New Design for Attendant Console
This page describes both Attendant Console 1.0 and the new 2.0 redesign. You can change between designs right within your Attendant Settings.
💡 Note: For more recently onboarded Nimbus customers, this choice might be disabled and you will be using the 2.0 design by default.
Permission Requirements for Search and Filter
Attendant Console 2.0 - Permissions
Attendant Console relies on User Permission consent to access company-internal user directories for search and filter.
✅To use extended search, permissions on the Contact search must be granted both by you and your Tenant administrator, each using their User Permission dialog.
☝ Without any consent, the search will only cover Nimbus internal Address Books which are kept in the Administration backend.
Out of the Box | User Permissions granted | Admin Permissions granted | |
---|---|---|---|
Free Text Search | Address Books only |
O365 Outlook Nimbus Services |
O365 Outlook Nimbus Services |
Filters | Address Books fields only |
Outlook Nimbus Services |
O365 Outlook Nimbus Services |
Contact Groups | - | Available | Available |
Organization Tab | - | Shows only yourself and manager | Organization tab in the side panel, including manager and peers. |
Primary Contact Information | - |
Primary telephone number Primary email address |
Contact cards now show all available fields. |
Secondary Contact Information | - | - | Contact cards now show all available fields. |
Example in the UI | - | - | Contact cards now show all available fields. |
🤔 How can I check if access is granted?
You can directly check in the search field which search directories are currently available.
💡Attendant Console will automatically check and ask for missing or revoked permissions. If you think your search results are not comprehensive, you can always check the status icon, visit your User Preferences (Portal) > Permissions tab and consult your local Nimbus Administrator if problems arise.
🤔 Which search directories are covered?
- The O365 / AD User Directory of your company.
- Microsoft Outlook / Exchange Server contacts (e.g. "People" in Outlook).
- Nimbus Address Books - managed by your service administrator via their Organization Units placement.
- Nimbus Services only show team members when the Team Visibility in the Tenant Administration is set accordingly. Otherwise you may not see any team details or only those of your own services.
☝ Depending on which sources are delivering results for your search terms, duplicate entries of the same contact may appear.
- Attendant Console will show a “Source” icon to indicate where the search / filter result came from.
- Your Tenant administrator can prefilter results by following Use Case - Filtering Attendant contact search via MS Graph.
- As Address Books may be limited by Organization Unit barriers, you can also implement shared lists by following our Use Case - Adding External Address Books via Power Automate.
Attendant Console 2.0
Getting started: Video Tutorial
We have created a series of short intro videos to highlight and explain the different areas and new UI designs of Attendant Console 2.0.
Attendant Console 2.0
Attendant Console 2.0 (AC2) is a complete rework of our previous Attendant Console (AC1). The goal was to completely streamline the experience without sacrificing any known features. When switching to AC2, you can expect the following new features:
- A modern design, improved based on our most frequent customer feedback.
- More information at a glance, featuring a new side panel with rich context information.
- A fresh look and user experience that shows its Attendant roots but puts more focus on the task at hand, changing dynamically during customer interactions.
How to get started
✅ Attendant Console 2.0 needs to be enabled in your Nimbus Extensions Tenant Settings > Attendant Console before being available for selection.
✅ As a Tenant Administrator, you can activate Attendant Console 2.0 for all users by clicking “Overwrite for all users” in Extensions Tenant Settings.
⮑ Once the option is enabled on your tenant, individual Nimbus users each can opt in to the experience by their Attendant Console Settings and check the “Use new Attendant Console Design” option:
⮑ The new design will become active immediately with the next website refresh.
🤔 Not convinced yet? Users can go back to the old design at any time. During a transitionary period, we will refine the new design further until Attendant Console 1.0 is ready to be phased out.
Note that More recent Nimbus installations may get delivered with the new AC2 design by default and thus show a toggle option anymore.
Small Glossary
To better convey the scenarios on this page, we use the following terms:
Term | Meaning |
---|---|
Contact | A searchable entry in the Attendant Console UI. |
Consultation |
The process of the User consulting Contact during an ongoing Customer interaction. The User usually swaps between both participants or escalates into a Conference. |
Conference | The process of combining the call between User, Contact, and Customer into a call with all participants being able to talk to each other. |
Customer | A person reaching out for a Nimbus service, thus creating a Task in Nimbus. |
Task |
Tasks are handled via the Attendant queue. Shown as clickable “Task Cards”. Tasks can be of different modality (e.g. Email , Instant Messaging, Audio/Video, or an External Task with no necessary customer interaction). |
User | The Attendant Console user, e.g. a receptionist or agent. |
Overview
The new Attendant Console design consists of the following elements:
Header |
The header steers and displays your service participation.
