ExpressConnect® New Features & Releases

New Feature:

A new ‘Getting Started with ExpressConnect’ video has been added to the platform to enhance the experience for new users.

Upon a user’s first login (and after they have accepted the Privacy Policy), they will be greeted with a pop-up displaying the helpful onboarding video.

Whether a new user is looking for guidance or a seasoned user is seeking a refresher, the video can be accessed anytime in the ‘About ExpressConnect’ section.

Improvements:

We have addressed dependency updates and minor enhancements to improve user experience. 

Bug Fixes:

We have addressed an issue with file attachments on service tickets.  

Bug Fixes:

We have addressed a bug when creating a user and made improvements to enhance the overall user experience. 

Improvements:

We have added the functionality to allow .ahs file type within service ticket file upload. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed an issue with creating a new user with a phone extension.  

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed a bug on the Notification Settings page.  

Improvements:

We have added the functionality to schedule an engineer callback within business hours of 9am – 5:30pm GMT for the Netherlands, Ireland and United Kingdom locations. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed a bug occurring when scheduling engineer callbacks. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed bugs and made improvements to enhance the overall user experience. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed a bug occurring when scheduling engineer callbacks. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed an issue with mailto link in the Account Team tooltip. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed a bug occurring when scheduling engineer callbacks. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed bugs and made improvements to enhance the overall user experience. 

Improvements:

We have addressed dependency updates. 

Improvements:

We have addressed dependency updates. 

Bugs Fixes:

We have addressed bugs and made improvements to enhance the overall user experience. 

Improvements:

• Updates to Login page links
• Ticket Detail page styling changes

Bug Fixes:

We have addressed bugs and made improvements to enhance the overall user experience. 

Security Enhancements:

Global Security Upgrade 

We have upgraded our front-end software to ensure global security for the platform.

Improvements:

Cookie Consent Banner 

To comply with GDPR, UK GDPR, and CCPA data privacy rules, a cookie consent banner has been implemented on the platform login page. This change has been implemented due to the use of Google Analytics throughout the platform. These are the same banners seen on the Service Express website. 

United States Region 

The United States is aligning with California laws and any user who is logged in within the US will see this banner: 

• By selecting “Manage Cookies” a panel appears where users can toggle their preferences. 
• The default for the US Region is to be opted in and users can opt out of them as needed. 
• By selecting “click here” you are directed to the privacy policy page on the Service Express website. 
• Once a user interacts with the banner, they will not see it again for up to a year. 

GDPR and Other Regions 

For users outside of the United States, Service Express is aligning with GDPR and any user who logs in outside of the US will see this banner: 

• By selecting “Manage Cookies” a panel appears where users can toggle their preferences. 
• The default for users outside of the US is to be opted out and users can opt-in as desired. 
• By selecting “click here” you are directed to the privacy policy page on the Service Express website. 
• Once a user interacts with the banner, they will not see it again for up to a year. 

Improvements:

Global Date Formatting Update 

We’ve updated all dates on the portal to the format: “Jan 3, 2023”. 

The new date format will appear on the following pages and downloads: 

Dashboard – Insights Drilldown Lists: 

• Added/Removed 
• Warranty 
• Open tickets
• Closed tickets
• Tickets by severity

Dashboard – User Insights: 

• Last login date 
• Last ticket date

Service Tickets Page: 

• Reported by column 
• Last update tooltip 
• Ticket csv download: createddate, completeddate, and scheduledpagetime columns 

Service Tickets Detail Page: 

• Coverage tooltip 
• Reported by column 
• Ticket activity time stamp 
• Closed tickets: Solution time stamp 

Equipment Page: 

• Coverage tooltip 
• Start date column 
• Renewal date column 
• Equipment csv download: Start Date, Renewal Date, and Warranty Date columns 

Equipment Detail Page: 

• Agreement renewal date 

Agreements Page: 

• Coverage tooltip 

Users Page: 

• Last login date on the user cards 

User Profile Page: 

• Last login date in the header 
• User activity time stamp 

Admin Page: 

• Last login date column 
• Created date column 

Improvements:

We’ve revised the First Trip Fix calculation. Now only closed (status C) tickets are considered for calculation. Canceled tickets within 90 days are excluded from the calculation.  

