The November 2014 release of Oracle Service Cloud (RightNow) is now available - we highlight the five key enhancements for customers in this latest version.

Oracle have announced that the November 2014 version of Oracle Service Cloud is now available as part of the quarterly release programme. As usual, there are a broad range of improvements across Web Customer Service, Cross-Channel Contact Centre and the Service Cloud Platform.

In this post, we are going to briefly outline what we feel are the key developments in the November 2014 release that will help your organisation enhance its Customer Experience through

Oracle Service Cloud.

Agent Browser UI

We have been excited about this major product development for some time now, as the November 2014 release provides a first glimpse of the new browser UI! The solution draws parallels to Oracle Sales Cloud, in particular the drive towards a simplified UI- this is something we will be blogging about in the near future.

In this release, the browser UI is designed for the infrequent user, giving the user access to common tasks, such as creating and editing records, and running reports across both standard and custom objects. Oracle are planning to expand the functionality of the browser UI in future releases, but have confirmed that the Agent Browser UI will be provided in addition to the existing smart client and mobile agent desktop.

Fig 1. Agent Browser UI

Service Console Enhancements

Oracle have announced that, when a site is upgraded to the November 2014 release or later, the re-branded Service Console will be the default and the legacy Agent Desktop console will not be available.

Much effort has gone in to developing the Service Console to make the UI more user-friendly for agents. The November 2014 release includes features such as:

• Docking tool windows to the Status Bar- All tool windows can now be docked to the Status Bar, giving you more space on the console, and more flexibility in rearranging interface controls.
• Recent items listed in context menus- You can now select items from the context menu in search fields if any recent items for the same record type are available. This is highlighted in figure 2 and applies to standard as well as custom object workspace types.

Fig 2. Recent items in search fields

• Last ten selections in drop-down menus- The last ten selections listed in drop-down menus will now display at the top of the menu in a section labelled recent, as seen in figure 3. The list will be filtered when you search to show only those entries that contain the sequence of letters you type.

Fig 3. Drop down fields recent selections

• Pinning recent items- With the November 2014 release, you can now pin items by clicking the pin icon that appears when you hover over a recent item. Pinned items appear at the top of the Recent Items tool window.

Experience Routing Enhancements

Oracle have further enhanced the Experience Routing functionality released in May 2014 with the addition of skill-based assignment. Organisations now have the ability to specify the agent skill requirements for each queue, allowing for finer-grained control of agent assignment based on their specific skills. This will enable end-users to be paired up with agents that are better placed to resolve their issue.

Visit Browser History

Oracle Service Cloud has expanded integration with the ATG Engagement Engine to provide visitor browser history to better understand the customer's transition from self-service to assisted-service. Using this new feature, agents can effortlessly access the historical URLs and gain immediate visual insight into the actions that led to the customer's need for agent assistance. Agents will be empowered to bypass unnecessary exchanges with the customer, thereby reducing average chat handle time and increasing customer satisfaction.

Enhanced Co-browse

The following enhancements have been made to Co-browse in the November 2014 release:

• Instant mode: A faster launch process to make co-browsing even more efficient, with no plug-in requirements.
• Customer UI Control: There are several new options for on-page launch points, from which end-users can enter a Co-browse session.

Message Template Enhancements

Several features have been added that make it easier and faster for you to customise and personalise the content of your administrator notifications, administrator emails, contact emails, and print templates.

• Message Templates editor sub-tabs- The Message Templates editor has been redesigned to use sub-tab functionality, as seen in figure 4. Sub-tabs allow you to you edit multiple messages at the same time, which is especially useful if you want to compare similar messages or if you work with more than one interface.

Fig 4. Sub-tabs in the Message Template Editor

• Conditional subject lines- Using advanced subject editing, you can now personalise your email subject lines to tailor your message to different audiences. For example, you can change the subject line dynamically based on characteristics such as product, category, or custom field values. In addition to the default subject line, you can add up to ten conditional subject lines to each message template. The advanced subject editing option is highlighted in figure 5.

Fig. 5 Creating a Conditional subject line

• Conditional content based on message thread count- Content can now be displayed conditionally based on the number of threads that are included within the sent message using the Message Thread Count record located in the Special Fields folder. For example, if you set your message thread count to be greater than ten, when the number of threads included within the message exceeds ten, you could create a conditional section based on this message thread count threshold with content telling your customers to call the customer support team for a faster resolution.

November 2014 marks another successful quarterly release for Oracle Service Cloud, with the features described above, alongside smaller developments, combining to give a more complete customer service solution.

If enhancing your customers experience is a priority for your organisation, why not contact us, or call us now on +44 203 2834315, to discuss how your organisation can benefit from using a customer experience focused application such as Oracle Service Cloud.

Boxfusion Consulting are a Specialised Oracle Service Cloud Implementation partner.