Previous releases

In this release, we introduced the following enhancements:

Enhanced keypad navigation experience

While on an active call, you can now paste large numbers copied directly into the keypad when entering an account or phone number into the IVR menu.

To learn more about managing receive calls, see Place and receive calls.

Display incoming call pop-up on top of full-screen windows

When an app is in full-screen mode and covers the 8x8 Work for Desktop app, the system displays a notification for incoming calls. Users can now accept or decline incoming calls in full-screen mode within another app. In addition, users can view the caller's name and number.

To learn more about managing receive calls, see Place and receive calls.

Introducing the dynamic app title bar

In the 8x8 Work for Desktop app, the title bar now dynamically updates to show the name of each navigation area when switching between product sections, maintaining accessibility compliance. Previously, the title bar showed a static title, 8x8 Work.

Ability to override caller info pop-up settings by IT admins

IT admins can override the Caller info pop-up settings for multiple numbers in the 8x8work-config.json file.

The IT admins now can override the following settings:

{

“app-enable-popup-on-answer”: true,

“app-enable-popup-on-warm-transfer”: true,

“app-enable-popup-on-internal-calls”: true,

“app-enable-popup-on-outbound-calls”: true

}

Within the 8x8 Work apps, users can configure the Caller Info Pop-up in the Settings > Caller info pop-up page, determining its display behavior. To learn more about settings, see View call info pop-up.

To learn more about setting default values for some app settings by IT admins, see About system requirements.

Updates on importing contacts from Microsoft Outlook

Important!8x8 Work for Desktop and 8x8 Work for Web supports only the classic Microsoft Outlook version.

Only contacts from the previous classic Microsoft Outlook can be imported and displayed in the 8x8 Work for Desktop and 8x8 Work for Web apps. The contacts created in the new Microsoft Outlook version cannot be imported into the 8x8 Work for Desktop and 8x8 Work for Web apps.

To learn more about importing contacts, see Import contacts.

Other enhancements

• Improved accessibility for screen readers in areas like Calls, Call controls, and General.

• Ability to refresh the entire Contacts directory by users - the Company Contacts section displays a new Refresh button.

  

• The Call Park option is disabled for contacts from different PBXs.

• Azure Integration with 8x8 Work for Desktop- Starting with the 8.16 version, the 8x8 Work for Desktop and 8x8 Work for Web is integrated with Azure to improve the quality of audio calls. This optimization focuses on telephony users working within an Azure Virtual Desktop environment. See the Azure Integration with 8x8 Work for Dekstop/Web article to learn more.

• Various bug fixes.

In this release, we introduced the following enhancements:

Enhanced keyboard navigation experience

As a user of 8x8 Work, you can switch focus between the Call Control Always On Top and the main window of the Work app any time during a call.

You can locate this shortcut key combination by navigating to Settings > Keyboard shortcuts.

To find all keyboard shortcuts available in 8x8 Work for Desktop see, Use and manage keyboard shortcuts.

The Call Control pop-up includes a Go back button you can use while on a call. Click Go back to switch the focus to the main window of the Work app to navigate using the keyboard.

To learn more on how to manage calls, see Place and receive calls.

Other enhancements

• Improved accessibility for screen readers in areas like Calls, Call controls, and General.
• Various bug fixes.

In this release, we have introduced the following enhancements:

• Introducing the unsafe protocol warning
• Ability to disable startup pop-ups by IT admins
• Enhanced experience for typing into the dial pad

• Ability to mask macro values in the caller info pop-up by IT admins

• Improved display of phone number used by multiple contacts in active call user interface and call history
• Other enhancements

Introducing the unsafe protocol warning

8x8 Work for Desktop now shows a warning pop-up that alerts users when an unsafe protocol is used to display caller details. Although this pop-up feature is beneficial, an unsafe protocol can potentially compromise the user's computer by accessing the command utility and executing arbitrary commands.

Notes:
- All protocols that do not start with ‘http:’, ‘https:’ or ‘mailito’ are considered unsafe.
- To avoid any security vulnerability, enter only commands approved by your IT administrator in your pop-up.

