Update Control Panel for CPaaS: Reinvent UI / UX and Implement Normal Person IDE
Perhaps you already managed to try the new panel while it was in open beta: in the old panel there was a special button for switching. Be that as it may, now the new panel is available to everyone.
And this is not just a release, but a real rethinking of Voximplant's UI / UX account management. I invite everyone to cut - you will find an overview of the most significant innovations.
The concept of the “application” is not new, it was implemented when the platform was just launched. “Application” is a way to bundle together cloud scripts, phone numbers, call queues, etc .; there is an explicit reference to the term "application" in its software meaning. Creating applications in Voximplant has always been a must for proper call handling.
However, it was technically possible to create an application at any time, for example, when everything else was ready (a script was written, a number was bought, etc.). Such flexibility could lead to ambiguous consequences: on the one hand, applications are required without fail, and on the other hand, you could easily forget about them after creating other parts of call processing.
Therefore, the main change concerns this particular nuance: now the Applications section is the main entry point into account management. The section is located in the main menu, which opens by clicking on the "hamburger" in the upper left corner:
In the new panel, you first create the application, then fall into it and already inside you see the familiar sections: Call history, Scenarios, Users, Numbers, etc.
Some items have been moved, some are renamed.
For starters, it's worth noting that the former Rules are now Routing within the application.
In the general account settings - Settings - now two new names, Security and Webhooks.
Security is an IP whitelist for accessing the HTTP API and SIP, see the corresponding tabs:
Webhooks - this is what HTTP Callbacks are now called (they used to be on the Access API page):
And now about something completely new.
Users are now created only within applications, while one user can belong to only one application. Thin point: if earlier you had a user in your account tied to several applications, then in order not to ruin the logic of work, we cloned this user into other applications. In this case, the "old" ID with statistics will remain in the application to which the user was last attached. User names must be unique within a single application. This is due to changes in our API effective March 1 .
Call lists are now in the public domain - a section inside the application is dedicated to them. Using this functionality, you can ring a large number of clients in semi- and automatic mode, indicating the number of attempts to reach each number, the interval between attempts and the maximum number of simultaneous calls.
Updated profile settings - Profile settings:
Another feature is the management of active sessions, Active sessions; located in the Calls section of the main menu. Every time you have at least one active session, you can see it here. You can also find out more about this session and manually complete it.
The layout of the scripts has changed. The scripts created in the old panel are now shared for all applications, but any of them can be tied to any one application - this will cause the script to be deleted from the shared folder, i.e. will become unavailable to other applications. Actions are available from the context menu, you just need to right-click on the script.
Last but not least, this is our new IDE, which supports auto-complete, hot keys, diff , auto-formatting, etc. All available commands are available in the palette (F1 key) or in the context menu (right-click in the editor). We also introduced a new debugger, to which you can set launch parameters and use them in the future.
Now the panel has templates for the quickest possible start on our platform - you can study them right now .
You can select the most suitable solution and click Install. Depending on the choice, an application, users, a rule, etc. will be created. Then you can try this solution in action by running the demo - the link will appear after installation.
We are confident that the updated architecture, coupled with a powerful IDE, will help you do more in less time. You can write feedback in comments or directly with our support .
And this is not just a release, but a real rethinking of Voximplant's UI / UX account management. I invite everyone to cut - you will find an overview of the most significant innovations.
Just in case: screenshots are clickable.
The application of omnipotence
The concept of the “application” is not new, it was implemented when the platform was just launched. “Application” is a way to bundle together cloud scripts, phone numbers, call queues, etc .; there is an explicit reference to the term "application" in its software meaning. Creating applications in Voximplant has always been a must for proper call handling.
However, it was technically possible to create an application at any time, for example, when everything else was ready (a script was written, a number was bought, etc.). Such flexibility could lead to ambiguous consequences: on the one hand, applications are required without fail, and on the other hand, you could easily forget about them after creating other parts of call processing.
Therefore, the main change concerns this particular nuance: now the Applications section is the main entry point into account management. The section is located in the main menu, which opens by clicking on the "hamburger" in the upper left corner:
In the new panel, you first create the application, then fall into it and already inside you see the familiar sections: Call history, Scenarios, Users, Numbers, etc.
New names and locations
Some items have been moved, some are renamed.
For starters, it's worth noting that the former Rules are now Routing within the application.
In the general account settings - Settings - now two new names, Security and Webhooks.
Security is an IP whitelist for accessing the HTTP API and SIP, see the corresponding tabs:
Webhooks - this is what HTTP Callbacks are now called (they used to be on the Access API page):
New opportunities
And now about something completely new.
Users are now created only within applications, while one user can belong to only one application. Thin point: if earlier you had a user in your account tied to several applications, then in order not to ruin the logic of work, we cloned this user into other applications. In this case, the "old" ID with statistics will remain in the application to which the user was last attached. User names must be unique within a single application. This is due to changes in our API effective March 1 .
Call lists are now in the public domain - a section inside the application is dedicated to them. Using this functionality, you can ring a large number of clients in semi- and automatic mode, indicating the number of attempts to reach each number, the interval between attempts and the maximum number of simultaneous calls.
Updated profile settings - Profile settings:
- You can set an avatar. Not the most important functionality, but it is always nice to have at hand an additional opportunity for customization.
- You can connect OAuth accounts: Github and Google are available. Now logging into our panel will be even more convenient.
Another feature is the management of active sessions, Active sessions; located in the Calls section of the main menu. Every time you have at least one active session, you can see it here. You can also find out more about this session and manually complete it.
The layout of the scripts has changed. The scripts created in the old panel are now shared for all applications, but any of them can be tied to any one application - this will cause the script to be deleted from the shared folder, i.e. will become unavailable to other applications. Actions are available from the context menu, you just need to right-click on the script.
Last but not least, this is our new IDE, which supports auto-complete, hot keys, diff , auto-formatting, etc. All available commands are available in the palette (F1 key) or in the context menu (right-click in the editor). We also introduced a new debugger, to which you can set launch parameters and use them in the future.
Our next article will be entirely about the IDE: what's under the hood, how it works and why it is
Marketplace
Now the panel has templates for the quickest possible start on our platform - you can study them right now .
You can select the most suitable solution and click Install. Depending on the choice, an application, users, a rule, etc. will be created. Then you can try this solution in action by running the demo - the link will appear after installation.
Further more
We are confident that the updated architecture, coupled with a powerful IDE, will help you do more in less time. You can write feedback in comments or directly with our support .