Automate multiple outreach messages and trigger notifications via outreach message templates

Actions can now send multiple automated outreach messages to contacts, saving users time. Previously, Actions could only send the initial outreach message and the user had to send subsequent outreach messages.  

Each automated outreach message uses a different message template, and the same message is not sent to a contact more than once during a configurable maximum 180 day suppression period. Automated outreach messages are not sent during Do Not Disturb times. 

In addition, organizations can now set up one global notification that is only triggered when certain message templates are sent, helping reduce the number of unnecessary user notifications. This new notification functionality replaces previous default notifications like periodic reminders, expiration reminders, and after call reminders.

Each organization can contact Hearsay to choose the text and variables to be included in the global notification, or use a default notification. Admins can define which message template(s) trigger the notification in the Administration view of Hearsay Desktop. 

To define the text of your organization’s notification, contact Support at support@hearsaycorp.com.

Below are the changes to the Actions page of Hearsay Desktop that are related to these enhancements:

Contact Message Template tab

This tab now includes a Suppression time section for configuring the minimum number of days before any template can be reused for a contact. This has replaced the Action Flow Expiration section.

In the Default Message Template section, configure the toggle to indicate whether the template triggers a user notification. 

Action Flow Configuration tab

The Allow Advisors to Configure Action Notifications section has been removed. A new Daily Mail tab has been created to accommodate the daily mail configuration.

Actions API now sends messages to the phone number requested by the external system

Texts sent through Actions now go to the contact phone number requested by the external system via the API call. Previously, messages only went to the phone number stored by Hearsay, even though the external system often has the most recent phone number. 

When Actions triggers a message to a phone number that only exists in the external system, Hearsay automatically adds the missing phone number to the Contacts page by either creating a new contact record or adding the number to the existing contact record. Then, a new conversation window opens in Relate.

Workspace Templates allow individual workspace owners and delegates to create a custom library of text message templates. Unlike Organization Templates, which can only be created by administrators and are then made available for an entire organization, Workspace Templates are created by specific users or teams, and are only available within the workspace where they’re created. This feature decentralizes template creation, enhances personalization, maintains compliance, and saves time on message composition.

Once enabled, workspace owners and delegates can select My Templates in Hearsay Desktop’s side menu to begin creating and publishing message templates. After a template is published, it can be accessed by clicking Use a Message Template in the message composer. When a template is selected, it’s pasted into the message composer from where it can be edited, sent, or scheduled. 

Workspace Templates are initially only available on Hearsay Desktop. Each workspace can create up to 20 templates.

Learn how to create a Workspace Template.

This feature is off by default. To turn it on, send an email to support@hearsaycorp.com and include “Enable Workspace Templates from the August 2024 Release” in the subject line. In the email, please add any questions that you may have.

Workspace Templates library in Hearsay Desktop

Create a Workspace Template

Use a Workspace Template

There are four new enhancements for Embedded Relate:

• Embedded Relate has upgraded to Salesforce’s Second-Generation Managed Package
• Use admin-created Message Templates in Embedded Relate
• Log in using your organization’s SSO
• Address Terms of Service changes in Embedded Relate

Embedded Relate has upgraded to Salesforce’s Second-Generation Managed Package

The latest version of Embedded Relate, which includes the new features mentioned below, has upgraded to Salesforce’s Second-Generation Managed Package. This upgrade provides a more flexible approach to organizing and distributing Embedded Relate, ultimately leading to greater scalability and maintainability. Organizations looking to update to the newest version will need to uninstall their current Embedded Relate package and install the new version. While this one-time process involves uninstallation and reinstallation, it paves the way for smoother future updates. Once this transition is complete, subsequent upgrades will be more seamless, eliminating the need for further uninstallation and reinstallation cycles.

Learn more about Embedded Relate’s installation process.

To update to the newest version of Embedded Relate, send an email to support@hearsaycorp.com and include “Update to the newest Embedded Relate package from the August 2024 Release” in the subject line. In the email, please ask any questions that you may have.