This may result in a change in the First Trip Fix rate on the Dashboard for some users.

Bug Fixes:

• Password reset emails will no longer be sent to deactivated users 
• In Create New Ticket modal: 
  • Filtering issues for agreement and location searches have been resolved 
  • Scheduled callback tooltip icon is fixed 
  • The [Learn more] links are updated on the Apps & Integrations page 
  • The equipment grid service engineer column is fixed 

New Features:

Service and User Insights have been added to the dashboard! 

Service Insights

Ticketing insights at-a-glance! View, manage, and track your service ticket history for up to 90 days with the following metrics. 

Open Tickets:  Click on the metric to view a detailed list of open tickets and how many days they’ve been open. Includes tickets open past 90 days.  

Closed Tickets: Click on the metric to view a detailed list of tickets that were closed with their respective open and close dates. 

Tickets Created: View tickets that were opened within the selected date range for an at-a-glance comparison against the number of tickets still open. 

Tickets by Severity: View tickets within the selected date range, grouped by severity level (1-3). Click on each bar to view a detailed list of tickets by their severity level and to monitor any that are still open. 

First-Trip Fix: See the percentage of tickets within the selected date range that had a first-trip fix completion. 

User Insights (available for company admin only)

As a Company Admin, you can send password reset emails, update profiles, and deactivate profiles that no longer need access. The following metrics provide insights into the teams and/or users who are opening service tickets and logging into ExpressConnect. 

Users Placing Tickets: View the list of users and their most recent ticket that was placed. This gives you visibility into frequent users and/or teams placing tickets.  

Login Activity: See the list of users sorted by the most recent login date. If a user has never logged in, you will see “Never Logged In”.  

New Features:

We’re excited to announce a new feature to ExpressConnect that will help you make more informed decisions and increase visibility into your equipment and service needs. Here’s what’s new:

Insights Dashboard

When you log into ExpressConnect, you’ll land on the new Insights Dashboard that replaces the Service Ticket Grid. You can also access the dashboard through the left menu. The dashboard provides a snapshot of your equipment coverage, warranty expiration, and other key metrics to help you manage your equipment more efficiently.

Equipment Insights

The Dashboard includes a new Equipment Insights feature that provides an in-depth view of your equipment data. You can hover over the graph elements to view the count of each and select elements and metrics to open a drill-down list of more detailed information.

Your Equipment Insights may consist of the following metrics depending on your data center coverage with Service Express:

Equipment Coverage: Comparison of equipment on Full Maintenance, Future Start Date with Service Express, and OEM Warranty Track.

Equipment Added/Removed: New data available on ExpressConnect! You can now view equipment that has been added/removed from contract within the selected date range. Click on each bar to view the detailed list. For equipment added, you can click on the serial number to be directed to the Equipment Detail page. From within the Equipment Detail page, you can request any changes through the existing change request form.

Warranty Expiring Soon: This is a count of all your equipment that is on OEM Warranty Track on your Service Express contract(s). You can click on the metric to view a detailed list that includes the number of days until expiration. You can click on the serial number to visit the Equipment Detail page.

Equipment Monitored: This is a count of your equipment utilizing ExpressConnect Monitoring. Click on this metric to be directed to the Equipment Grid, sorted by monitored equipment where you can download your equipment list to compare with equipment not utilizing ExpressConnect Monitoring.

Insufficient Data: If you do not have relevant data or no data within a selected date range you will see insufficient data in place of the metric.

Coming Soon

The following insights will be released within the next month and added to your dashboard!