✅ Precondition: You need to be member of at least one service. The header will show:
🔎Good to know:
|
||||||||||||
Queue |
The queue lists incoming tasks as single task cards, combined for all your services.
✅ Precondition: In the header, you can directly impact your queue via the "On/Off" active toggle for the respective service. You can only take tasks:
🔎Good to know:
|
||||||||||||
Active Session |
The core area for your customer interaction. Whenever you accept a task from the queue, it will appear here as a card with further actions:
🤔 Why is there unused space in this area? We are planning additional features exclusive to AC2 to be added to this area, so stay tuned for future updates.
|
||||||||||||
Contacts Search / Groups
🔍 More details in the chapters below |
The contact search is your primary area to work with while handling calls. It allows the following actions:
🤔Why are certain actions greyed out? This list is updated based on:
|
||||||||||||
Contact Side Panel
🔍 More details in the chapters below |
Lists additional information, user fields, and context sensitive actions for your currently selected card (either task, service, or a contact). |
Contact Search
The contact search lists, groups and filters users during ongoing conversations. By default, the contact search and list is empty and shows entries as you start typing.
Precondition: Granting Search Permissions
Attendant Console 2.0 - Permissions
Attendant Console relies on User Permission consent to access company-internal user directories for search and filter.
✅To use extended search, permissions on the Contact search must be granted both by you and your Tenant administrator, each using their User Permission dialog.
☝ Without any consent, the search will only cover Nimbus internal Address Books which are kept in the Administration backend.
Out of the Box | User Permissions granted | Admin Permissions granted | |
---|---|---|---|
Free Text Search | Address Books only |
O365 Outlook Nimbus Services |
O365 Outlook Nimbus Services |
Filters | Address Books fields only |
Outlook Nimbus Services |
O365 Outlook Nimbus Services |
Contact Groups | - | Available | Available |
Organization Tab | - | Shows only yourself and manager | Organization tab in the side panel, including manager and peers. |
Primary Contact Information | - |
Primary telephone number Primary email address |
Contact cards now show all available fields. |
Secondary Contact Information | - | - | Contact cards now show all available fields. |
Example in the UI | - | - | Contact cards now show all available fields. |
🤔 How can I check if access is granted?
You can directly check in the search field which search directories are currently available.
💡Attendant Console will automatically check and ask for missing or revoked permissions. If you think your search results are not comprehensive, you can always check the status icon, visit your User Preferences (Portal) > Permissions tab and consult your local Nimbus Administrator if problems arise.
🤔 Which search directories are covered?
- The O365 / AD User Directory of your company.
- Microsoft Outlook / Exchange Server contacts (e.g. "People" in Outlook).
- Nimbus Address Books - managed by your service administrator via their Organization Units placement.
- Nimbus Services only show team members when the Team Visibility in the Tenant Administration is set accordingly. Otherwise you may not see any team details or only those of your own services.
☝ Depending on which sources are delivering results for your search terms, duplicate entries of the same contact may appear.
- Attendant Console will show a “Source” icon to indicate where the search / filter result came from.
- Your Tenant administrator can prefilter results by following Use Case - Filtering Attendant contact search via MS Graph.
- As Address Books may be limited by Organization Unit barriers, you can also implement shared lists by following our Use Case - Adding External Address Books via Power Automate.
🤔 Which fields are covered by the search?
💡Note: At any time, Nimbus & Attendant Console can only read contact details from directories, not edit them. If you discover missing fields or false details in the search, contact your local IT administrator.
INC Supported User Search Fields
Supported fields for Attendant Console 1.0 (AC1)
Prerequisites: User.Read.All permissions must be granted to use search features. As a Tenant Admin, head to the Nimbus Portal > User Preferences (Portal) > Permissions> Advanced Search and manage consent for your entire tenant. → Also see Nimbus User Permissions for more details.
Legend
✅ Fields are supported by search.
🔍 Fields support "CONTAINS" search operator.
Example: Searching for 'cha' will find 'Chadrick' but also 'Michael'
➕ These fields support filter capabilities which can be used to narrow down a search.
☝ KNOWN LIMITATIONS:
- The search covers the predefined Nimbus Address Books fields, but no custom fields can be searched.
- Filters need to be part of the search syntax. You can switch to Attendant Console 2.0 for a much-improved filtering experience.
