LibraryH3lp Blog

Webclient: easier snapshot and file sharing

Right click in the typey box, then paste!  Or you can ctrl-v.

After you paste in an image, you can either just send it along right away, or you can have it pulled into the snapshot editor, where you can annotate it with arrows, boxes, etc..., prior to sending it to the guest.

After you paste an image, you can either mark it up with the sharing tool or just send it.

Webclient: improved staff-side communications

Have you ever wanted to send a file or image when chatting directly with a colleague or maybe share a file within a conference room, in the same way that you can already do with guests?  Now you can! Operators staffing chat within the webclient for staffing can send files to other operators and send files to conference rooms.  And there are three ways to do it:

1. use the handy paper clip button just above the typing area for your chat, 
2. drag and drop any file to the typing area for the chat or conference room, 
3. or click in the typing area and use Ctrl-v to paste an image from your clipboard.

Sharing tool: guest images go straight to your snapshot editor

When you have the sharing tool open and a guest sends you an image, that image will automatically open up into the snapshot editor. This makes it even easier to edit images and send them back to the guest. In case you missed it, the sharing tool, which debuted about a month ago, lets you share snapshots with guests and even view the guest's screen if their browser supports it.

We have more exciting enhancements coming to the sharing tool which are in active development.  More soon!

Yeah, we're just a little bit excited.  Let's just get right down to it: we've created a new tool that allows entirely new kinds of sharing in LibraryH3lp chat.  And unlimited use is automatically included with your subscription at no extra charge.

For the moment, the new sharing tool is only available on our main, US server.  We'll be updating the regionals to also offer the sharing tool in the coming weeks.

Update Dec 1, 2018: Canada regional server updated to include share tool.
Update Dec 8, 2018: Europe and Singapore regional servers updated to include share tool.

Before we get down to brass tacks here, let's start with one of our general design goals:  no one, neither guest nor operator, is required to download anything special.  All anyone ever needs is a web browser.  Our new sharing tool is no exception.

Operators using external XMPP clients like Pidgin and Adium instead of the browser-based webclient for staffing are supported too.  They will use the familiar chat management page (the same one they use for things like transfers) in order to access the new sharing tool.

Share snapshots!
Let's start with our AWESOME new snapshot sharing and annotation tool.  This allows operators in any web browser to paste in their own screen shots, mark them up with our built-in snapshot editor, and send the marked-up snapshot to the guest.

The guest will receive your snapshots in any web browser as well.

And of course, you can still send any file that you have saved locally to the guest, but we've had that capability since like 2008.

Share screens!
Oh yes!  Our sharing tool also aims to let you view the guest's screen in real-time, with no plugins or extensions required.

And what's even better?  It works in tandem with our snapshot tool.  At any time while you are viewing the guest's screen, you can grab a snapshot of their screen, take it into our built-in editor to crop and mark it up, and send the revised version back to the guest.  Yeah, please click HERE!  Your picture can be worth a thousand words.

Now, we must interject a bit of pesky reality.  We would love to tell you that screensharing works in any web browser, with no downloads or extensions.  But we simply cannot do that reliably given the current state of web browser technology.  This new-fangled screensharing we're implementing relies on new kinds of APIs recently built into some modern web browsers.

So where does the real-time screensharing work?  At the moment, the guest has to be using Firefox or Edge in order to share their screen with the chat operator.   The guest also needs to be using a secure (https) chat box, but chances are pretty good that your chat boxes are all https by now.  If the guest's browser isn't using a secure chat box in Firefox or Edge, you'll simply get a note to that effect, and you'll still be able to use the snapshot tool.

To be clear, the operator can use any web browser (except IE11) to view the guest's screen, but the guest needs to use either Firefox or Edge when chatting in order to share their screen in real-time with the operator. Importantly, the guest can send screenshots to the operator (even when screensharing is not an option) in any browser.

Chrome has gone a different route for now and, in order to share the screen in real-time with an operator, the guest would need to install a LibraryH3lp extension in their Chrome browser instance.  Such a LibraryH3lp extension does not currently exist, but if this is something for which you'd like to lobby please let us know your thoughts and potential use cases.

Safari probably will support screensharing. Eventually. Someday.

Internet Explorer 11 will never support screensharing.  As Dr. McCoy would say, "He's dead, Jim."
Overview Video



How do I access the screensharing and snapshot sharing tool?

The combined screensharing and snapshot sharing tool opens up in its own window and is available for chats over queues in:

1) the webclient for staffing

Chatting with a guest in the webclient for staffing.

2) the Chat History page,

Select a chat in the Chat History page

3) or in the chat management page for folks who use a third-party chat client like Pidgin or Adium.