Use admin-created Message Templates in Embedded Relate

Admin-created message templates are available in Embedded Relate. A new Use a Message Template button in the message composer opens a pop-up with up to 20 message templates. When a template is selected, it’s pasted into the message composer from where the template can be edited, sent, or scheduled. Only administrators can create message templates, allowing them to create consistent messages that align with their organization's best practices, and helping reduce the time spent in creating repeated messages like meeting reminders or anniversary greetings. 

Learn how to create and manage message templates. 

This feature is off by default. To enable it, you will have to update to the latest version of Embedded Relate. Send an email to support@hearsaycorp.com and include “Use admin-created Message Templates in Embedded Relate from the August 2024 release” in the subject line to get started. In the email, please include any questions that you may have.

Log in using your organization’s SSO

Users can now log in to Embedded Relate in Salesforce with their organization’s SSO. The legacy login method of entering your email and getting an access code from Hearsay Desktop will continue to be supported. Admins can disable this legacy login method in Embedded Relate’s Hearsay Admin settings, and make SSO the only option available for their organizations.

Learn about logging in to Embedded Relate. 

This feature is off by default. To enable it, you will have to update to the latest version of Embedded Relate. Send an email to support@hearsaycorp.com and include “Enable SSO Login for Embedded Relate from the August 2024 Release” in the subject line to learn more and get started. In the email, please add your Salesforce domain address, as well as any questions that you may have.

SSO login and the legacy “Log in with email address” option in Embedded Relate for Salesforce

Admin setting for enabling the legacy “Log in with email” option

Address Terms of Service changes in Embedded Relate

Users can now accept Terms of Service changes in the Embedded Relate widget in Salesforce. In the event of Terms of Service change, users will be blocked from sending or viewing messages in Embedded Relate. Instead, they will be able to review and accept the new Terms of Services. To accept the new Terms of Services, first click Review and Accept in Embedded Relate. Then, scroll to the bottom of the Terms of Service, select the acknowledgement check-box, and click Accept. 

Previously, if there were any Terms of Service changes, users had to log in to Hearsay Desktop to accept the changes. With this update, we have created a smoother experience in Embedded Relate, allowing users to continue to do their work in Salesforce, without having to context-switch.

This feature is off by default. To enable it, you will have to update to the latest version of Embedded Relate. Send an email to support@hearsaycorp.com and include “Address Terms of Service changes in Embedded Relate from the August 2024 release” in the subject line to learn more and get started. In the email, please include any questions that you may have.

Review and accept Terms of Service changes in Embedded Relate

Option to accept Terms of Service changes only becomes available after scrolling all the way down

Hearsay Mobile iOS users can now view, reschedule, edit, and filter for scheduled activities from their mobile devices on the new Timeline page. The Timeline helps users avoid scheduling conflicts and cadence issues. For example, a Social user can quickly check if any of their posts are scheduled to publish around the same time as a campaign post and adjust scheduling if needed. A Relate user can reschedule or cancel text reminders quickly and easily. 

Users with Relate and Social can see all their post, campaign post, and text message activities together in the Timeline. Relate only or Social only users only see activities associated with their product access.

To access the Timeline, tap the calendar icon on the Home page. Then, scroll through the scheduled activities or filter for Posts, Campaign or Scheduled Messages. Tap on a scheduled message or post to review, edit, or unschedule it.

Scheduled posts and messages in the Timeline

Timeline filters

Viewing a scheduled message from the Timeline

The Timeline is not yet available on Android devices. Android users can still access scheduled posts and messages from the Conversations and Post Library tabs until the feature becomes available in a future release.

To get this feature, update to the latest version of Hearsay Mobile or Hearsay for Intune on a supported iOS device.

Android users can now publish multiple photos in social media posts while using the Hearsay Mobile app. Multi-photo posts provide for a richer and more engaging audience experience. 

The feature works similarly for Android and iOS devices, where you tap the camera or gallery icon to add photos. You can click x to delete a photo or click the camera or gallery icon again to add more. A warning appears if a photo is too large or if there are too many photos for a selected network. 