Attendant Console 1.0 (AC1) supported search fields table:
Searchable Field | O365 Directory |
Outlook Address Book | Nimbus Address Books |
Nimbus Services | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display Name | ✅ | ✅ 🔍 | ✅ 🔍 | First name / Last name combination | |
First Name | ✅ | ✅ 🔍 | First name | ||
Last Name | ✅ 🔍 | Last / Family name | |||
Initials | ✅ 🔍 | Initials (e.g. "JK") | |||
Surname | ✅ | Surname | |||
✅ | ✅ | ✅ 🔍 | Email Address | ||
User Principal Name (UPN) | ✅ | ✅ 🔍 | Consists of: user name (login name), separator (the @ symbol), and domain name (UPN suffix) | ||
Job Title | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 ➕ | Job Title | |
Business Phones | ✅ 🔍 | Business Phone | |||
Home Phones | ✅ 🔍 | Home Phone | |||
Mobile Phones | ✅ 🔍 | Mobile Phone | |||
IM Address | ✅ 🔍 | IM SIP Address | |||
Street | ➕ | ✅ 🔍➕ | Street Address | ||
City | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 | Code and City | ||
Company | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 | Company | ||
Country | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 ➕ | Country of Origin | ||
Department | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 ➕ | Department | |
State | ✅ ➕ ☝ | ✅ 🔍 ➕ | State | ||
Postal Code | ➕ | ✅ 🔍➕ | Postal Code | ||
External.CustomField1-10 | ✅ 🔍 | Custom Field |
Supported fields / filters for Attendant Console 2.0 (AC2)
Attendant Console 2.0 (AC2) supported search fields and filters tables:
INC Supported Search Fields and Filters (AC2.0)
Free Text Search
Prerequisites: The full search functionality only applies if permissions are granted. See Attendant Console 2.0 - Permissions.
Legend
✅Fields are supported by Free Text Search
❗Limited by "starts with" logic
☝️Needs at least 3 characters to start searching
Search within | "All" Tab |
Configured Groups |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fields |
O365 Directory |
Outlook Address Book |
Nimbus Address Books |
Nimbus Services |
Nimbus Address Books |
All Sources |
Display Name |
✅❗☝️ |
✅❗☝️ |
✅☝️ |
✅☝️ |
✅ |
✅ |
Contact Details |
✅❗☝️ |
✅❗☝️ |
✅☝️ |
✅☝️ |
✅ |
✅ |
Note |
✅☝️ |
✅ |
✅ |
|||
First Name | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Last Name | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
UPN (User Principal Name) | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
✅☝️ |
✅ |
|||||
IM Address | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Business Phone | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Mobile Phone | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Home Phone | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Company | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Department | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Job Title | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Country | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
State | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
City | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Postal Code | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
Street Address | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
||||
External Custom Field 1-10 | ✅☝️ |
✅ |
Filters
Note: Filters only work if this field is actually used for the contact.
Search within | "All" Tab |
Configured Groups |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fields |
O365 Directory |
Outlook Address Book |
Nimbus Address Books |
Nimbus Services | All Sources |
City |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
|
Company |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅ |
||
Country |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
|
Department |
✅❗ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
Initials |
✅ |
✅ |
|||
Job Title |
✅❗ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
Postal Code |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
|
State |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
|
Street Address |
✅❗ |
✅ |
✅❗ |
✅ |
|
Note |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
Search Concepts
Use the following tabs to learn more about the different aspects of the search in AC2.
“All” Search
Via Search field within the “Contacts” you can search contacts at any time - during or outside an ongoing Nimbus tasks. Search results are narrowed down as you type.
By using Filtering or Grouping, you can already start with narrowed-down contact lists, e.g. your most used transfer destinations, Nimbus services, or people from specific departments.
Search Targets
Using the search field you can search for:
-
Contacts: The default option.
💡Keep limitations and sources in mind.- PSTN numbers / SIP addresses: You can also enter unknown PSTN numbers or enter a valid SIP address.
- Nimbus services: You can search services as single entries. Works for both MS Teams-based and skill-based services.
- Notes: If notes were defined for a contact, you can search for note contents.
☝Call actions may be limited as the target cannot be resolved by Nimbus (e.g. unknown phone license, UPN missing, or modality not supported).
Filtering
INC Filtering
When your current Nimbus view offers filters:
When filters are already active: Unless “All” is shown as filter content, your results are filtered.
|
☝ Important Design Limitation: Filtering
Your entire company user directory (via “All” tab) underlies Microsoft Graph search limitations.
🤔 How does this affect my search experience?
- You have to enter at least 3 characters to trigger a search.
For example: You need to type at least “Mar” to find a name like "Maria".
