unread in 8x8 Work (for example, on certain monitors or with Dark mode enabled), your unread voicemails or faxes are now marked with a dot to make them more obvious at a glance!

Optimization for Citrix

8x8 Work for Desktop now offers support for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), enabling you to use your own computer’s audio devices for calls in an 8x8 Work for Desktop instance running on a virtual machine! When 8x8 Work for Desktop on a virtual machine successfully connects to your computer’s audio sources, the Computer audio option in the Call using panel changes to read Computer - VDI.

Note: At this time, optimization for Citrix:
-Is available through the Citrix Workspace desktop app, but not the Citrix Workspace web app
-Is available on 8x8 Work for Desktop, but not 8x8 Work for Web
-Applies to audio for two-way calls, but not to conference calls or meetings

Additional changes

In addition to the above enhancements, the following items have changed in this release:

Removed integration with Plantronics Hub

You no longer need to install Plantronics Hub in order to integrate 8x8 Work call controls with your headset; starting with version 7.17 of 8x8 Work for Desktop, simply enable integrated call controls the same way you can for other supported headsets!

Removed presence status from call queues, ring groups, and auto attendants

Call queues, ring groups, and auto attendants now show up without a presence status attached.

We are introducing the following enhancements and changes in the 8x8 Work for Desktop7.17 release:

• Ability to run network tests
• New notification for issues with chat
• Enhanced EXE installer for Windows

For details on features introduced prior to this release, see our list of previous releases.

If you are an 8x8 Frontdesk user, see what's new in 8x8 Frontdesk.

Ability to run network tests

If you have an important call or meeting coming up and want to ensure that you have a good network connection, you now have the ability to run network tests from 8x8 Work for Desktop! Simply go to Settings > Network connectivity and click Run network test.

New notification for issues with chat

In the rare event that issues arise with your chat service, you now see a notification letting you know that chat functionality is temporarily limited. Once you are redirected to a new server, full functionality is restored and the notification disappears.

Enhanced EXE installer for Windows

To prevent triggering the Windows firewall upon updating, the 8x8 Work for Desktop EXE installer now no longer changes its location on your computer’s hard disk.

• Ability to block spam callers from a voicemail
• One-click ability to switch between Beta and generally-available versions of 8x8 Work for Web

Ability to block spam callers from a voicemail

If your admin enables you to block spam callers, you now have the ability to block spam callers from a voicemail in addition to your existing ability to block them from a call log!

One-click ability to switch between Beta and generally-available versions of 8x8 Work for Web

Let’s say you’re in the Beta version of 8x8 Work for Web and want to switch to the generally-available version of the app for increased stability, or want to switch the other way for access to the latest Beta features; now, you can do this in just one click! Instead of manually opening a new tab with the version of 8x8 Work for Web you want, simply click Use our General Availability release/Try our new Beta Release in the navigation bar to open the version you want in a new tab.

Note: In addition to the site URL, the color of your navigation bar can also quickly indicate whether you’re in the Beta or generally-available version of 8x8 Work for Web; if your selection in Settings > Look and feel is Classic or Light, or if 8x8 Work detects a light theme via Use OS settings, the color of your navigation bar is different between your two versions of 8x8 Work for Web.

• Enhanced pickup for parked calls: If a colleague parks a call for you to pick up, you now see the name or number of the person your colleague spoke to, rather than the number of the call park extension you dialed. For example, Robin spoke to Sam, and Robin parked the call on extension 461 for Mel to pick up; upon dialing the call park extension given by Robin, Mel now immediately knows that it’s Sam on the call without needing to ask!

  Note: This feature only works when you have Call using computer enabled.

  

  Note: If a receptionist using 8x8 Frontdesk parks the call for you, you receive a message including the caller’s name and a link to the relevant call park extension. Click the link to retrieve the parked call.
  

• Ability to promote calls to meetings via new keyboard shortcut: Among your existing keyboard shortcuts, you now also have the ability to promote active calls to meetings! While you are in a call in 8x8 Work for Desktop or 8x8 Work for Web, press Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows, or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac to promote the current call to an 8x8 meeting.

  Note: This keyboard shortcut is an in-app shortcut and works only when you have the app open and in focus.

  

• 8x8 Work for Web enhancements: The following enhancements are specific to 8x8 Work for Web.

  • Ability to see available updates to the app: Previously, if you left 8x8 Work for Web open in a browser tab for a long time without refreshing, you were unable to see if you had a pending app update. Starting with version 7.14, 8x8 Work for Web displays a notification banner if it detects a pending update. To accept the update, click the Reload option in the banner or simply refresh the tab.

    

  • Prevention of accidental exit from 8x8 Work for Web: If you have a large number of tabs or windows open and try to close your last remaining 8x8 Work for Web tab, your browser now asks you to confirm whether you want to close the app, preventing you from closing your last 8x8 Work for Web tab by accident.