To get this feature, update to the latest version of Hearsay Mobile or Hearsay for Intune on a supported Android device. 

Note: The admin setting "Allow Content with Multiple Photos" must be enabled at the Workspace level for this feature to work.

Adding photos

Selecting photos from the gallery

Here's what's in the August 12th release:

Social

• New Planner for managing campaigns 🔷
• LinkedIn accounts disconnected for over 180 days and then reconnected cannot be crawled retroactively 

Platform

• New Additional Information field on the Contacts page 🔷
• [CANCELLED] New Hearsay domain will require a firewall update

Data & Analytics

• Users' Email Subscription Settings Report shows user notification configurations 🔷
• Get a more informative notification when downloading a report
• Breakdown by Workspaces Report and Breakdown by Social Account Report now show aggregate number of clicks 

🔷 Sandbox preview available 

Social

New Planner for managing campaigns

A new Planner for admins provides access to all the different campaigns and campaign posts in a calendar view, allowing for easier scheduling and management of dynamic campaigns over extended periods of time. To access information about the Planner in the Help Center, see Manage Dynamic Campaigns in the Admin Planner.

Note: The Twitter logo has been changed to the X logo in this feature. We expect to gradually update the logo in other parts of the platform in future releases.  

To access the Planner, in the Administration side menu, click Plan.

In the Planner, toggle between a week view that shows individual campaign posts, and a month view that shows a high level overview of campaign timelines and a list of campaign posts on each day. 

Weekly view

Monthly view

You can reschedule or delete posts in either the weekly or monthly view by clicking on one or more posts. If multiple posts are scheduled for the same time, click on a post/cover card (weekly view) or time block (monthly view) and all posts appear in a scheduling popup.

Clickable post and post summary in weekly view

Clickable time block in monthly view

Pop-up scheduling modal

Filter the Planner in the following three ways:

• Hierarchy: Display only campaign and campaign content for selected hierarchy and/or region.
• Campaign: Display only the selected campaigns.
• Campaign Posts: Display only campaign posts that meet the desired criteria, similar to the Post Library filter.

Filter by campaign modal

You can also navigate from the Campaign page to the Planner. On the Campaigns page, in the Edit drop down, click the new See in Planner option to see the campaign in the monthly view of the Planner.

LinkedIn accounts disconnected for over 180 days and then reconnected cannot be crawled retroactively

Disconnected LinkedIn accounts that have been in inactive status and without a valid access token for longer than 180 days can no longer be retroactively crawled after they are reconnected. Only activities that occurred after the account is reconnected will be saved. 

Hearsay can still retroactively crawl disconnected accounts for activities that occurred during the organization’s configured history range as long as the account is reconnected within 180 days. 

It is important to consistently monitor user account statuses to ensure there are no compliance gaps, so to find out which accounts are nearing the 180 day disconnection time, please review the Account Directory Report and Profile Snapshot Report.

Example scenarios 

Note: Scenario 2 uses an example historical crawling range of 30 days, but this range can be configured by each organization. If you’re unsure about your historical crawling range, contact support at support@hearsaycorp.com. 

Platform

[CANCELLED] New Hearsay domain will require a firewall update

Previously, Hearsay published guidance that the domain 'hearsayplatform.com' needed to be added to your organization’s firewall allowlist by September 30th. This change has been cancelled and no firewall updates are required at this time. 

If you have already added the domain to your organization’s firewall allowlist, no further action is needed. However, you may remove it if you prefer. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion.

New Additional Information field on the Contacts page

A new Additional Information field is available in the contact drawer, under Contact Information. The field supports up to 1,000 characters and the contents are included in the search results. This field is currently only visible in Hearsay Desktop.

Contextual information can be crucial for building and maintaining effective business relationships, and having a place to store that information allows for more personalized follow-ups and better service.

Data & Analytics 

Users' Email Subscription Settings Report shows user notification configurations

A new Users' Email Subscription Setting Report provides a snapshot of whether each user has the most critical notifications enabled or disabled in their User Settings. The report can be filtered by hierarchy, but not by date.