Chat management page

Screensharing Show and Tell

If the guest is chatting with you in Firefox or Edge (and you are not using Internet Explorer 11), then you can screenshare with the guest, which allows you to view their screen in real-time.  The operator cannot actively control the guest's screen, only view it.  The guest cannot at any time view the chat operator's screen, and the guest cannot initiate screensharing.

Screensharing is kicked off with an invite to the guest, which you can customize to suit.

Default screensharing invitation to guest which can be customized as desired.

The guest receives the invitation and then has to explicitly allow you access to their screen.  There is absolutely no way an operator can spy on a guest without explicit permission (and a sequence several deliberate mouse clicks to grant that permission) from the guest.  And the operator cannot accidentally initiate screensharing because it has taken a sequence of several deliberate mouse clicks to get to this point.

Permissions dialog to share screen seen by guests using Firefox.

Permissions dialog to share screen seen by guests using Edge.

Once the guest grants permission for screensharing, you'll be able to see the guest's screen and take snapshots which you can annotate and send back to the guest.

Snapshot Show and Tell

You can take snapshots of the guest's screen during screensharing OR upload your own screenshots OR upload any other image of your choice.  In short, any image can become a snapshot.  Snapshots can be annotated with rectangles, lines, arrows, text, and highlights.  You can also zoom and crop to focus in on areas of interest in the snapshot.  Snapshots can then be sent to the guest and/or saved to local disk.

Snapshot example: In memory of our sweet and recently departed hound, Sprinkles.

Once shared with the guest, snapshot thumbnails appear in the transcript for guests. Guests can click on snapshot thumbnails to open the full snapshot in a new browser tab or window.

Guest view of shared snapshot

Shared snapshot thumbnails also appear in the chat transcript for operators using the webclient for staffing.  By default, the images are hidden:

Image thumbnails are always initially hidden in the transcript for the operator. Click Show Image to reveal.

However images can be revealed by clicking on the "Show Image" button associated with the snapshot in the transcript.

An image thumbnail that has been revealed in the transcript. Click Hide Image to re-hide the image.

Clicking on the snapshot thumbnail (or image link if the thumbnail is hidden) opens the full snapshot up in a new browser tab or window.

We just released a few improvements, mostly for the webclient for staffing, directly as a result of excellent feedback from folks like you.  Additionally, we'll be including future announcements directly in the webclient for staffing, 3mail standalone page, and admin dashboard.  When you log in to any of those three and there's a new announcement, you'll see that announcement in a purple box at the top of the page.

Now, here's the rundown of those improvements we mentioned...

New, optional note when emailing transcripts

When emailing transcripts from either the webclient for staffing or the Chat History page or the chat management page (used mostly by those folks who staff with third-party chat clients like Pidgin), you can now include an optional note along with the transcript just like you already can with tag for follow-up.  Super handy for providing context as to why someone is receiving the transcript.



Two options for guest status change notifications

As part of our guest re-engagement feature, we added timestamped messages into the chat transcript for operators so that you have a persistent, timestamped history of when guests come and go during a chat.  This is currently the default behavior and provides the most context on the guest's behavior.

As a bit of background, guest comings and goings are especially common with guests in a couple of contexts.  On mobile devices, the device kills the network connection to the chat box when the chat box is not in front, and so the guest will appear to go offline when they bring something else to the top and return again to online when they bring the chat box back to the front.  On websites where the chat box is embedded in the page (or embedded within a tab), the guest's status toggles on page navigation.  They start the chat on one page and then navigate around the website, picking up the chat on later pages as they go.  This is seamless from the guest's perspective, and chat operators can continue to send messages even when the guest is in an offline state.

Depending on your set-up, these persistent guest status messages can become overly verbose.  If you'd prefer not to see the full timestamped guest status history and instead just have a 'simple guest is offline' indicator as part of the chat, uncheck the 'Include guest status as part of chat' checkbox in your webclient preferences. Webclient preferences are available within the webclient for staffing and set on a per-user basis.

Left screenshot shows default timestamped message guest status history. Right screenshot shows simple, current guest status indicator.

Ability to disable away/busy reminders

The webclient for staffing periodically checks your status and will remind you (if you have visual notifications enabled) if you are set as away or busy.  When away or busy, you won't be available to answer any new incoming chats, so this reminder can come in handy if you forget to set your status back to available.  But if you find these new reminders annoying, you can turn them off by unchecking the "Remind me when I've been busy or away for awhile" checkbox in your webclient preferences. Webclient preferences are available within the webclient for staffing and set on a per-user basis.



Uppercase Guest IDs

Previously, we used only numbers in guest IDs.  Recently we switched to a combination of letters and numbers to pave the way for future improvements.  We received some feedback that the lower case letters were a bit hard to read, so guest IDs are now a combination of upper case letters and numbers when shown to the operator in the webclient.