- A “Contains” search will not work,
For example: typing “aria” to find “Maria” will not return any results.
- Adding filters can be mutually exclusive. Adding additional filters will be prevented.
For example: A “Company” filter available only in Microsoft Outlook would exclude all other directories (O365, Address books, Nimbus Services).
⮑ A tooltip is shown whenever a filter combination is not possible.
- Previously applied filters (from Groups) will be set inactive in “All” search.
⮑ While searching within the “All” tab, Attendant will show mutually exclusive filters temporarily as inactive.
⮑ To maximize possible search results the “larger” filter sets are used (e.g. supported by more sources ).
→ To avoid these limitations we recommend to create Contact Groups and use “Group” Search whenever possible.
"Group" Search
Contact Groups allow you to have any selection of contacts ready, without a prior search necessary. By default a “Favorites” Contact Group allows you to mark individual Contacts via the ★ Star icon.
☝Call actions may be limited as the target cannot be resolved by Nimbus (e.g. unknown phone license, UPN missing or modality not supported).
☝Contact Groups (including “Favorites”) do not share the “All” Search limitations. Nimbus allows you to directly start searching as you type the first letter, using the full set of available filters and fields.
Search Targets
Using the Contacts group search field, you can search for:
- Contacts: The default option.
- Notes: If notes were defined for a contact, you can search for note contents.
-
PSTN Numbers / SIP addresses: You can also enter unknown PSTN numbers or enter a valid SIP address.
☝Call actions may be limited in this case, as the target cannot be resolved by Nimbus (e.g. unknown phone license or modality support). - Nimbus services: You can search services as single entries. Works for both MS Teams-based and skill-based services.
Managing your Contact Groups
You can manage your Contact Groups within your Attendant Settings.
Attendant Console 2.0 - Contact Groups
- Head to Attendant Settings.
- Within the “Contact Groups” section, click on “Create” to start a new group, or “Edit” an existing one (including your Favorites).
- Define / Change your Group Name as it will appear in your Attendant later.
- Click “Add” to define contacts.
-
Start typing to search for users and click on their names to add them
💡 The search triggers as you enter 3 letters or more.
- Rearrange the order of users via the handles as you want them to appear within your group.
-
Order your new Group as you would like it to appear.
-
Optionally turn groups invisible to keep for later.
- When satisfied with your groups, close your settings.
⮑ Your new Contact Group will now appear in your defined order.
Filtering
INC Filtering
When your current Nimbus view offers filters:
When filters are already active: Unless “All” is shown as filter content, your results are filtered.
|
Results / Contact List
Search results are listed directly below your search field. You can switch between grid or card view, each listing the following details:
Column |
Description |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Shows the Display Name and Status of either contacts or services with the following detail elements:
About Availability States🤔 Confused by your availability status? In addition to the MS Teams presence, Nimbus also tracks User States internally, marking you as “Available” or “Not available”. This can have a variety of factors, such as:
🤔 No status / availability shown at all? When the presence state cannot be resolved - or does not apply for that type of source - no icon will be shown. For external contacts, this may be blocked by IT policies or firewalls. For internal contacts, this can be caused by users (or your Tenant Administrator) not having granted Nimbus User Permissions.
|
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Contact Details |
Both for Users and Nimbus Services shows in prioritized order, if available in user directory:
|
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Note |
Within the Contacts area you are also able to add notes on individual contacts. Functionality:
☝IMPORTANT: Data within Notes is sharedLearn more…
💡 We strongly recommend you to store any confidential of business-relevant user information in separate systems and databases with authentication.
|
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Call Actions |
Each card in your contacts has a series of call actions that become available depending on the current call situation and chosen target. Available options are:
|
Things to keep in mind
- All your search results are narrowed down by Contact Groups and (currently applied) Filters. Keep this in mind when switching between groups as you may not see entries you expect to be listed.
- All contact entries can be clicked to open the side panel which offers further information and actions. More on this below.
Side Panel (Card Details)
The Side Panel on the right opens whenever you click on any card, either in the Queue, Active Sessions, or Contacts area. The Side Panel provides useful context information and related actions, adapting to whatever card you click on.