• Service Insights: Increase your visibility of tickets open, and sort tickets by severity level, age of tickets, and more!
• User Insights (Company Admins only): Increased awareness of your team’s ticket and login activity on ExpressConnect.

New Features:

Tickets Open Past 90 Days

We’ve made it easier for you to track and analyze your ticket data by lifting the 90-day ticket history restriction. You can now view all open tickets, regardless of age, using the following pages and functionalities: 

• Left menu Open Ticket count
• Service Tickets Open list
  • Click on the ticket to comment as usual
• Service Tickets CSV download

This update also enables us to implement Service Insights Metrics and ensure accurate data across the platform. 

Bugs Fixed:

• Fixed Left Menu ticket count excluding tickets when there isn’t a Sales Rep assigned to an agreement(s) 

New Features:

Sort by Monitoring Status

Within the equipment page, users can sort by the Monitoring column. To sort the list, simply click on the column header for equipment set up with ExpressConnect Monitoring. The list will be sorted in descending order, with the monitoring icon serving as the indicator.

New Features:

DCIM: Add Equipment Request

Introducing the ability for you to submit Equipment Adds directly through ExpressConnect. 

“What’s new” feature pop-up 

Users will be greeted with a “What’s new” feature pop-up explaining the newest feature.  

Add Equipment Request Button & Modal 

An add equipment button is now available in the upper right header of the equipment page. 

Once selected, a modal appears where you will be able to download a provided equipment template that includes the key items in providing a quote. You may also upload your own file.  

Fields included in the csv template are: 

• Location 
• Model Number 
• Part Number 
• Platform/OEM 
• Serial Number 
• Quantity 
• Response: 24/7 – 4-hour response 
• Response: Same business day – 4-hour response 
• Response: Next business day – 8-hour response 

File upload requirements: 

1. File type Allow List: .xlsx, .rtf, .pdf, .xml, .jpeg, .htm, .css, .jpg, .bz2, .zip, .csv, .msg, .tbz2, .bmp, .gif, .mp4, .png, .html, .docx, .MOV, .gz, .rar, .7z, .txt, .log, .tar, .tgz, .SYS 

2. Users can upload and submit one equipment list at a time 

3. The file size limit is 150MB  

4. Partner Customers will have an added step to select their Customer Group to ensure requests are routed to the correct account team. 

Once the request is submitted, you will receive an email confirmation and your account team will be notified.  

New Features:

Updated Privacy Policy Page

The Privacy Policy Page that all new users are required to view and accept has been updated.

Bugs Fixed:

• Remove feature pop-ups upon a new user’s first login.

New Features:

Account Lockout

Users with three failed login attempts within 30 minutes will be locked out of their account for 30 minutes. This includes a mix of invalid username and/or password combinations.

Users receive an error message after each failed attempt notifying them of how many attempts are remaining.

After the third attempt, users receive a message that they are locked out.

Users can click on the Trouble Logging In link for more information.

Users can request a password reset as normal. Once a user has successfully reset their password, the lockout period will be void and the user will be able to log in.

Password Requirements

All new users are required to follow these password requirements:

• Password must contain 12 characters
• Password must contain one uppercase letter
• Password must contain one number
• Password must contain one special character

The Complete Setup, Password Reset, and Reset Expired pages have all been updated to include these new requirements. These pages have also been updated to match the login page design.

Complete Setup

Password Reset

Reset Expired

All existing users are required to update their password to follow the new requirements. Users will be prompted to update their password next time they log in:

Bugs Fixed:

• Fixed bug preventing extension field from being updated on user profiles.

New Features:

UI Updates

In the Create New Ticket step, the “State” field has been changed to “State/Province/Region” to be more globally compliant. 

Changed “Reference Number” placeholder text to “Enter your company’s unique identifier”. 

Bugs Fixed:

• Fixed Scheduled Callback Time selection dropdown

New Features:

New Login Page & Forgot

Password

We have revamped the ExpressConnect Login page. The “Forgot Password” functionality now flows within the same screen instead of opening a new window.

