In this release we are offering you a more intuitive platform with a cleaner, crispier design throughout the platform, a new way to navigate, and an experience that is focused within a network at a particular time, better help and an overall simplicity with your interactions with our applications.

Here are some details:

New Features

Inbox

A great new way to track all inbound messages and to setup automatic responses to specific keywords...

This is a new application that allows you to monitor all incoming messages to your network. It is particularly useful if you are using your own dedicated phone number and SIM for your clients (just ask about our eSYNC android application that allows you to setup any android phone as your own personal gateway/number).  A few additional features:

•         You can setup automatic replies to specific keywords you define
•         You can setup automatic subscription to your network 
•         You can setup automatic subscription to an alert 
•       You can setup automatic subscription to a group within your network

These keywords (or 'autoresponders') are powerful ways to allow your clients to automatically interact with you. You can setup 'help' 'officehours' 'callme' 'weevil' or anything you want... You can tell clients just to text in messages as a part of your customer service program. 

SMS Traffic Widget

A convenient way to view SMS activities in your Network 

We have added a new widget (little boxes) on your dashboard to give you a snapshot view of SMS traffic within your network. 

Alerts Delivery Time

You can now set specific delivery time for alerts and messages

Now you determine when Alerts and Messages are deployed; they can be setup to be delivered at specific times. But please be informed that we are not guarantying that alerts would be delivered exactly at those times.

A new way to navigate: the Esoko AppBar

Navigating through apps is now hassle free. Just find each app on a horizontal app bar.

Apps are central to Esoko and so we've elevated them and run them across the top of the page. Here you can see all the various apps that you can use. Later we'll allow you to customize this list and exclude those that are not relevant so you can customize the experience to your project and managers:

• • 8 apps listed, starting with people & agents that are the core
  • click on each app and the page below (with left menu) changes
  • Apps now reflect more 'management' and less 'content'
  • Prices and offers now found under marketplace
  • News & Offers hidden under reports, but available as widgets
  • "Customize my app list" to come in 2014 Q2

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Enhancements

Homepage/Signup/Login

We present a cleaner and consistent homepage, easy signup process and a simple login page.

We are launching Esoko 2.0 with a cleaner homepage that clarifies the positioning of Esoko as a Communications platform. Three sections that show: our apps, our uses, resellers, about us.

Login page that is simple and straightforward and a Signup page that is a step-by-step process with a focus on building your working space; network.

Living within your Network - a new Focus

Login and work within your network. Esoko 2.0 is all about your network! Control what you see!

We strongly believe that each client is really managing a network of clients... so we've made an important shift by requiring you to login to ONE network at a time. Here you see your networks' people, agents and apps. If you have more than one network you have to shift between them (see below). IF you want content from another network you can setup a sharing relationship to import that content. You are in a 'network focus':

• • Limited to just your people, content and information
  • Switch between networks and change the entire interface
  • Select your primary network and always default to it
  • Setup sharing rules to get content from other networks
  • Your network is now listed at the top of your page.

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People

Managing people is simple and easier now. 

Esoko stands for network of people, therefore in this release, building your networks has been simplified and make easier. You can upload your people, view who you have in your network, manage their details, and set them up in groups. 

Push

We have simplified how you push out SMS's, straightforward with help along the way

This is an application you're already familiar with. This is where you can setup SMS campaigns. The functionality remains the same, but the layout is improved. A couple of improvement you should expect in this release is ability to schedule a message at time of day (eg. 6am 9am noon etc.)

Marketplace  

You don't need to move between apps to view prices and offers anymore. Find them all in Marketplace

Although this is a new app, the content and features have already existed on Esoko from the beginning. We've just grouped offers and prices under this app, rather than leaving them in their own apps. Here you can do the following:

• See the current prices for any product/market combination
• View the prices in data or chart format
• download the prices (if you have permissions)
• Search for specific trends over time (price search function)
• View offers to sell or bids to buy
• Upload your own offer to buy or sell

The Notification Menu

Your notifications are now more prominent and accessible, also an easier way to reach the Approve app

The application is acts more intelligently now by proactively sending you notices about things you need to do, or requests that are pending for you. So in the top bar at the right is a notification icon (a bell) and if you have notices there is a little red circle showing how many notifications you have:

-          Approve notifications indicate where you approve prices, offers, news, people, sharing rules etc.

-          Notifications include low balance

NOTE: No more approve app

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The Settings Menu

Wield power with the settings menu; set your preferences easily.

This is the most important link in the app and it's the simple menu icon at the top right of your page. Inside this dropdown is a massive amount of functionality that you need to master to manage the settings and configuration of your network; your own profile and to be able to switch between networks. Please learn this dropdown and use it:

• • Setup and manage your personal settings
  • Setup and manage your network settings
  • Track transactions and billing for you or your network
  • Switch between networks
  • Logout

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Under The Hood Changes

Like all major updates, Esoko 2.0 comes with some major changes that are not visible or easily quantified/identified. Below are some of the changelogs in Esoko 2.0

• All application access is now encrypted. The platform now operates on HTTPS ensuring security in logging in, financial transactions and data security

• Rackspace servers have been upgraded to the most recent version allowing improved flexibility for management and expansion.

• Apache configuration has been prepared for pending support for network sites and urls (e.g mynetwork.esoko.com)

• minor improvements to deployment footprint and build pipeline

• With the implementation of network level permissions, the complex process of assigning permissions to a user and especially restricting them to particular networks has been simplified.

• Now, data on the approve page are those for the network only

• Users can now make another member an administrator of networks with ease without having to contact their Business Advisors at Esoko to do that.

• By implementation of the single network and permissions, only agents and people with explicit permission to upload to particular network can upload content.

• Agent app - show markets I pick, not parent town.

• Agents app - Ability to search for agents using mobile numbers

• Location chooser - Cleaned up doubles under locations.

• Confirmation messages last longer on pages

• Weather - users can now receive alerts in their preferred language

• Users with the same mobile numbers can be profiled

• Subscription limits are displayed under notification

• During uploads, errors are properly labelled 

Known Issues

The following is the list of known issues:

• In people application 'recently added' is standard and the rules cannot be edited 
• Network billing account names cannot be renamed
• Pending request for sharing data cannot be seen
• New participants cannot be included in a poll that has already been created
• When Network name is longer than 15 characters, changes to settings cannot be saved
• In Push, it is not possible to save a message as a template
• People: Fix so that users cannot be added to groups that they are already members.
• Under "User settings" saving occupations fails
• Users who are already registered on Esoko receive the wrong error message when trying to sign up again
• On 'signup' page, there is no link to 'signing' page
• Photos uploaded during sign up fails to display
• Details of some network members do not show
• In the People app, count on number of people in a network is wrong

What's Missing & Coming Later