To learn more about caller info pop-ups, see View caller info pop-up.

Ability to disable startup pop-ups by IT admins

IT administrators can disable startup pop-ups in the 8x8work-config.json configuration file to avoid disruptive startup pop-ups upon opening 8x8 Work for Desktop. This feature benefits customers who engage in remote sessions and frequently clear their user cache.

The IT admins can now disable the following startup pop-ups at the specified locations using the indicated config keys:

{

“app-disable0aauto-showing-product-tour”: true,

“App-disable-sus-popup”: true,

“App-disable-voicemil-greeting-recordiong-popup”; true,

“App-disable-new-audio-saource-popup”: true

}

To learn more about setting system requirements by IT admins, see About system requirements.

Enhanced experience for typing into the dial pad

You can now type extension numbers into the dial-pad without formatting interruptions, ensuring precise input.

Ability to mask macro values in the caller info pop-up by IT admins

Admins can now hide the macro values i the caller info pop-up. Only the value of the query parameter called param will be encoded with base64. This feature returns an encoded base64 response for the provided URL.

The admins can set the new configuration for a specific user via the 8x8work-config.json file and for all users through the 8x8 Admin Console’s Work Apps Settings page.

Note: Users cannot change the caller info pop-up value/URL when this configuration is set up.

The example below demonstrates this configuration and its outcome:

To learn more about setting system requirements by IT admins, see About system requirements.

Improved display of phone number used by multiple contacts in active call user interface and call history

To eliminate confusion about the contact name displayed for a phone number used by multiple contacts, the active call interface and call history will only show the phone number, similar to the current practice with the incoming call banner.

To learn more about call logs, see Access call history.

Other enhancements

• Improved accessibility for Screen Readers in areas like Calls, Contacts, and Call controls.
• Web Dialer is officially supported in Firefox. To learn how to install the 8x8 Web Dialer Firefox Extension, see Install the 8x8 Web Dialer Firefox Extension.

In this release, we have introduced the following enhancements:

• Improved ability to search for caller additional information set in Info Pop-up URL
• Enhanced settings available for warm transfer caller info pop-up
• Ability to select different ringtones for internal, external, and group calls
• Improved support for integrated Call Control through Web Human Interface Device

• Ability to override additional app settings to default value by IT admins

• Other enhancements

Improved ability to search for caller additional information set in Info Pop-up URL

The Caller info pop-up feature now supports new macros and is also available for transferred calls.

You can now additionally pass in the Caller Info pop-up URL the username, or/and extension of the signed-in user getting the call by adding the %%Username%%, or/and %%Extension%% macros. The search for information set in the macros is also performed for warm transfers, not only for direct calls.

In the Caller Info Pop-up section of your 8x8 Work for Desktop settings, you can customize the information returned in your browser when someone calls you based on who answered the call. When a call comes in, 8x8 Work opens the app or web page specified in the URL and replaces the macros with the relevant call and user information. The macros search is based on what you've set in the Caller Info Pop-up field.

You can use any of the following macros to get the information you need in your browser when someone calls you:

• %%CallerNumber%%
• %%CalleeNumber%%
• %%UserName%%
• %%Extension%%

For example, to display information from a Google search about the caller’s username and extension, add the <%%Username%%> and <%%Extension%%> macos in your URL:https://www. google.com/search?q=%%Username%%&q=%%Extension%%.

To learn more about setting up a caller/callee info pop-up, see the 8x8 Work for Desktop—View call info pop-up topic.

Enhanced settings in caller info pop-up for warm transfer

You now can choose to have external callers automatically searched after completing a warm transfer.

To get information about the external caller after completing a warm transfer:

1. Go to Settings > Caller info pop-up.
2. In the App or web URL for caller info pop-up box, enter the URL with the desired macros to display information from a Google search using the username and extension (%%UserName%% and %%Extention%%).

