(info) This page covers the initial connection and configuration of the the Luware Power BI Template, allowing you to retrieve Nimbus call data (via OData interface) from your data cluster. If you already connected your template before and want to learn more about the individual parts of the template itself, head to the Power BI Template Usage section 

Reporting Checklist - Before you start

Nimbus uses Power BI to connect to your tenant and retrieve the necessary KPI facts and dimensions according to the Nimbus Reporting Model. Since the BI Report File is stored locally on your PC, no Power BI Pro account is needed to use this feature.

To get started please take note of the the following points:

  • The Power BI Desktop App, Version 2.87.x or better is required to use all Nimbus features. We always recommend keeping your Power BI Desktop version up to date.
  • Only users with specific Role Access Concept (Service Admin, Supervisors) have access to the BI OData Interface .
    • Reporting queries work with any service administrator role. More advanced Nimbus Features such as User States reporting require an additional Contact Center Service / User Supervisor role for your user. Without that role, sections of your report may remain blank.
    • Please ensure to hold the according O365 credentials ready when connecting via Power BI desktop. The steps are explained below.
  • Note that querying, displaying large call session volumes in BI Desktop requires substantial amounts of Memory and Hard Drive space, leading to errors if either is insufficient on your PC. Even on high-speed internet connections a query with millions of entries can take several minutes. Refer to our FAQ section when you encounter issues.
  • We recommend to always use our latest BI template files, downloaded to the PC in which you inspect Nimbus retrieved data. 

(tick) Luware provides the following Power BI Files. Contact Luware Support or your Customer Success Specialist to get the latest version.
DescriptionFilenames
Power BI TemplateNimbus.pbit
Paginated Reports
  • Nimbus_ServicePerformanceOverview.rdl
  • Nimbus_UserPerformancePerMonth.rdl
  • Nimbus_LostCallDetails.rdl
Legacy Template

Nimbus_AppendLegacy.pbix

(lightbulb) A special variant to support users coming from our existing LUCS/TM products → As standalone "Nimbus" user you can refer to the "Power BI Template" instead.

Legacy Template Use cases

Legacy support is available for LUCS/TM versions 3.5+

DB versions:

  • 3.5.15.0022
  • 3.6.13.0007

You may need this template in 3 scenarios:

  1. Two active Systems - You have a working legacy system (LUCS/TM) and a new Nimbus tenant. You want see legacy and Nimbus reporting services side-by-side.
  2. Completed Migration - You've recently migrated all your services from legacy system to Nimbus tenant. You want see reporting collected by LUCS/TM and Nimbus side by side.
  3. Using just the Template - You have only Nimbus services, but you want to continue using the Nimbus Power BI template with Legacy adapters.

(info) Refer to the → Parameters below for further notes on each scenario.

Example BI Template with both Nimbus and legacy data combined

(lightbulb) Note: Service names from legacy data sources have original GUIDs and "legacy_"  prefix names, as shown highlighted here.


Report parameters

The legacy template contains a set of additional parameters for connecting to the LUCS or Team Manager SQL Server database.

ParameterData TypeDescription
Append_Legacybooleanif TRUE legacy data is appended, if False legacy data isn't appended
Legacy_MonthLimitintegerNumber of Month back from today to be imported from legacy database
Legacy_ServerNametextSQL Server FQDN including instance
Legacy_DatabaseNametextDatabase name

Please note in regards to the 3 scenarios above:

  • For Scenarios 1 and 2 (Legacy and Nimbus still active) your Power BI needs unrestricted access to the SQL Server database of a legacy system.
  • For Scenario 2 (DB access only) active communication services (ICH, PS, CIC etc.) can be stopped. Only the SQL Server is required. The Connection string to a legacy system is based on report parameters Legacy_ServerName and Legacy_Database. The Append_Legacy parameter should be TRUE.
  • For Scenario 3 (Nimbus only, but keeping the legacy Template) the Append_Legacy parameter should be to FALSE. Other parameters are not considered and can be left blank.
Parameter settings in Power BI

Configure Connection

  1. Open Power BI Desktop.
  2. Open the Nimbus report file (Nimbus.pbit).
    (lightbulb) You may immediately abort any update process as it will fail without proper connection details. When opening the Template for the first time you will be requested to parameters → See next step.

  3. As the report connects you will be requested to enter the connection details and other parameters.

    1. Determine the URL below, depending on your Tenant data cluster location, as specified during Nimbus Installation. 
      In most cases this region is selected by your tenant administrator when provisioning the first Nimbus service.