    

• Ability to flip calls and meetings to 8x8 Work for Web in one click: Let’s say you answered a call or joined a meeting on the go via 8x8 Work for Mobile and have just reached a computer without 8x8 Work for Desktop installed, so you open and log in to 8x8 Work for Web instead. Like 8x8 Work for Desktop, 8x8 Work for Web now detects whether you are in a call or meeting on another device, and lets you flip the call or meeting to your web app with a single click! Once you click the control to flip your call or meeting, the call or meeting on your previous device stops and picks up in your browser where you left off!

  

• Ability for IT administrators to set default URL for call info pop-ups: If you are an administrator deploying 8x8 Work for Desktop to managed machines in your organization, you already had the ability to set user defaults for in-headset call controls, floating call control windows, and automatic Away status. In addition to those settings, you now also have the ability to set the default URL for inbound caller or outbound callee info pop-ups!

  Note: These are default values; once they are set, they can be customized by users.

  Create a configuration file titled 8x8work-config.json with the following values. Deploy this configuration file to your organization’s machines:

  • MSI 32: root:\Program Files\8x8 Inc\8x8 Work\8x8work-config.json
  • EXE: root:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\8x8-Work\8x8work-config.json
  • MacOS: ~\8x8work-config.json

  For example, if you want your users to see inbound caller info pop-ups in Google Search, you would enter:

  {

  “default-caller-info-popup-url”: “https://www.google.com/search?q=%%CallerNumber%%”

  }

• Ability to create new contacts from active calls: Let’s say you’re on a call with someone you want to convert to a contact in 8x8 Work; you now have the ability to quickly create a contact from an active call, enabling you to confirm additional contact details as you create the contact!

  

• Enhanced return to 8x8 Work from your floating call control window: Let’s say you’re on a call via your floating call control window and need to transfer the caller or put them on hold; when you double-click the floating window to quickly open advanced call controls in 8x8 Work for Desktop, your experience is now identical regardless of whether your 8x8 Work application window is in Compact Mode or Expanded Mode!

  If your 8x8 Work application window is in Compact Mode when you double-click your floating call control window, you are now taken directly to the active call screen rather than going through your Calls list, enabling you to immediately access advanced call controls without missing a beat.

  

• Ability to see call log timestamps at the list level: Let’s say you had several calls in one day, and want to quickly find a call you remember started at a particular time. To let you more quickly navigate your list of calls at a glance, your list of call logs now shows you the starting time of your calls at the list level!

  

• Improved experience with disabled Block Caller option: If your phone system administrator has disabled the Block caller option in 8x8 Work, it’s now more clear that the feature is disabled; rather than disappearing, the option continues to show up but is grayed out.

  

• New 8x8 Frontdesk capability:

  Note: 8x8 Frontdesk is available to receptionists who have been given access by their administrators.

  If you are a front desk receptionist given access by your administrator, say hello to a powerful call management experience tailored to your needs! As a receptionist enabled with access to the feature, you see a new Frontdesk tab embedded in 8x8 Work for Desktop. With a few clicks, you can manage multiple calls, voicemails, and chat sessions, and direct communications to the appropriate contacts in their organization.

  For more information, refer to our 8x8 Frontdesk app summary or to our 8x8 Frontdesk web help.

• Enhancements to search: The following enhancements apply to your search experience.

  • Ability to search message content globally across all conversations: Let’s say you want to find an important message whose text you partially remember, but you don’t remember who the message was from; you now have the ability to search for in-message text across all your one-on-one and room chats in addition to your past ability to search for contacts and chat room names!

    

  • Support for single-character contact and chat room search: 8x8 Work for Desktop now starts searching with the very first character you type in the search bar; if you have a colleague whose first or last name is one character long (such as Hideki Mori, written as 森 秀樹 in Japanese), you can now find them just as easily as you can a colleague with a longer name! Similarly, you can now search for a chat room with a single-character name, or a name you only remember one character of.

  • Ability to clear recent search history: You now have the ability to tidy up your recent search history; if you feel your list of recent searches is getting cluttered, simply click Clear all above your recent search history.

    

• Ability to switch between your voicemail greetings more quickly: If you need to switch between multiple voicemail greetings in your line of work, you can now do so more quickly than before, without leaving your 8x8 Work application window! Instead of opening a browser page with your full list of settings, now simply open the new drop-down in 8x8 Work for Desktop; under Settings > Voicemail, go to External greeting or Internal greeting and select the voicemail greeting you want, such as a greeting for when you’re at work, outside of your working hours, on vacation, and more.

  Note: You must record voicemail greetings in order to have multiple greetings to select from. To record new voicemail greetings, click Add greeting under External greeting or Internal greeting.

  

• Unretrieved contact presence no longer represented by Offline icon: Previously, if your connection speed was low and 8x8 Work hadn’t yet retrieved your contacts’ presence statuses, those contacts would show up as Offline , potentially leading to confusion. Now, the contact shows up with their presence icon removed until their presence status is retrieved.

  

• Enhanced in-app product tutorial: If you’re a new user of 8x8 Work for Desktop looking at a guided tour of the application’s main features, you now experience a visually refreshed tutorial interface. In addition, you don’t need to worry about accidentally closing the tutorial; if you accidentally click X on the tutorial pane, you now see a prompt that lets you confirm or undo closing the tutorial.