Side Panel UI examples
For Contacts | For Services | For queued / active Task Cards |
---|---|---|
Side Panel Tabs
The side panel is divided into the following tabs1:
Tab Name | Contact card | Service card | Queue/Active task card |
---|---|---|---|
Info |
|
|
|
Calendar |
Calendar view
|
Not available | Not available |
Instant Messages |
Shows a selection of available Instant Messaging destinations, allowing to open an empty chat window with the contact. ✅ During an active session:
|
Not available | Not available |
Shows a selection of available Email destinations2, allowing to open an empty mail draft towards the contact. ✅ During an active session:
|
Not available | Not available | |
Users | Not available |
Shows the available users in that service, sorted alphabetically
|
Not available |
Organization | Shows direct reports, managers, peers, sorted alphabetically. | Not available | Not available |
Notes
1 Please note that full availability of tabs relies on Attendant Console 2.0 - Permissions and is also dependent on the source type. Outlook contacts for example don't have calendar and organization tab.
2 Please note that clicking an Email destination link may not work out of box if the URL for the protocol was not registered with a default App (Outlook in this case) on your PC.
Learn how to register the URL with your Outlook App
INC Register MS Outlook Email Protocol
To register a clickable URL:ms-outlook
protocol with your MS-Outlook application, perform the following steps:
- Open your start menu, then search for “Default Apps” and open it.
- Into the “Set a default for a file or link type” field, enter
MS-OUTLOOK
- Click on “Outlook”.
- Confirm with “Set default”
✅ Note: This example is for Windows 11 and assuming that Outlook was already installed by your administrator on step 3.
💡The procedure of registering an App may look different depending on your OS version and UI language, but the process remains largely the same.
Attendant Console 1.0
Attendant Console 1.0
Attendant Console is an optional application to Nimbus that allows you to handle incoming calls like a front desk operator. The main goal is to attend to Nimbus caller needs more directly and personally, e.g. in a Call Transfer scenario, forwarding them to a target of your choice.
PRECONDITIONS
- Attendant Console is a separately licensed Nimbus Feature and can be enabled per user via User Administration. After the license is enabled for your user account, an "Attendant Console" entry becomes available in your main menu.
- You need to be part of at least one Nimbus service in order for Attendant Console to show as an option.
✅ User Permissions: Attendant Console will check and ask for consent to Required User Permissions on your behalf. These permissions allow Attendant Console to read calendar details, IM presence as well as your user directory for searching. Permissions are managed in your User Preferences (Portal).
✅ Exchange Contact and Licensing; Special requirements apply for Microsoft Exchange (Calendar access).
Show Exchange requirements
✅ Exchange license and user permission requirements
To inspect a contact's calendar, the following requirements must be met:
- User Permissions - Exchange Calendar View User Permissions must be granted in order to access a contact's calendar on your behalf.☝ This is usually done by your tenant administrator.
-
Exchange Licenses: Both you and the contact need any of the following Exchange Online plans:
- EXCHANGE_S_STANDARD
- EXCHANGE_S_ENTERPRISE
✅Target user modality: Special requirements on modality licensing apply to serve all channels of communication:
MS Teams / PSTN license requirements
✅ MS Teams licensing and modality restrictions
- If the target contact does have a MS Teams license but no voice (PSTN) license, the transfer to UPN is disabled. Chat is possible.
- If the target contact does not have a MS Teams license, the account is shown, but transfer to UPN and Chat buttons are disabled.
-
MS Teams Licenses: Any of the following licenses apply:
- STANDARDPACK
- ENTERPRISEPACK
- ENTERPRISEPREMIUM
- ENTERPRISEPREMIUM_NOPSTNCONF
- TEAMS_EXPLORATORY
☝ On all Attendant transfer scenarios, please also consider the known limitations below on this page.
Overview
On first start, Attendant Console will not show a lot of content to you, so we'll demonstrate some features on this example screenshot. Refer to the chapters below for further information.
Call Queue & Service Selection
The queue lists incoming customer calls for all your services. You can directly impact your queue via the "On/Off" active toggle for the respective service.
- The service toggle functionality has the same effect as toggling the status in the "My Overview" or "Services Overview" Nimbus tabs respectively. Your team owners can also set this toggle for you, with immediate effect.
- Note that you can only take calls when your Attendant State (see below) widget is shown as "Active" (green).
- When being part of - and active (green) for - multiple services, the queue items are accumulated or removed in real-time, always sorted by longest waiting callers.
Caller Context
The queue has a call context feature that ties into the Microsoft Power Automate Connector of Nimbus to retrieve additional caller information. The amount and content of fields shown varies depending on which data (e.g. from a CRM System or Active Directory) is available to Nimbus.
Information Widgets
The top row of Attendant Console consists of a set of status widgets to help inform you about the most important metrics on your current call.
