Luware Nimbus Assistant provides context during an incoming call and operates outside of your My Sessions Dashboard. Assistant can be installed on your PC as an app, allowing you to get call information or open websites without having to keep Nimbus open in a browser tab at all times. The app can also trigger automated web requests on a direct or service call, e.g. to open or update tickets in external systems. As a Contact Center licensed agent, you can also toggle your Duty Status (Skills and Responsibilities) at any time.
PRECONDITIONS
- As administrator, you need to set up Assistant and install it on client machines. Refer to Use Case - Setting up Assistant to get started. Further settings are covered in Assistant Configuration.
- Each user that wants to use the Assistant Standalone app needs to have an Assistant license assigned. This is done via User Administration. The scenarios and license requirements are explained in the table below.
- On the target PC, the user account signed into Assistant must be identical to the user signed into the MS Teams Client. Other scenarios are currently not supported and may lead to unwanted behavior by either Nimbus or Assistant.
Feature Comparison Nimbus Portal / Assistant Standalone App
💡All Assistant-supported scenarios are explained in further below on this page. Links in the table lead to the respective page explaining the feature and its available settings.
INC Assistant Feature Matrix
Assistant - supported functionality | Assistant in Nimbus Portal UI |
Client Assistant (Standalone App) |
Call Flow (Incoming / Outgoing caller route) |
✅ 💡Only via My Sessions and Attendant Console |
✅ |
Click to Call (callto: protocol) |
❌ 💡Only via My Sessions and Attendant Console |
✅ |
Open Context in Browser (1) (see Conversation Context) |
❌ 💡Only via My Sessions |
✅ |
HTTP Web Requests ( see Service Call Templates / Direct Call Templates) |
❌ | ✅ |
Switch Duty States (2) (see Responsibility Profiles) |
✅ | ✅ |
After Call Work (2) |
✅ 💡Only via My Sessions |
✅ |
Codes and Tags (1) |
❌ 💡Only via My Sessions |
✅ |
Manage RONA Status | ✅ | ✅ |
(see User Administration > N/A Reasons) |
❌ | ✅ |
Call On Behalf (1) |
❌ 💡Only via “Call on Behalf” popup in Nimbus UI |
✅ |
External Tasks (2) |
❌ |
✅ |
Email Tasks (2) | ❌ |
✅ 💡Handling in My Sessions |
Instant Messaging Tasks (2) or (3) | ❌ |
✅ |
Blind Transfer |
❌ 💡Only via Attendant Console |
✅ |
(1) Requires Enterprise or Contact Center service license.
(2) Requires Contact Center service license.
(3) Requires Contact Center user license.
Startup and Sign-In
✅ Check: After your service configuration and Assistant Installation are done, the application can be started and used. Nimbus Assistant should be running as a small icon in your System Tray. If you don't see this icon, ensure that Assistant is installed on your computer or ask your tenant administrator to do so.
- Click on the Icon and select "Sign in with Microsoft".
- Use your Luware Nimbus credentials to sign in.
☝ Please note that the signed-in user must be identical to the user signed into your MS Teams Client.
Assistant Overview
After logging in to Assistant, the start screen is shown. There are some points of note for you:
- In the taskbar, you should see the Assistant shell icon, now with a green connection indicator.
💡 Please note that this only indicates that Assistant has successfully connected with your MS Teams and is ready to receive call context. The indicator does not react to your Teams presence (Away, Available, DND, etc.). - In this state, the Assistant is already fully operable with no further steps required on your behalf. You can adjust some settings in the Options Menu at the top right.
🌟 Congratulations - all done! Upon incoming calls, the defined actions (e.g. opening a CRM website, creating a ticket) will be triggered. Additionally, you can make adjustments to your Assistant via options in the step below.
🤔 Is your connection not working (status indicator not green)? Check the Options > Info dialog if the connection to MS Teams is working. Ensure your MS Teams is started and connected properly, then restart Assistant. If the problem persists, please contact the support.
🤔 Is nothing happing during an incoming call? After its initial configuration, Assistant should be functional, distributing context according to configuration made by your tenant administrator. If nothing is happening, get in touch with your admin to check your Assistant User Settings and see if templates from the Assistant Configuration are assigned to your user.
Settings Menu
💡 You can make some personal option adjustments in the app by right-clicking on the tray icon:
Area | Description | UI |
---|---|---|
General |
General behavior such as:
|
|
Notifications |
Notification and messaging behavior such as:
|
|
Appearance |
Allows to configure various visual settings such as:
|
|
Tray Icon options | ||
Open Nimbus | Direct link to open the Nimbus portal in your browser. | |
Info | Connection status and app information version information. | |
Logout |
Logs your user out of the app. 💡 You will not receive any call context until logged in again. |
|
Quit | Closes the application. |
Profile Changes
Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Contact Center licensed agents. A service administrator must assign Responsibility Profiles to you.
