Even Better Messaging - Attachments & Emoji

We’ve said it before, and we are saying it again.  “We are building a product that people want to use.” Often times that means adding features like Open Pin or Remote Control that customers request in order to use Biba to have better meetings.

But this month in addition to ongoing enhancements, bug fixes and a better user experience with our new launchpad we bring you attachments and emoji!

Attachments:

You can add files, photos, documents, or share whatever else you need in any 1:1 chat, group chat, or chat room. The attachments are saved along with your message history so you can easily retrieve whatever you share. Thumbnail previews of your attachments appear inline right within your chat room or message. You can easily save any attachment directly to your laptop or other device just by clicking on the preview and selecting “Save to Downloads”.

Emoji:

Are 100’s of different smiley faces and images mandatory for business messaging? Probably not, but after a couple of weeks of having them in our internal test builds I admit my Biba chats are more fun.  Besides what brings a team together faster than emoji wars in the All Company room with each person trying to outdo the other? The full list of emoji characters is available at http://www.emoji-cheat-sheet.com/.

Business Messaging is Still Free:
Because Business Messaging is part of Biba Basic - both attachments and emoji are available in the free version of the product. So whether it’s infusing a little fun into a team chat room or sharing a photo or document, Biba is building Business Messaging you want to use everyday. Enjoy!

Biba Launchpad

We released Biba Desktop in December and since then the product team has added a ton of great features (screen share, remote control, video conferencing, video calling and more). With all of this new functionality in the product we took a step back and realized that our desktop  was not as intuitive as it was back when Biba was simply business chat and audio conferencing.

Today we’ve released a set of icons called launchpad for our Windows and Mac apps. Launchpad gives easy access to all your key points of collaboration at the top of your Biba window.

In addition we’ve included some new features along with the release of the launchpad.


Screen Share without Biba audio

Sales and support teams often are on a traditional telephone line (think dialing into a toll free customer support number) with a customer or prospect and need to share their screen.  We have always allowed external guests to view a screen share simply with an html browser link and dial in audio. Now you can simply click the screen button in launchpad and share your screen without having to start a meeting with Biba audio first.




Instant Meetings with Conference Bridge

Last month we added a traditional open conference bridge for those who want to schedule a meeting with people not on the Biba app. Now with the new launchpad, you have the ability to start ad-hoc calls using your conference number and pin.

What does bug fixing and stability mean at Biba?

As we were getting ready for our April release (v2.6) at Biba HQ (more on the definition of what HQ means for Biba in another post) - there was palpable excitement. Our last release went out March 17, and 28 days later it was hard not to look at all the team had done in 4 weeks and be excited.

When it was time to write blog posts and other release notes, we ended up with this list: Attachments and Emoji, Launchpad, and Bug Fixes and Stability. Now while that list may work for the 4 bullet points that accompany the release in Google Play or the App Store, it did not even come close to covering all that the team had accomplished in one short month!

We realized the problem was not how much we could get done in a month, but instead how we told people about all that we accomplished. So we bring you “Bug Fixes and Stability for 2.6” - it’s a pretty impressive list!

Bug Fixing and Stability Version 2.6

• Improvements to User Interface

• Floating toolbar with quick links to Leave, Mute and Video. 
• Less frequently used call controls moved to the More menu.
• Conference bridge number at the bottom of Call Roster for easy access when you are in a call. One click to copy so you can easily distribute to your attendees.
• Clearer differentiation between "End Call" and "Leave" (this was a frequent request from customers).
• Auto minimize the Biba window when you start a screen share.
• Video User Experience - we first rolled out video conferencing in January, added video calling last month and made some great UX changes in this release.
• Call controls in the Video Window.
• Pop-up video when others join and manual enable when you are ready to share.
• View-only video so you can see other participant's video even if you aren't sharing.
• Video auto-pause if network connections are bad (we optimize for audio).
• Choose to pause and resume selected video tiles - including your own.

• Ongoing Improvements to New User Experience - Look for another big push around this next release (yep only 28 days from now!)
• Choose to automatically send an invitation to join Biba to anyone that you add to a meeting invite that includes meet@biba.com
• Better notifications when users are added to a Room and new contacts join Biba.
• AirPlay - Use Apple AirPlay to share your screen for an in person meeting. Screen and video can be projected on an in room screen or TV without interrupting audio from the device.

And if all that was not enough, we fixed a total of 506 bugs over the last 28 days! And that is what bug fixing and stability mean at Biba!