Bugs Fixed:

• Setup Following section does not clear out after page refresh
• “View on ExpressConnect” button within ExpressConnect email templates now working
• Children equipment view within Equipment csv download and Equipment Detail page now fixed
• Loading bar is not visible at all times

New Features:

UI Updates

Left Menu Changes
The left menu navigation now includes the following options:

• Service Tickets (Open/Closed)
• Equipment
• Agreements
• Users (Admins only)
• Your Account Team

Avatar Dropdown Changes + New Pages

The avatar dropdown includes the following new options:

• Apps + Integrations
  • This page highlights our ExpressConnect offerings. This is where you can find the Monitoring and Integrations request forms. The “Contact my account team” functionality remains the same – sending a form through email to Customer Support.

• Referral Rewards: Learn more about our referral rewards program on Service Express’ website
• EOL + EOSL Database: Open the database on Service Express’ website
• About ExpressConnect
  • Here you can find links to customer release notes, privacy policy and About Service Express on the Service Express website. It also indicates the current version of ExpressConnect.

Other

Agreement numbers now display next to Agreement names in the ‘Setup Following’ section of Notification Settings.

New Features:

Email & Web Notifications

You can now receive notifications through ExpressConnect. Opt-in or opt-out of notifications based on your preferences and what information matters most to you.

Notification Settings

To access the new settings page, click on your user avatar in the top right corner and select Notification Settings from the dropdown. Here you can adjust which notifications you would like to receive.

Under the Service Ticket Notifications section, you can adjust your form of notification for all notification events you have access to. Choosing Email and web will allow you to receive both an email and a web notification for each event. You will receive notifications for tickets you and anyone in your company creates based on the following settings.

Your notifications are based on the locations and agreements that you are following. You can control this under the Setup Following section.

Setup Following

Under the Setup Following section is the list of Agreements you have permissions to. Clicking on the Agreement row will show a pop-up with all locations under that Agreement, where you can adjust which locations you follow.

Notification Bell & Panel

If you are opted into web notifications, you can access them by clicking on the bell icon in the right corner next to your user avatar. Click on a notification to be directed to the location of that activity within ExpressConnect.

Other Enhancements

The “Automatic Ticket Opened” email you received prior to the launch of our new notification feature has been turned off and now functions within Notification Settings. You are now in control by Following locations you prefer to get notified for and turning on/off the Ticket Opened/Closed event.

New Features:

Updates to Equipment CSV Download

The equipment download information has been updated to reflect what you can see in your equipment grid.

The equipment download will now display the following:

• NEW: Equipment ID – The ID of your Main line item on your Service Express Agreement. This can be used to associate it with its detailed components, if any.
• NEW: Child Equipment ID and corresponding Parent Equipment ID – These IDs represent your Detailed Components to identify which Main line item they are associated with. Detailed Components are items such as drives, raid cards, etc., that are listed on your Service Express agreement.
• NEW: Monitoring – Indicates the status of ExpressConnect Monitoring.
  • Value of True: Currently set up with Monitoring
  • Value of False: Not currently set up with Monitoring
• Description
• Serial Number
• Model Number
• Part Number
• System Name
• Agreement
• SLA – Response time.
• Contract Type – Full Maintenance, Future Start Date, or Warranty Track.
• NEW: Start Date – The date coverage starts for that equipment.
• NEW: Renewal Date – The date before coverage ends.
• Warranty Date – The date warranty ends with the OEM.
• NEW: Sales Contact – Your Sales Account Executive.
• NEW: Location – Location Name the equipment is located.
• NEW: Location Contact – The primary contact listed on your Service Express agreement for that location.
• NEW: Engineer – Your primary engineer assigned to that location.
• Ticket History

To access your equipment download:

• Select “Equipment” in the Left Menu.
• Select the download button next to the Search bar in the right corner of your screen.

