Saturday, May 22, 2021
End to End Encryption (E2EE) for chats
From the beginning, LibraryH3lp has been designed as a privacy-first application. Guests chat anonymously as there is no requirement or option for guests to enter any sort of identifying information such as email address or name to begin a chat. As a customer, you are the main custodian of your subscription data and control your internal users, queues, and transcript retention (which is an opt-in feature). In this vein, we are excited to offer a new optional feature for web-based chats -- end-to-end encryption.
Released as follows:
- Canada: May 22, 2021
- Europe: May 29, 2021
- Singapore: May 29, 2021
- Main (North America): June 20, 2021
What is end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and off the record messaging (OTR)?
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) means that only the two parties (ends) participating in a chat can read the messages. No one else (including LibraryH3lp support personnel) can read the messages because the messages are encrypted. The specific cryptographic protocol used to encrypt chat messages is Off the Record Messaging (OTR).
As a further proof against man-in-the-middle (MITM) eavesdropping, operators answering chats in the webclient for staffing can optionally provide the private key from a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) key pair so that the guest's chat box (which has the matching public key fingerprint) can confirm that the answering operator is authorized to communicate with the guest.
Note: E2EE/OTR is not available nor planned for SMS (texting) chats.
Wait. Aren't chats encrypted by default?
Yes. Even without setting up E2EE, guest chat boxes use HTTPS by default and the operator's webclient for staffing always uses HTTPS. With HTTPS, chat messages are encrypted in transit over the network. However unlike with E2EE chats, these chat transcripts can also be read by authenticated users that have appropriate permissions in Chat History while a chat is active, and also after a chat has ended if transcript storage has been enabled. Chat transcript retention provides the ability for later access and can be useful for things like training, data assessment/analysis, and personnel review.
 |
| Even though this OTR chat is active, its transcript cannot be seen in Chat History. |
If my chats are already encrypted, why would I want to set up E2EE/OTR?
Actually we anticipate that most customers will not set up E2EE/OTR, since messages are encrypted in transit via HTTPS and the ability for later transcript review is an important part of quality assurance, assessment, and training for many organizations.
However customers in countries with very strong data privacy regulations or any customer with stringent privacy requirements might be interested in E2EE. For example, if E2EE is configured, then there is no way for LibraryH3lp support staff to access chat transcripts, and that can be an important feature.
Generally how does OTR work?
 |
| The chat operator cannot see the guest's messages until the operator claims the chat. Alternatively the operator can close the chat window, leaving the chat available for another receiving operator to claim. |
How do I enable OTR for my chat box skins?
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Updates to the Webclient, 3mail, and Admin Dashboard
Where is this update?
The updates outlined in this post are being rolled out progressively across our service regions.
- sg.libraryh3lp.com: Update live as of November 14, 2020.
- eu.libraryh3lp.com: Update live as of November 21, 2020.
- ca.libraryh3lp.com: Update live as of November 28, 2020.
- libraryh3lp.com (main server): Update live as of December 19, 2020.
IMPORTANT! With this kind of update, it's a great idea to clear your web browser's cache to ensure you have the latest release.
Webclient Updates
Initial Staffing Assignments dialog
When the box for a queue assignment is checked and you see the green "I'm staffing" indicator, you will receive incoming chats on that queue. Otherwise, chats on that queue will not be routed to you (red "I'm NOT staffing"). In this way, you can control on which queues you receive guest chats. This is all unchanged, but the new feature is an alert.
Now if at least one of your queue assignments is unchecked (shows a red "I'm NOT staffing"), a warning will appear letting you know that you won't receive chats on that queue.
 |
| Alert if you're not opted into staffing a queue. |
Updated canned message management page.
The big win in the new canned messages page is a spacious editor for composing personal canned messages which includes a link tool along with other common formatting tools.
 |
| Updated editor for canned messages includes formatting tools |
Updated preferences page
- Webclient settings are now organized into groups and given headings.
- We've added a play button next to sounds so you can easily preview when choosing sounds.
- We've added an avatar gallery so you can easily replace the default avatar.
 |
| Updated webclient preferences page |
3mail Updates
Our 3mail (shared email boxes) module gets a super handy update: integration with the FAQ module. If you have a FAQ site, you can search your FAQ site for the answer to an email question and insert either a link to it, or insert the FAQ's content and then edit further.
Plus the existing ability to use answer templates within 3mail remains. The new FAQ integration is yet another way to re-use existing content to save time and avoid re-writing the same answer over and over.
 |
| Inserting an answer from your FAQ (searchable knowledgebase module) |
 |
| Instantly search your FAQ for an answer to share |
 |
| Insert either a link to a FAQ OR the FAQ content directly |
Admin Dashboard Updates (for full administrators or mini-admins)
User Management: Beta
We're offering a new user management page for beta testing side-by-side with the familiar user management page. You can access the new user management page via a green banner at the top of the current user management page.
 |
| Navigation to BETA users management page |
The new user management page aims to streamline the process of creating new users and managing existing users. In particular, here is a list of new features available exclusively through the new user management page:
- User creation wizard which includes an option to set up a new user identically to an existing user (copy).
- Search function to quickly locate users by username, chat status, queue assignment, permissions group, folder, or email address (if set for a user).
- Integrated management of conference rooms, canned messages, and permissions groups!
- Revised contact management tool to simplify setting up buddies for users.
 |
| Copying an existing user |
Conference Rooms
The conference room management page features a refreshed design but no new features or settings.
 |
| Updated interface for managing conference rooms |
Shared Canned Messages (Pools)
 |
| Updated canned messages management with much improved editor. |
NEW! RefTracker Integration
We are excited to offer a LibraryH3lp integration with Altarama's RefTracker platform. The integration connects LibraryH3lp's tag for follow-up feature with RefTracker's customizable forms so you can easily pull chat information from LibraryH3lp for later follow-up and tracking within RefTracker.
Permissions Groups
The permissions groups management also features a refreshed design, but there are no changes to the underlying permissions management options or new settings.
Subscription Management and SSO
The subscription management page has been updated and re-organized slightly.
- If you opt to participate in the beta program, you and your colleagues will use the "Sign in via your institution" option.
- If you do NOT to participate in the beta program, you'll use the same "Sign in" option that you've always used where you provide your LibraryH3lp username and password to login.
.png)