The report includes the following fields:

• User ID
• User Name
• WS ID list
• Hierarchy Path
• User Email
• Post Reminder
• Dynamic Campaign Reminder
• Webinars
• Suggested Content
• Post Notification Denials
• New Campaigns
• Action List New Card Notification
• Reauthorization Notification

This new report provides valuable oversight into user email notifications, helping us improve training and enablement efforts by learning which messages are being received by individual users.

The new Users’s Email Subscription Settings Report

Get a more informative notification when downloading a report

A new notification at the top of the page replaces a popup when downloading a report. This new notification includes the clearer and more informative message “Stay on this page to download the report to your computer, or access the report later in your Download History”. This updated language shares where to access the downloaded report and allows admins to continue to do other things in Hearsay Desktop without worrying about losing their report. 

New notification when downloading a report

Breakdown by Workspaces Report and Breakdown by Social Account Report now show aggregate number of clicks

The Breakdown by Workspaces Report and the Breakdown by Social Account Report now show aggregated clicks per workspace in one place. These reporting enhancements saves admins’ time by relieving them of the task of manually manipulating reports to gather data on clicks.

In addition, the Breakdown by Social Account Report has a new Number of Clicks column that shows the total number of clicks for each social account.

The Breakdown by Workspaces Report has the following new columns:

• Number of Clicks - Facebook
• Number of Clicks - LinkedIn
• Number of Clicks - Twitter

In addition, the Breakdown by Social Account Report has a new Number of Clicks column that shows the total number of clicks for each social account.

The Hearsay Generative AI functionality is now managed within AWS Bedrock, which allows for all Generative AI data to remain within the same AWS environment as Hearsay Social data. This change provides enhanced data protection and reduces data exposure risk for Generative AI users. Within the AWS Bedrock environment, Generative AI post descriptions are now created using the Meta Llama 3 Large Language Model (LLM). The Generative AI user experience remains the same.

A link to the Meta Llama 3 Acceptable Use Policy has been added to several places within Hearsay desktop, including:

• Admin AI Settings section
• Generative AI Publisher workflow
• Generative AI Alternative Description workflow for admins

AI Settings policy link

Generative AI Publisher policy links

An additional Opt-in Status column has been added to the Sites Form Submissions table which displays each contact’s messaging consent status. The Opt-in Status column only appears for organizations that have enabled Sites and Relate. This update enhances Sites’ TCPA compliance and makes it easier to view a contact’s opt-in status.

New Opt-in Status column in the Form Submissions table

There are two new enhancements to the Contacts page:

Sort contacts by either first or last name

On the Contacts page, users can now sort contacts by last name, which is a more useful way to find and organize contacts. Previously, contacts were only sorted by first name. 

View only contacts that still require opt-in on the Contacts page

A new Show option on the Contacts page shows only the contacts that still need to opt-in to text messaging. This option includes contacts with a pending opt-in request and contacts who have never been sent an opt-in request. It is vital for compliance that contacts opt in to text messages prior to receiving communications, and this enhancement makes it easier to find contacts that haven’t yet completed this step.

To access the new option on the Contacts page, next to Show, click the down arrow and select Contacts Pending or Needing Opt-In.

Inbound and outbound voice calls in Relate can now be recorded. Voice-call recording helps review calls for compliance and quality assessment purposes.

If voice-call recording is enabled, an automated consent message plays when every call is answered. The recording begins if the call continues after the automated consent message has finished playing. When the call ends, Hearsay stores the recording as an mp3 file and initiates a time-stamped transcription process. After transcription, the mp3 and the transcript are sent to the organization’s compliance archive. The transcript is then processed by the organization’s lexicon check.  

The automated consent message is provided by Hearsay and can’t be changed. 

Hearsay stores recorded voice-call mp3s and transcripts for 30 days or the length of time specified in your data retention policy. 

This feature is off by default, and is available at an additional charge. To turn it on, send an email to support@hearsaycorp.com and include “Enable Voice Call Recording on Relate from the July 2024 Release” in the subject line. In the email, please add any relevant enablement details as well as any questions that you may have.