Widget Title |
Description / Purpose |
---|---|
In Queue |
Numerical representation of callers in the queue. 💡 Entries in the queue are directly impacted by your "enabled" toggle in the team selection. |
Longest Waiting | Shows the highest waiting time entry in the incoming call queue at a glance. |
Service Info |
Shows service line info depending on your call state:
🔍 Their use and status changes are explained in Call Handling. |
Conversation State |
Displays Info during an active call. Changes states to either:
When Idle - displays "No Conversation / No Data" 💡 As there can be two ongoing simultaneous calls (e.g. Call-park scenario), this widget will focus on the call with the external customer. |
Attendant State |
Shows if you are in a "selectable" User State for calls. Works like "green/red" signal. ✅ Preconditions for a green status are as follows:
|
Services | Allows you to "enable" yourself for call selection in one or several teams. 💡 Disabling yourself in a team will remove you from the list of team members available for the call selection algorithm. The incoming call queue will be updated accordingly. This has the same effect as enabling yourself within other areas of Nimbus, e.g. My Overview or Services Overview, respectively. The state can also be toggled by your team owner. |
Contact Search |
🔍 Find more details on this UI element further below. |
Conversation Hub
The conversation hub is the central area to handle your calls. The hub is split into 3 sections to display your current incoming caller state:
-
Incoming - signals any incoming tasks distributed to you (automatically) by Nimbus Workflows.
💡 Incoming calls will ring alongside in your MS Teams Client. - Active - your current task or conversation. You can use the call controls to handle your active callers.
- Park - an area to park calls. In most scenarios, it is used to park a calling customer while you consult someone from the contact search. You can use the call controls to handle your parked callers.
Task control elements
Each area in the hub has individual, context-sensitive controls which show depending on your currently handled task and relevant modality situation:
Control |
Applies to modality | Description |
---|---|---|
Swap | Audio / Video | Switches the caller's position between "Active" to the "On Hold" area. |
Merge | Audio / Video | Merges the call into a conference between all participants. |
Terminate |
Audio / Video Instant Messaging |
Ends an active task from other supported modalities:
|
Park / Unpark |
Audio / Video | Puts the calling customer from the "Active" to the "Park" area and vice-versa. |
Accept/Decline
|
Audio / Video External Task Instant Messaging |
|
💡Notes and Tips
- A declined task will be redistributed to the queue. If no other service user (team member) is in an available User State, the task may be redistributed to you.
- Certain controls such as merge or switch may appear multiple areas of the conversation hub. They usually have the same function of merging or switching an active or parked entry respectively.
- Note that not all call controls are visible at all times. Some become enabled or visible in context, e.g. when you handle a parked caller, search for a contact, or only if the target supports the according modality.
- Some actions within the conversation hub can be controlled via drag & drop as an alternative method to clicking the controls.
Contact Search
The contact search lists and stores your call targets during ongoing conversations. By default, the contact search and list is empty and shows entries as you start typing.
PRECONDITIONS
- Search features heavily rely on your Required User Permission consent.
💡Attendant Console will automatically check and ask for these permissions if not granted already. - The Search also relies on your internal O365 directory fields and Nimbus-managed Address Books which are kept in the Administration backend. If you discover missing or false user details in the search, contact your service or tenant administrator.
The search feature has the following UI elements:
Element | Description | |
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Contacts (Live Search) |
Searching for usersBy default, you can search for users by Name and Job Title as displayed in the result columns below the search field. The list of entries narrows down as you type. |
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Applying fields to filter search resultsYou can also apply filters to narrow down huge lists by clicking "Select Fields" .
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Searching for PSTN NumbersYou can also use the search field to call unknown numbers by entering a valid SIP-address. However, in such cases the call actions may be limited. | ||
Searching for ServicesYou can search for Nimbus services and list up to 8 available team members of that service. Works for both MS Teams-based and skill-based services. ✅ Precondition: Services only show team members when the Team Visibility in Attendant Console in the Tenant Administration is set accordingly. Otherwise you may not see any team details or only those of your own services.
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Settings | Attendant can be customized according to your needs by accessing the settings next to the search field. 🔍 Visit Attendant Settings to learn more about each option. |
Search Result Columns
The contact search lists the following table columns:
Column |
Description |
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Source |
Displays the source directory/team/service behind the corresponding contact in form of an icon:
Depending on which sources are providing results for your search terms, duplicate entries of the same contact may appear. Your Tenant administrator can pre-filter available search results by following the steps in Use Case - Filtering Attendant contact search via MS Graph.