      (question) I'm not an admin. How can I find out my data cluster location?
      When you log into https://portal.luware.cloud, keep track of the URL shown in your browser. Depending on the Cluster you are on the URL will change:

    2. Example: The UK data cluster uses a "UK" subdomain while Germany uses a "DE" prefix.

    3. If the base subdomain does not change as you remain in Switzerland.

    4. Depending on your cluster, copy the URL from the list below:

      Power BI data cluster connector URLs:

  4. Paste the Connection URL into the "ConnectionLink" field.

  5. Adjust template parameters as needed.
    (warning) Note that the "DaysLimit" and "From/To Date" directly affects how much data is being downloaded when you refresh the report. This value has a great impact on Power BI's processing.
    (lightbulb) All values can be changed again later. → See "Customize Template Parameters" chapter.

Provide your Connection Details

(tick) Your Nimbus team owner credentials must be held ready for this. Nimbus uses impersonation permissions to connect to the data source.

  1. On the OData Feed Login Window, switch to the tab: "Organizational Account"

  2. Sign in by providing your team owner O365 credentials (the same you would use within Nimbus)
    → (lightbulb) You will be asked for permissions to impersonate your user to access Nimbus data on your Tenant. 

    (tick) Connecting to your reporting data via the Nimbus API will request delegated user impersonation permissions from a user with tenant administrator privileges. The permission will be requested by either the Power BI Desktop application or by Power BI Online when trying to access your Tenant data for the first time

    Requested Permission:

    user_impersonation for the Luware Nimbus application

    Application

    Uses Enterprise App

    Application ID

    Power BI Desktop

    Microsoft Power Query for Excel

    a672d62c-fc7b-4e81-a576-e60dc46e951d

    Power BI Online

    Power BI Data Refresh

    b52893c8-bc2e-47fc-918b-77022b299bbc

    Power BI Application Information

    (lightbulb) TENANT ADMIN This permission can be requested by individual users, or granted by a Global Administrator on-behalf of the whole organization (recommended).

    Managing permissions for the "Power BI Data Refresh" Application


  3. Read and confirm the necessary permissions requested by this app. 
    → You will be brought back to the OData feed dialogue with your used shown as "Signed in ".

  4. Click on "Connect" and allow for up to 1 minute to establish a connection.

    Note: Depending on your parameter and call volume on your Nimbus Tenant the data retrieval process can take >10 min, as Power BI also needs to build the Reporting Model around your data. → As long as no error is shown you can leave the "Refresh" running, even if it appears stagnant for a while.

  5. Once the refresh is done, inspect the BI Report
    →     your O365 Tenant Nimbus Session Data should now be loaded into the template.

(tick) At this point you can go over to Power BI Template Usage or carry on with the steps below to adjust parameters further. Note that nearly each parameter change requires a data query refresh within the entire template.

Customize Template Parameters

Certain parameters in the BI Template can be adjusted to your liking. To do so, make sure the BI Template is opened, then go to Home Ribbon > Transform Data > Edit Parameters.

ParameterNotes
Connection URL

Connects your template to the data repository. This parameter usually doesn't need changing once you've configured it for your Template at first startup. However if you're having problems connecting – or need to connect to a different source – you can check and adjust the parameter at any time. → Also refer to the "Configure Connection" step above. Here are the connector links again for reference:

Power BI data cluster connector URLs:

(lightbulb) If you need to connect to multiple tenants and their data, we recommend saving multiple reports, each with their individual connection parameters.

(question) Connection Problems? Read our FAQ section below.

Last X Days (Lookback)

Changes the number of days, always referring back from the current date (today). Useful when you want to your report consistently look back at a certain amount of days.

(lightbulb) When defined, this value takes precedence over "From Date and To Date" parameters. Leave it blank when you want to define a specific time range.

From Date and To Date (Range)

Allows to specific a specific date range for the query. This is useful when you have a very large monthly call volume that would slow down the report query significantly, or in case you want to ignore certain periods of data.

(lightbulb) The date must be specified in a yyyy-MM-dd format. Otherwise the parameter will be ignored.

Generate Unified Sessions

Unified Sessions consolidate Caller (Customer) data like PSTN or Name, the Caller Path (Transfers, Customer Journey, Services Called) and indivdual call Session Times with a Final Session Outcome as a new lookup table.

(info) This option loads and processes data for the "Unified Sessions" Tab for drilldown purposes. Also see Power BI Template Usage > "Unified Sessions" tab.