3. Enable the new settings by switching ON the Pop-up also for warm transfers toggle.

   

4. You are now ready to receive and transfer a warm call and get the information in the browser. After you transfer the call, in the app or web page specified in the URL, you can see the relevant call and user information based on what you've set in the Caller Info Pop-up field.

   To learn more about setting up a caller/callee info pop-up, see the 8x8 Work for Desktop—View call info pop-up topic.

   

Ability to select different ringtones for internal, external, and group calls

You can now select different ringtones for incoming internal, external, and group calls.

Note: The new sound selection is available only for the Modern sound theme.

Go to Notifications > Sound theme and set up your ringtone from the list.

To customize the incoming calls:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications.
2. Under Sound theme, select the Modern option.
3. Set up your ringtone to customize the incoming calls from the appropriate list: Incoming internal calls, Incoming external calls, Incoming ring group or call queue calls, or/and General notification.

To learn more about how to set up ringtones, see 8x8 Work for Desktop—Set up notifications.

Improved support for Integrated Call Control through Web Human Interface Device

8x8 Work now supports advanced call control on all the devices supported by Web Human Interface Device (HID).

Note: Built-in call control (answer, end call, and toggle mute) browser support is available on Chrome OS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Select one of the available HIDs to enable this capability in your browser. If you want to select a different device, turn the toggle on and off again.

WebHID integration allows you to control your calls without using a vendor-specific headset application, ensuring any WebHID is supported by 8x8 Work. That means the call control events, such as answer, hangup, volume, and mute, will be synchronized.

To choose the device for advanced control:

1. Go to Settings > Audio & Video.
2. Under Speakers, switch ON the Enable built-in call controls toggle, and choose the appropriate HID device for advanced call control.

To learn more about setting up audio and video, see 8x8 Work for Desktop—Set up audio and video.

The ability to override additional app settings to default value by IT admins

IT admins can now override additional app settings to default values. However, they can override only the setting values configured in the Work Apps Settings application.

IT admins can manually create the configuration file 8x8work-config.json and place it in the indicated locations with the indicated config keys. The file must be on a fresh install or uninstall and then re-installed for the app to load it. Otherwise, the configuration will be loaded as set by the user in the app.

The IT admins now can override the following settings:

{

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

“default-call-control-window”: true,

“default-built-in-call-controls”: true,

“default-time-to-status-away”: 600

“default-toggle-mic-sensitivity”: true,

“default-nose-suppression-level”: 2

“default-toggle-work-start-sound”: true,

“default-ring-group-contact-resolution”: true,

“default-enable-vod-webrtc”: false,

“app-privacy-allow-logs”: true,

“app-privacy-allow-feedback”: true,

“app-privacy-allow-telemetry”: true

}

To learn more about setting default values for some app settings by IT admins, see About system requirements

Other enhancements

• Improved accessibility for screen readers in areas like calls, general, and call control.
• Yealink support for integrated Call Control - Users can now use the Yealink headset for advanced call control. By pressing the headset's buttons, they can answer, hang up, or mute calls.
• Contacts display profile photos imported from Google contacts.

In this release of 8x8 Work for Desktop, we are introducing the following enhancements:

Import contacts from Salesforce

You can now import up to 10000 Contacts from Salesforce into 8x8 Work for Desktop. For example, if you want to reach out to your customers via phone and avoid manually dialing each number you can import contacts via the Sales Workspace integration and you have all your contacts available under Contacts in the 8x8 Work app.

To import contacts from Salesforce:

1. Go to Settings > Sales & Account Workspace.
2. Toggle on Switch to basic Salesforce Contacts integration.
   
3. Your Salesforce Contacts will be imported into the 8x8 Work app local storage and you can access them on the Contacts page.

Other enhancements

• Improved accessibility for screen readers in areas like calls and call controls.
• Enhanced call details tooltip - The tooltip displays the company name for callers saved in Contacts, along with company name data.
• Optimized search during an incoming call while the app is in Compact mode.
• Call forwarding now displays the recipient's full Direct Inward Dialing (DID) when you choose to route calls to another user from another PBX.