Address Books added via the Nimbus configuration are also managed by your service administrator. However, you can manage address books as Excel files in your team and sync them automatically. Refer to our Use Case - Adding external Address Books via Power Automate. ☝ Note that not all search fields are supported by each source. Show fields supported by Nimbus user searchINC Supported User Search FieldsSupported fields for Attendant Console 1.0 (AC1)Prerequisites: User.Read.All permissions must be granted to use search features. As a Tenant Admin, head to the Nimbus Portal > User Preferences (Portal) > Permissions> Advanced Search and manage consent for your entire tenant. → Also see Nimbus User Permissions for more details. Legend✅ Fields are supported by search.
Attendant Console 1.0 (AC1) supported search fields table:
Supported fields / filters for Attendant Console 2.0 (AC2)Attendant Console 2.0 (AC2) supported search fields and filters tables: INC Supported Search Fields and Filters (AC2.0)Free Text SearchPrerequisites: The full search functionality only applies if permissions are granted. See Attendant Console 2.0 - Permissions. Legend✅Fields are supported by Free Text Search
FiltersNote: Filters only work if this field is actually used for the contact.
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Name (and Presence State Icon) |
💡 For single contacts: You can hover over a contact avatar to get more information. Clicking on the avatar shows the organizational structure with manager and peers.
💡 For Services: Hover over a service to get the information. Click on the service avatar to see service team members and their status.
🤔 No state / availability shown at all? When the presence state cannot be resolved - or does not apply for that type of source - no icon will be shown. For external contacts, this may be blocked by IT policies or firewalls. For internal contacts, this can be caused by users (or your Tenant Administrator) not having granted Required User Permissions to Nimbus. |
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Name | Resolved clear user or service name for the identified contact. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Context | Displays additional fields such as Email, IM, Department if provided via the user directory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Job Title | Provides a job title field, if provided via your tenant user directory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note | Allows you to take notes. See section Contact Notes below. |
Contact Actions
Actions relate in context of your currently active call in the conversation hub, e.g. an action transfers the current caller to the selected contact in your search or sends a message with call details.
💡 If an action cannot be used by the corresponding contact - or is not applicable for the current call situation - controls are disabled for that entry.
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Safe Transfer to this contact. Your current caller will remain in the call with you until connected. |
🤔 Why are certain Contact Actions disabled?
If no "Business phone" or "Mobile phone" numbers are registered for the contact in Microsoft Entra ID, the transfer to phone actions are disabled. Nimbus can only detect numbers registered via Microsoft Entra ID, not Teams-internally assigned Line URIs. ☝ This is the default state for Teams Auto Attendants and Call Queues. If you require these to be reachable via Blind Transfer, then you will need to add at least one number to their Microsoft Entra ID account. Also refer to the known limitations below on this page. ☝ To avoid lost calls in any transfer scenario, please carefully consider known limitations as well.
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Blind Transfer to this contact. ☝ A blind transfer may be lost and not returned to you. This is also the case if the contact is not responding or taking the call to voicemail. |
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Consultation Call to this contact. You can swap between clients and merge the conference session. In the meantime, your original caller is put into Park position, listening to waiting music. |
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Call To this contact. Unlike a Consultation Call, this does not create a conference. You can only speak to either the caller (customer) or your contact from the search. |
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Send IM / Connect via MS Teams.
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💡 The template selection (during a call) determines what language will be used to prefill an Email or Instant Message for your contact. |
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Send Email to the contact.
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Calendar of the contact to inspect. | Only shown when an exchange calendar was found.
If the contact does not have an Exchange license, the calendar functionality is disabled. ✅ See -→ Exchange Requirements on top of this page. |
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Add to Favorite Contacts. Contact entries of your choice are pinned in the "Favorites" group for future calls. | 🔍 Good to Know: You can also use the Attendant Settings to define further contact groups to sort and display users in. |
Read the Attendant - Safe Transfer scenario to see an everyday`s example of these features.
Contact Notes
Within the Contact Search, you are able to add notes on individual contacts.
Functionality:
- You are able to pick between 3 different types of Notes: Standard, Info and Warning. 💡This icon choice is cosmetic and merely impacts the look and feel of the note when being clicked.
- The note's title field will be shown in the Note column first. When title is not defined, the contents are shown instead.
- Clicking on any existing note allows you inspect detail contents and edit/delete the note.
💡Tip: You can also search for note contents by selecting the “Note” field / filter in the Contact Search:
☝Be advised while taking notes:
- Notes are publicly shared with other Attendant Console users on your tenant. Keep in mind that potentially private information could be exposed in this way.
- Deleted notes cannot be restored. A confirmation dialog is shown prior to note deletion. Removing a note will remove that information immediately for all other Attendant Console users as well.