(warning) Enabling this parameter (EnableUnifiedSessionLoad = TRUE) can have a significant impact on your data queries. If you do not need session outcomes in your report, consider disabling this. On errors during your query refer to our FAQ section below.

Load User States

(info) This option loads and processes data for the "User States" Tab for drilldown purposes. Also see Power BI Template Usage > "User States" tab.

(tick) In order to generate data this feature needs to be enabled. → See Tenant Administration > "Data Privacy" > "Track User States" 

(warning) Enabling this parameter (Enable UserStatesLoad = TRUE) can have an impact on your data queries. Learn more about User States to determine if this option is needed for your reporting needs, as it also conserns personal data (GDPR) protection laws. On errors during your query refer to our FAQ section below.

Timezone

All "datetime" values in the data source are in UTC encoded. In order to switch from UTC to your local time zone you can use the " Timezone " parameter as offset.

The Nimbus report currently supports 3 available values which corresponds to the time zones used in Europe.

  • Western European Time (UTC/UTC+1)
  • Central European Time (UTC+1/UTC+2)
  • Eastern European Time (UTC+2/UTC+3)

The Daylight Saving Time (DST) period in Europe runs from 01:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on the last Sunday of March to 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October every year.

Western EuropeCentral EuropeEastern Europe
  • Canary Islands
  • Faroe Islands
  • Iceland (on GMT all year)
  • Ireland
  • Portugal
  • United Kingdom
  • Albania
  • Belngium
  • Croatia
  • Denmark (mainland)
  • France (mainland)
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Spain (mainland)
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Bulgaria
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Greece
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Moldova
  • Romania
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine (except Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk)
  • Kaliningrad, Russia (on EET all year)
Calendar Language

To configure the language in Power BI Desktop:

  1. Go to the the Home Tab > "Transform Data"
  2. Select "Edit Parameters" 

  3. Change Language to your desired option.

    Language Template parameter

  4. The parameter will now be applied to calendar days and months.

    Output in the report

Known Issues and Solutions


Power BI Performance

KNOWN ISSUE On Windows 11 systems in particular we have noticed considerable CPU and RAM usage both during the BI query and when calculating results, up to a point where hard-to-diagnose query errors occur.

Note: Unified Sessions and User States parameters greatly increase the data load on Power BI.

  • Even on a powerful PC with good internet connection you can expect overall query and calculation times of ~10-15 minutes. → We recommend working with a workstation using Core i7 CPU or newer and at least 16 GB RAM to keep processing speeds high enough. 
  • The BI template has been tested with up to 2 million call sessions. → With additional data parameters (Unified Sessions, User States) enabled we recommend querying your date range in smaller timespans and increments. This is especially applicable when you are running services with high call volumes >1 million monthly sessions.

(tick) Workaround → If you encounter errors during your query, please head to Power BI Options and Settings > Options > Security and select "Allow any extention to load without validation or warning".

(question) Why is this necessary? We are aware that lowering privacy settings is not a recommended permanent course of action. We have identified the BI Data Privacy firewall to be one cause of these errors and continue to investigate this case.

(question) Connection Problems? Try these steps:

  • Ensure that your connecting user has the permissions needed → (info) See Role Access Concept → "Access to Historical OData Interface" column and ensure you connect with a user with that role.
  • If for any reason the connection window does not appear or errors occur, go to File > Options and Settings > Data Source Settings and revoke any user permissions / login data specified in your Nimbus reports. The next time you open the Nimbus BI report or trigger a data refresh you should be asked for new credentials again. In case of a wrong OData URL you can also change the template parameters.
  • Also ensure that the "ConnectionLink" parameter in your template was set to the right location. Your user credentials will not work on a different data cluster URL. 
    Power BI data cluster connector URLs:

(question) Query abort issues or errors? Try the following:

  • Sometimes BI is not building the tables properly or conflicted with data from a previous query. Try another data refresh, as it can sometimes resolve the issue.
  • Ensure to save, close and re-open your template prior to a refresh to ensure no other queries are hanging.
  • Depending on your session data amount, queries can take up several minutes. If timeout-errors are returned from the OData API, try decreasing your date range and/or remove taxing session / user state parameters to improve loading speed.
  • Power BI Desktop can struggle as report files reach several gigabytes in size. Ensure your PC has sufficient hard drive space and RAM to manage large amounts of data.

(question) Still having Issues?

  • On particularly large feature or parameter changes we recommend starting on a fresh template (Nimbus.pbit).
  • When encountering frequent errors, ensure you run the latest template version provided by your Luware Support or Customer Success Specialist to exclude any errors caused by leftover data structures or deprecated features.