💡 A profile can have any name (as determined and assigned by your service owner). Switching between these profiles determines your Duty State and – in extension – availability/responsibility within one or several Nimbus services. The default profiles are "Duty" and "Off Duty".
Not Available Reasons
Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Contact Center licensed agents. A service administrator must assign Not Available Reasons to you.
- Not Available Reasons (NAR) requests appear whenever you switch to a MS Teams presence that Nimbus considers as "Not Available" for calls. Multiple reasons can "stack up" this way and can be filled individually, most recent first.
- To provide a reason, click "Fill Out" and either select one of the "top" reasons or one from the pulldown menu.
💡 Note: Nimbus will keep track of Not Available Reason requests for up to a week, after which the request will be closed. All reasons provided will be part of the Nimbus Reporting Model and reflected in Power BI.
After Call Work
Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for agents with Contact Center licensed services. ACW must be enabled in Distribution Service Settings.
You can handle your After Call Work (ACW) within Assistant. This additional time allows you to fulfill tasks before getting the next potential call distributed. If allowed via your service settings, you can extend this time or stop it prematurely.
Codes and Tags
Enterprise Routing Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Enterprise Routing and Contact Center licensed services. Codes must be defined in your Configuration and then applied in Extension Service Settings.
During an active call and ACW (see below) you can use Codes and Tags to signal call closure, decisions or any other purposes of your choice.
💡 Note that codes are predefined as per preconditions, while tags can be chosen freely during a call. Tag suggestions will be made based on existing tags from previous calls (and other users).
🔍 Tags and codes are recorded as part of the reporting data and show up in the Power BI reports.
Call Flow (Inbound and Outbound)
This "Call Flow tab shows the flow of the incoming call route. It serves informational purposes to prepare yourself for incoming calls, e.g. by knowing which services the customer has already talked to.
Call Flow Tab (either direction) |
Call Flow during incoming (ringing) call |
---|---|
In the "Call Flow" tab, the original caller PSTN (number) as well as any previous transfers are shown in a historical line. 🔍 This setting is available by default. You can also enable the Call Flow to be shown when a call is not yet started (ringing), see the instructions at the right. A Blind Transfer button is shown for ongoing inbound calls. Clicking the Blind Transfer button opens the “outbound call” window, allowing you to enter a PSTN number or search for an agent, service, etc. to forward the call to. |
In MS Teams, the call flow window can be shown on top of the incoming MS Teams call window. ✅ Precondition: This setting requires the newest Assistant app setup installed on client PCs. A setting is available: " Show call flow info toast before accepting a service call" 💡 Toast Positioning: The toast window can be dragged via the position handles and remembers the last position. Also works with Teams Client Version (v2) which makes use of default Windows notifications mechanics. In this case, the Assistant toast will be shown on the top-right instead. 💡 Good to know: With Assistant running in the background, the toast window will also be shown when you run MS Teams in your browser (e.g. out of focus) or not at all. |
Blind Transfer (only for ongoing inbound calls): |
Info
Shows additional information on the incoming caller:
Example Call | # | Description |
---|---|---|
|
1 |
Internal Caller Info:
|
2 |
Custom Parameters:
🔍 Refer to our Power Automate Use Cases that showcase how to retrieve external System information (e.g. from your company's CRM) and store them into parameters 💡 Any System Fields and Parameters is only shown when it differs from its default values (filled by any of the methods above). |
|
3 |
Phone Number:
|
|
4 |
Additional Controls:
|
Call On Behalf
Enterprise Routing Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Enterprise Routing and Contact Center licensed services. A service administrator must enable "Outbound Conversations" in the Modality Service Settings.
Allows you to make outgoing calls on behalf of a service:
- Open Assistant and click on the "Call on Behalf" icon.
- Enter a target name (from your Address Books or telephone number.
- Select the "Outbound Service" you want to call on behalf of.
☝ Please note: This feature makes use of base Nimbus UI Call On Behalf routines. The same Outbound Service limitations on PSTN licensing, reporting, and search apply.
Click to Call
Click to Call
Click to Call allows you to make calls (via Assistant UI) by clicking on specifically prepared HTML links.
PRECONDITIONS
- Enterprise Routing Contact Center "Click to Call" links make use of Outbound Service Call / Call On Behalf as a Enterprise Routing or Contact Center licensed feature. Additionally, the "Outbound Calls" option must be enabled in the Distribution Service Settings for the service to be selectable within Assistant.