New Features:

Updates to Service Tickets

Service tickets with more than 25 comments now have “Next Page” and “Previous Page” buttons at the top of the comment section to help give better visibility into ticket history.

New Features:

Updates to User Profiles

User profiles have been updated and now include a user activity section.

• The user activity section will now display the following:
  • User Created, Activated, and Deactivated
  • User Information Changes
  • Contact Preferences Changes
• Each instance will display who performed the change, as well as the date and time the change occurred
• To view more of your user activity history, click the ellipsis icon.

New Features:

Updates to Chat feature

The chat feature has been updated. The steps below outline how to use the updated feature and additional functionality:

• To launch the 27/4 chat with our Customer Support team, click on the blue chat icon in the bottom right corner.
• To begin the chat, enter your name and email, then click Submit. Once connected, a Customer Support agent will join the chat.
• Within the chat window, you have several new options:
  • You can minimize the chat without ending it by selecting “close” in the upper left corner of the chat window.
  • You can change the text size of the chat window by selecting the text icon in the bottom left corner.
  • Selecting the speaker icon in the bottom left corner of the chat window allows you to turn chat sounds off or on.
  • To end the chat, select the “X” in the upper right corner. You will be prompted to confirm.
  • After ending your chat, you have the option to download or email your transcript of the conversation.

New Features:

Updates to Service Tickets

The Service Ticket section now displays canceled tickets in your ticket history. You can see your canceled tickets in the following areas:

• When selecting a ticket under the closed filter, you will now see a “canceled” status bar in the ticket.
• The closed ticket count displayed on the left menu will now include cancelled tickets.
• When downloading your ticket CSV, canceled tickets will now be included in your ticket history.

New Features:

Additional ExpressConnect Monitoring Functionality

ExpressConnect Monitoring is now able to support Dell Force10 equipment.

Updates to the ExpressConnect Monitoring Appliance

Our engineers are now able to temporarily disable monitoring alerts. A pre-set timer will automatically re-enable alerts after a given time has passed.

Updates to Users Grid

The Users section has been updated and includes additional functionality: 

• The user grid will now display users in a card view, allowing admins to visually see the status of users. 
• Admins will now be able to see the last login date for each user, as well as their user status (“Active” or “Deactivated”) directly on their user card. 
• Users that no longer have access to ExpressConnect has changed status from “Inactive” to “Deactivated”. The users grid filter has been updated to reflect this change. 
• Admins are now able to add new users to their account, using the blue New User button.  

User Profiles

• You are now able to view your ExpressConnect user profile. To navigate to your profile, click on your user avatar in the upper right corner and select “View Profile”.
• Users will now be able to edit their own account information without having to contact Service Express. This includes the ability to edit usernames and account email addresses.
  • Should you need to edit your account email address, you will receive an email to both email addresses and will be required to verify your new email address.

Updated Admin User Profiles

• Admin users now have access to view and edit company user’s profiles, allowing you to edit all fields without having to contact Service Express.
• Admin users are now able to deactivate accounts. If an admin accidentally deactivates their own account, you can contact Service Express to reactivate it.

Attach a File

The file size limit, when uploading documents to a service ticket, has increased from 75MB to 150MB.

ExpressConnect has expanded its integration capabilities to support integration with ServiceNow. When users open a ServiceNow ticket, the integration will automatically create a ticket in ExpressConnect, eliminating the need to duplicate work. The integration between ServiceNow and ExpressConnect helps IT teams maximize their investment while ensuring all service information is centralized in one platform. 

New Features:

ServiceNow Integration

• ServiceNow Certified App with an in-app support module and guided set up 
• 2-way Incident Syncing allows you to take advantage of our 30 minute callback SLA within your own instance 
• When you open incidents, the integration automatically checks to see if equipment is under contract and assigns them to a Service Express engineer 
• The integration is compatible with ServiceNow Orlando, Paris, and Quebec and Supports MSP/Domain-separated instances 

Updates to Ticket Detail

You will now see “System Name” and “Description” in the Equipment Details section of a ticket, helping you track the status of your systems.  

