As part of the 2020 TOS changes, “Users must conduct all pre-contract conversations (aka interviews) through the Upwork platform”. If users need technical assistance with how to use these tools or are experiencing any trouble, they’ll reach out to CS for help.
Video and Voice Calls - this help article goes through the call method the Messages has for users
Call Options Available in Messages
We have all these options within Dash, as well, in case you wanted to try them out. Be sure to let your colleague know before testing, though!
Important Note: In all these cases, it’s typically a great idea for the CL and FL to sync on a specific time to call each other. It’s not exactly like a phone to phone call. If the CL/FL isn’t on their device to accept the call, they won’t hear/see it come through to make the connection.
Users have 3 options within Messages:
- Zoom Meeting
- Meeting Dial-in
Very Important Reminder:
Keep in mind that if a user is reaching out having issues with any of the call features, they’re most likely trying to do an interview now and our quick/efficient help and service is extremely important to them. It’s important that we know the differences in the support cases we’re helping with and ask ourselves questions like:
- Is this an issue the user is experiencing right now OR are they referring to past experiences with the feature?
- Have we ever attempted troubleshooting with them before OR is this their first reach out?
- Is this user trying to do an interview right now?
- Do they seem upset and flustered?
Quick Tip:
- Check their Messages! You can quickly see if they’ve had any attempts at trying to call someone, who that person was, and what time it was at. This is usually a great indicator if the FL/CL was aware of a call coming in or if they had any recent attempts.
We want to help them connect in their interviews as quickly as possible. Therefore, remember the power of the exception. If a user is having trouble and you’re reaching a dead end or struggling yourself, give them the exception! We can always troubleshoot with them afterwards, but their interview is of the utmost importance, so we want to get them in their call ASAP.
Disclaimer: Users do NOT need a Zoom account to access this feature. They also do NOT need to have the Zoom app downloaded to access this feature. This is all setup through Upwork Messages in such a way to give the user a very seamless experience.
If users share the Zoom link with other people, they can also join the meeting!
Here’s the Zoom Help Center article you can share with users.
Make a Call
Click phone icon > select “Zoom Meeting” and it’ll post a link to a Zoom room right in the chat:
Note: If a user starts/joins a meeting for the first time ever, we show a "accept zoom's TOS" modal
When clicking “Join Zoom meeting”, a few different things can happen depending on the user’s setup:
- If they have the Zoom app opened, the call will open automatically in the app
- If they have the Zoom app and it’s not opened, a new tab will open asking if they want to open their call in the web browser or in the app
- If they don’t have the Zoom app at all, they can choose to download the app OR just use Zoom from their web browser
The following is what the screen may look like for a user that has the Zoom app downloaded. Most users will see a similar screen and can just click “join from your browser” to open up the call:
When they click “join from your browser”, they’ll most likely be asked to enter their name and a captcha code:
And they may need to click to give Zoom access to their audio and then they should be connected with the other party:
Missed Call
Since this is a link added to the room in which both users need to click to get connected, there won’t be a “missed call” image here. The room link will stay active there until both users enter and leave the call.
Answered Call
After everyone leaves the Zoom room, the previous “Join Zoom meeting” link updates to showcase the call ended and how long the call was:
- Integration issue examples:
a. User selects “Zoom Meeting” and the link doesn’t post to the room
b. User selects “Zoom Meeting” and in the TOS acceptance modal also selects “I accept” and the link doesn’t post to the room
2. Macro for user: Thanks for reaching out! I’m sorry you are experiencing this issue. We will report the issue to our product team so they can look into it.
If issue is due to Zoom’s functionalities, info should be collected by us and reported directly to Zoom -
- Zoom functionality examples (anything that happens after a user opens up the Zoom link):
- Video not working
- Audio not working
- Screenshare not working
- Unable to connect other users
2. Information to collect:
- When the call took place
- Browser/mobile
- Browser/mobile type
- Type of network used to connect
- Description of the issue
3. Macro for user: Thanks for reaching out! I’m sorry you are experiencing this issue. We will report the matter to Zoom on your behalf. Thank you.
If you give an exception: after the exception is granted, assign the ticket to Circumvention in ZD with an internal note with specifics as to why you gave the exception. The Circ Team will handle any CSS Notes, tracking needed, and will reach out to the other party to let them know an off-site is okay
If any new or different experiences with Zoom Meeting come to light, please reach out to your SA/TL so they can submit an internal KB update request through the CS Hub (SA/TL has access to the CXI & Training Hub section), so we can add the information to this section for everyone.