- Assistant users must be part of this service to have it as a selection option before making the call.
- If you are calling to PSTN numbers via Click to Call, your outbound service also needs a PSTN number applied via the General Service Settings. Contact your administrator if you require a number and related PSTN license. Note that these licenses cost are handled by Microsoft and are outside of Luware Nimbus scope.
- This feature requires Assistant App setup.msi 1.76.2303.2376 or newer to be installed. This will register nimbus-call protocol within the user's PC so Assistant can recognize the call as a Nimbus session.
SUPPORTED PROTOCOLS
Please note that Assistant supports the following protocols:
-
To prefill the target field:
- tel:<target>
- callto:<target>
- nimbus-call:<target>
-
To start a call directly:
- tel:<target>:<serviceId | service UPN>
- callto:<target>:<serviceId | service UPN>
- nimbus-call:<target>:<serviceId | service UPN>
💡 All supported protocols are explained below in various examples. To register tel and callto protocols permanently, read the section below.
The following link variants are supported:
Variant A: Nimbus call protocol - Outgoing call without service preselected
In this variant the user can click a link, then needs to select a service to call on behalf of in the Assistant UI:
<p>This is the standard Nimbus service call protocol and should open Nimbus Assistant dialpad.</p></br>
<a href="nimbus-call:+41791234567">
Nimbus Call to +41791234567 without Service preselected
</a>
<br/><br/>
<a href="nimbus-call:mwinter@lunifico.com" >
Nimbus Call to UPN mwinter@lunifico.com without Service preselected
</a>
<br/><br/>
Variant B: Nimbus call protocol - Outgoing call with service preselected for impersonation
In this variant the user can click a link and the service to call on behalf of is already preselected in the Assistant UI:
<p>This is the standard Nimbus service call protocol and should open Nimbus Assistant dialpad
with a service preselected.</br>
This example uses Nimbus Service: "contact.center.uk@lunifico.com".
Adapt to your service UPN as needed.</p>
<a href="nimbus-call:+41791234567:contact.center.uk@lunifico.com">
Nimbus Call to +41791234567 with Service
</a>
<br/><br/>
<a href="nimbus-call:a6c49c4b-ac44-4b52-ba4b-ea8c95e9c28c:contact.center.uk@lunifico.com" >
Nimbus Call to a microsoftTeamsUserId with Service
</a>
<br/>
Variant C: MS Teams default callto / tel protocols - handled outside of Nimbus
Of course you can still use the default MS Teams functionality and baseline call protocol. These calls are not reflected in the Nimbus UI and not subject to Reporting.
<p>This is the standard MS Teams direct call protocol and should initiate a Teams call.</p>
<a href=callto:+41791234567 >
Teams Call to +41791234567
</a>
<br/><br/>
<p>This is the old MS Teams direct call protocol and should initiate a Teams call if configured locally.</p>
<a href=tel:+41791234567 >
Teams Call to +41791234567
</a>
🔍 Read the section below to register Assistant as the default for these protocols.
Troubleshooting and Tips
🤔 Click to Call not working?
Installing the latest Assistant App should create new entries for the nimbus-call protocol within the windows registry.
Click here for troubleshooting steps...
1. First, ensure that all preconditions are met, in particular your installed version of Assistant.
2. Open the registry editor (Start > Run > Regedit) to ensure that the key has been registered:
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_Root\nimbus-call
3. Once installed, prepare a mini-HTML site to test your links, using the variant scenarios described above.
4. Clicking on a prepared link should detect the Nimbus protocol and associated it with Assistant:
5. The call window should now open with the correct name/number and "Outbound Service" shown
6. Note that the "Outbound Service" will only be selectable for users (members) assigned to that service and if the service is enabled for the Outbound call direction (🔍 see Service Administration > Service Settings).
💡 If the link points to an invalid or user-foreign service the pulldown will show the first available service entry instead.
7. Other things to check when clicks on a link are not working:
- Assistant App not running in the background.
- Wrong number (format) - Expecting E.164.
- Permissions on the target machine missing (e.g. Windows registry keys are missing or the App was not installed correctly).
🤔 Can I register Assistant as default for callto and tel protocols?
Yes, however some registry keys have to be set for Assistant in order to register as an application that supports these protocols.
🤔 Can I register Assistant as default for callto and tel protocols?
Yes, however some registry keys have to be set for Assistant in order to register as an application that supports these protocols.
Show me the necessary setup steps....