Bugs Fixed:

• Newly created tickets will now show up in the ticket list view without a refresh
• The left menu ticket count will now match displayed tickets
• Monitoring icon will now appear on all monitored equipment

New Features:

Updates to Equipment Grid

The Equipment section has been updated and includes additional functionality.

• You are now able to create and save a custom view, allowing you to choose what columns you would like to see. After saving, the equipment grid will default to your custom view.
• If you have ExpressConnect Monitoring, you will now see a monitoring icon displayed, allowing you to easily determine what equipment is being monitored.
• All headers are now sort-enabled when clicked. An arrow icon will be displayed in the selected header.
• View more information easily with additional columns of data and increased row density.
• You are now able to hover over a piece of equipment to create a ticket, reducing the number of clicks.

New Features:

New Features:

Updated Login Screen

Announcements section features an update to our Integrations services. Continue to look for expanded offerings and new supported products here.  

Updated Menu

The Left Hand Menu has been updated to include ExpressConnect Integrations. Click into the Integrations tab to find out more on the monitoring services we currently integrate with.

Bugs Fixed:

• Chat feature not connecting on updated version of Chrome

New Features:

Updates to Service Tickets Grid

Updates to New Service Ticket

Previously, you would see all locations in the dropdown, including those that did not have equipment on that location. Now, the default will hide locations without equipment. If you need to access those locations, select the ‘Show Empty Locations’ checkbox.

Bugs Fixed:

• Intermittent file upload errors
• ‘Show Empty Locations’ on Agreements page

ExpressConnect has expanded from a portal to a platform to better serve you. The platform includes API ticketing integration and hardware monitoring solutions. You can continue using your portal username and password to access the platform going forward. 

New Features:

Updated Login Screen

Announcements will be posted on the left panel of the ExpressConnect login screen. Look for expanded offerings and new supported products here. 

Updated Menu

• The Left Hand Menu has been updated and includes two new tabs for Monitoring and API Integration.
  • ExpressConnect Monitoring is an automated 24/7 hardware support solution.  
  • ExpressConnect API Integration enables you to view and manage your tickets in your preferred platform.  
• Click into the new Monitoring and API Integration tabs for an introduction to each new service.  

Monitoring Alerts in Service Ticket Grid

Tickets automatically placed by ExpressConnect Monitoring will include the Monitoring Alert icon within the Service Ticket grid. 

New Features:

Updated Left Hand Menu

The Left Hand Menu order has been updated and includes two new links.

1. EOL & EOSL Database: Click on “EOL & EOSL Database” and you are directed to the database on our website where you can search for EOL & EOSL dates.
   
2. Release Notes: Click on “Release Notes” and you are directed to the New Features and Releases webpage so you can access past releases or updates at any time.

New Feature Banner

When a new feature or update has been made to ExpressConnect, a banner will appear with a link that directs you to the view the New Features and Releases webpage.

This is the same link located in the Release Notes on the left menu mentioned above.

Once you select the “X” on the banner, your browser will remember and the next time you log in, the banner will not appear until a new banner has been posted.

New Features:

An extension # field has been added to the Location Contact should you need to include an extension for engineers to quickly contact the callback contact.

Users: If you are an admin on your account with access to the Users tab, you can Deactivate/Reactivate a User under the User’s profile. A transaction history will display for the last action that was made.

Future Start Date appears in the Equipment Grid if the equipment is NOT on warranty track and that start date with Service Express is in the future. Any tickets placed on equipment with a future start date will be billable until they become active on that start date.

Schedule Callback Feature for Service Tickets. A more information button has been added. When clicked on, a pop-up will appear with details on how the schedule callback feature works.

Bugs Fixed:

• Privacy policy page URL was updated
• Update “Request Change” modal to use new email API
• Increased the speed on equipment page load