- Every Attendant Console user has the same rights to read and edit notes. → We therefore strongly recommend to store confidential, legally- or time-sensitive information outside of Notes, e.g. in a separate system that requires authentication.
Known Limitations
INC Attendant Console Limitations
KNOWN ATTENDANT CONSOLE LIMITATIONS
Audio/Video calls from Interact taken via Attendant Console will not support blind transfer, pickup, and transfer to voicemail.
INC Transfer to PSTN Limitation
TRANSFER TO PSTN LIMITATION
Out of the box, Nimbus and related addons can only perform PSTN transfers according to Microsoft's licensing and constraints.
Which PSTN license do I need to acquire?
As of 2023, "Microsoft Teams Phone Standard" licenses are no longer supported by Microsoft. Previously, those licenses were viable for Nimbus. Regardless if you are using Direct Routing, Calling Plans, Operator Connect, the "Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" license is now always required.
Your Setup | Required License |
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Direct Routing |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" |
Calling Plan |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" + "Microsoft Teams Domestic Calling Plan" or "Microsoft Teams Domestic and International Calling Plan" or "Microsoft Teams Calling Plan pay-as-you-go" + "Communication Credits" (if these aren't already included as part of your plan) |
Operator Connect |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" |
☝Please note that Luware staff cannot give recommendations on which license plan is best suited for your needs. Depending on your scenario, additional Teams App licenses may be required. Exact details are to be discussed with your Microsoft contacts.
Also see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-add-on-licensing/virtual-user
How does PSTN licensing affect service and call transfers?
Assuming that Service A has a PSTN license assigned - but further Services don't - the following scenario may unfold:
Scenario A - Service A workflow is configured to transfer the caller to Service B. The license of Service A is used, the PSTN transfer occurs. The PSTN license is re-used throughout further transfers to Services C...D…x…and so on.
Scenario B - Service B is called directly instead. Now the workflow of Service B attempts a redirect to either service A or transfer to C. The PSTN transfer fails due to a missing license on Service B.
🌟Learnings:
- For one first-level-response service: If you handle first-response calls always via the same service, you need a PSTN license for that particular first-level service.
- For multiple first-level-response services: If you handle first-response calls always via multiple services, you need a PSTN license for all those first-level services .
- Nimbus will attempt to use the PSTN license of the first service that responded to a call, regardless of how many further internal service transfers are performed thereafter.
- If no PSTN license is found on a service that requires it for a transfer, the transfer task will be considered as failed and treated accordingly by the system (e.g. workflow exit announcement, reporting "transfer failed" outcome).
☝Note that handling and tracking of running cost for PSTN licenses is outside of the Luware support scope. If you require assistance in extending and/or configuring your Nimbus services for PSTN, our support will gladly assist you:
Luware Support Address
Luware Website | https://luware.com/support/ |
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Luware Helpdesk | https://helpdesk.luware.cloud |
Cloud Service Status | https://status.luware.cloud/ |
INC Transfer to Teams Auto Attendant and Call Queues Limitation
TRANSFER TO TEAMS-NATIVE AUTO ATTENDANTS AND CALL QUEUES
Transfers towards the UPNs of Teams-native Auto Attendants’ or Call Queues’ Resource Accounts will fail. Based on the PSTN connectivity option used, transfers towards the Resource Accounts' assigned phone numbers will work as summarized in the table below.
Transfer Type | Direct Routing | Calling Plan | Operator Connect |
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Attendant - Safe Transfer | 🛠 | ❌ | ❌ |
Attendant - Blind Transfer | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Attendant - Consultation Call | 🛠 | ❌ | ❌ |
Workflow Conversation Handling Activities > Transfer > “Leave Nimbus” disabled |
🛠 | ❌ | ❌ |
Workflow Conversation Handling Activities > Transfer > “Leave Nimbus” enabled |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
🤔 Why are transfers failing? This is caused by Microsoft Teams limitations with regards to what voice applications (such as Call Queues, Auto Attendants, and Nimbus) are allowed to do, and cannot be circumvented by Nimbus.
🛠 For these transfer types to work, Reverse Number Lookup (RNL) has to be disabled in the Resource Account's Phone Number Assignment. RNL can be disabled by executing the following Teams PowerShell command:
Set-CsPhoneNumberAssignment -PhoneNumber <phone number assigned to the CQ/AA resource account> -ReverseNumberLookup SkipInternalVoip
⮑ After disabling RNL for a Phone Number Assignment, Teams will automatically forward the call to the Direct Routing SBC, which then needs to redirect it toward the Resource Account of the Call Queue or Auto Attendant.