1. Start a new text file that will act as your registry key import, e.g. "AssistantProtocolRegistry.txt"
2. Edit the text file and add the following contents:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\callto]
@="URL:callto"
"URL Protocol"=""
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\tel]call
@="URL:tel"
"URL Protocol"=""
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\NimbusClient.callto]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\NimbusClient.callto\Shell]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\NimbusClient.callto\Shell\Open]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\NimbusClient.callto\Shell\Open\Command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Luware AG\\Nimbus Assistant Client\\Assistant.Client.exe\" \"%1\""
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\NimbusClient]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\NimbusClient\Capabilities]
"ApplicationDescription"="NimbusClient"
"ApplicationName"="NimbusClient"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\NimbusClient\Capabilities\URLAssociations]
"callto"="nimbusclient.callto"
"tel"="nimbusclient.callto"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\RegisteredApplications]
"NimbusClient"="Software\\NimbusClient\\Capabilities"
☝ Note that the path to 'Assistant.Client.exe' has to be adjusted if NA is not installed in the default directory.
3. Rename your text file to a ".reg" file extension and import it to your registry. Afterwards, restart your machine.
4. After a restart, NA will show up in the "Default Apps" system settings of Windows, where it can be assigned as the default application for 'tel:' and 'callto:' protocols:
5. Afterwards, links containing the prefixes will be opened directly in Assistant.
Also have a look at our Use Case - Adding a Nimbus Click to Call button in Salesforce.
External Task
Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Contact Center licensed services. A service administrator must enable "External Task" in the Modality Service Settings and assign an External Task license to the user in General User Settings.
External Tasks are a variety of regular tasks, scheduled via Microsoft Power Automate Connector, but not tied to a call or customer interaction. Instead, External Tasks can be used to coordinate and inform about pending activities, such as:
- Booking a hotel room or flights
- Reminding about daily routines
- Ticket "housekeeping" procedures, e.g. at the end of a day or work week
💡 External Tasks get distributed via an incoming service in the same queue as regular tasks. Using Assistant, you can accept and decline decline them same any other task.
🔍 Good to know: In Personal Dashboards, any Supervisor can make use of Dashboard Supervision features, e.g. to cancel and remove an external task.
Emails
Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Contact Center licensed services. A service administrator must enable "Email" in the Modality Service Settings and assign an Email modality license to the user in General User Settings.
Email tasks are visible in the Assistant UI. Once an Email task is accepted it will open the My Sessions UI, with an Editor that allows to handle the Email and related attachments.
💡 Emails get distributed via an incoming service in the same queue as regular tasks. Using Assistant, you can accept and decline decline them same any other task.
Instant Messaging
Contact Center ✅ Precondition: This option is only available for Contact Center licensed services. A service administrator must enable "Instant Messaging" in the Modality Service Settings and assign an Instant messaging modality license to the user in General User Settings.
Instant Messaging tasks will be shown as incoming task in Assistant. Once accepted the actual Instant Message Handling interaction between customer and user will commence in MS Teams. The session lasts ended by the user via “Terminate” button or when the chat remains idle for a certain timeout period.
💡 When Instant Messaging tasks get distributed via an incoming service, they get distributed via the regular service queue among other tasks. While using Assistant, you can accept and decline decline them same any other task.
💡Alternatively, admins can configure Interact chat request to route directly to a user, circumventing the service queue. Customers then engage Nimbus users directly via website widget, as configured via Interact User Settings.
Known Limitations
KNOWN ASSISTANT LIMITATIONS
- Assistant does show Teams Presence only when no Contact Center license is assigned to the agent. Otherwise, the "availability" from Nimbus services is shown. If you need the Teams Presence information, we recommend having Nimbus open in the My Sessions view (either in MS Teams or Browser tab) whenever you handle a call.
- If no Contact Center license is assigned to the user, the following real-time functionality will not work:
- After Call Work (ACW) - as no call details are returned, the call end is not detected after ACW.
FAQ
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Can Assistant also run standalone without a Nimbus service? |
Yes, but only supporting Direct Call Templates. ✅ Preconditions: The Agent needs an Assistant license and the necessary call templates assigned. This is done via Administration > Assistant User Settings. 💡 The Assistant UI will not show any additional information. It will just trigger the assigned template for direct calls. Other service functionality such as Conversation Context or User States (profile) will not work without a Service assignment. |
What are the feature differences between the portal (website) and client (standalone) Assistant? | See comparison table on the top of this page. We strive to offer a similar user experience on both Nimbus portal and app. Assistant however will generally offer more flexibility as browsers have (by design) more security limitations and technical restrictions in place. |
Is there a way to open the Nimbus portal automatically on specific scenarios? |
Yes, by using Service Call Templates and Direct Call Templates. Each template can open apps, URLs and perform Web Requests. 🔍 Also refer to: Use Case - External Task in combination with Nimbus Assistant. |