We're pushing out a big update with some new exciting features!  We'll run down the changes shortly, but here is the release schedule for all of our regional servers:

1. Canada: released July 29, 2018
2. Europe, Singapore: August 4, 2018
3. Main/US: August 11, 2018

Re-engage with Recent Guests

Ever close a guest's chat window and then think of something you'd really love to add?  Now, you can do exactly that.

Jump-starting a chat for a guest that is still hanging around in the chat box.

When you (the chat operator) close the chat on your side, the guest will move into a new Recent Guests contacts group.  Locate your guest in there and click on them to re-open their chat window, and send your message.  That's all there is to it!

If the guest is still hanging out with the chat box open on their (the guest's) side, they'll appear with a green dot and will display as a contact by default.

If the guest navigated away from the chat box, you'll need to show offline guests in your chat client, and then locate the guest to send your new message.  Guests come and go a lot as they move around web pages, and if they re-visit the chat box, they'll see the messages that you sent while they were not present.

Jump-starting a chat if the guest has moved away from the chat box.  They'll get your message on returning to chat.

We've created a short, silent movie showing how to re-engage a guest that has navigated away and then returns.

You can re-engage with guests in ended chats or who have navigated off of the chat box for up to an hour.  This feature is not limited to the webclient and also works in chat clients like Pidgin and Adium.

Timer-triggered safety net for simple rollover queues

Webclient enhancements

Hi all!  Just a quick update to let you know that the guest IDs for chat have changed slightly.  We're moving to a format that is a little shorter and consists of letters as well as the numbers.  Functionally speaking, nothing has changed.  But this is the first indicator of new features to come!  Stay tuned...

We've just released oodles of improvements and new features for the 3mail module. For those not familiar, the 3mail module provides a simple shared email system that is available either standalone or within the webclient.  3mail is connected to one or more queues within your LibraryH3lp account. Each queue represents a shared mailbox from which any operator assigned to a queue can receive, view, and send email.

It is a handy place to direct chats that are tagged for followup and can also receive email from places like Ask a Librarian email forms.  Each LibraryH3lp subscription includes unlimited use of 3mail at no additional charge. To get 3mail enabled for your account, visit the 3mail page in the webclient or the standalone 3mail app.

Here's a quick rundown of what's new...

Search!

Download messages

All of the messages for your current search can be downloaded. You can select what message metadata you'd like included in the download. The file downloaded to your computer will be in comma-separated value (CSV) format, so you can use a spreadsheet program like Excel or Google Sheets to further analyze your mail.

Hold on to your hats, we have BIG news!  We're adding search to the Chat History page in both the admin dashboard and the webclient for staffing.  So when you need to locate that chat from two years ago from a patron that texted asking about an obscure poem from the 1950's, we've got you covered.

New "Search chats..." Input

Above the date explorer, we've added a search input where you can search through most chat metadata fields and transcript content (if you've elected to save chat transcripts).  For example and if you wished to search for chat transcripts that contain the word bibliography, you could enter the word bibliography in the search input.

Search phrases are enclosed in quotes: "enumerative bibliography".

Multiple search terms or phrases are separated by spaces and ORed together:

•  "enumerative bibliography" catalog

Use the operator_msg or guest_msg fields to restrict search to only operator messages or guest messages respectively.  So if you wanted to search for all chats with transcripts where an operator used the word bibliography:

• operator_msg:bibliography

You may be thinking to yourself, that's pretty fancy but how am I supposed to remember these field names three months from now?  Never fear.  That's where advanced search comes in!

Advanced Search

Using advanced search, you can get very specific without needing to remember all the nitty gritty details of keywords.  Advanced search replaces the old filter concept we used to have for metadata columns in the grid.

Chat metadata search keywords come with an extra bonus -- most support wildcards:

• Use * for partial matches. E.g. Use chat* to find any word that starts with chat.
• Use ? to replace any single-character. E.g. Use ch?t to match words like chat, chbt, ch4t, etc.
• Use ! to omit exact matches. E.g. Use !chat to omit results that contain word chat.
• Use * with ! to omit partial matches. E.g. Use !*chat to omit results with words that end in chat.

Expanded Date Exploration Options

You may have noticed a couple new things going on with dates in the sections above.  We've added an "all dates" option for searching all chats.   We've also added date range shortcuts which make grabbing common date ranges a snap:

• last 7 days (range:week)
• this month (range:month)
• this quarter (range:quarter)
• this year (range:year)

When you first use the new search feature, the default date range will be set to range:week.  From there and each time you use the Chat History & Activity page, it remembers the last search settings used.

This way, the ranges you set will always be relative to the actual current date.  So if you leave it set to range:day you'll always have the current day's chats when you first load the page.

Pagination

Last but not least, we've added pagination.  It makes for a much snappier user interface experience, especially when you have lots (138,520 in the screenshot below) of chats.

Downloading