March 27, 2025
Clearer Error Messaging for WhatsApp Messages
WhatsApp has a 24-hour session rule that allows you to message Customers only within 24 hours of their last response. The 24-hour window refreshes with each Customer response. We've updated the associated error message to: “Message not sent. WhatsApp’s 24-hour conversation window has expired” which clarifies that the messaging restriction is imposed by WhatsApp, not Gladly. If the 24-hour window closes, you’ll only be able to message the Customer again if they message you.
Seamlessly Toggle SSO On and Off Without Losing Your Configurations
When you deactivate SSO, Gladly will now preserve your previous configuration values —so you won’t need to re-enter them if you decide to reactivate SSO later.
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Empowering Accessibility: Glad App Accessibility Updates For An Inclusive Experience
We continue to make Glad App more accessible for folks using screen readers. This means easier navigation, better labeling, and increased compatibility with assistive tech. We're also making sure everything lines up with the ADA, so the app is super user-friendly for everyone, no matter what. This week’s enhancements include:
Preventing keyboard focus (the blue highlighted border around focused content) from highlighting Answer content. As per ADA guidance, only interactive elements in the Glad App are now keyboard-focusable.
We updated the background color of the Glad App payment request status text, making the “completed” payment status easier to read.
The out-of-the-box styling and implementation of Glad App meets and complies with WCAG 2.1 standards.
Send HTML Messages Through Conversation API
Based on customer feedback, we're enhancing our Reply to Conversation API to support HTML messages, aligning it with our Public Message Automation API. This upgrade ensures a seamless and consistent experience across our platform, allowing for richer, more engaging communications.
[Downtime This Week] ‘Gladly Connect Community’ Rebranding to ‘Gladly Academy’
Our e-learning and training website, connect.gladly.com, will be rebranded as Gladly Academy under a new domain, academy.gladly.com, on Thursday, March 20th. We were originally scheduled to implement this update last week, but we had to postpone it due to unforeseen circumstances. Although the branding and website address are changing, you will still have access to valuable content. This includes Gladly-first training, the Support Hero Gladly Certification, CX-focused courses, and resources for personal skill development.
The website will be unavailable on March 20th from 12:30 PM PT until 4 PM PT and inaccessible while we complete the rebranding
CLASSROOM
QA Best Practices for Sidekick
Want to ensure that Sidekick is crushing it? Let's talk QA! We're holding a Classroom session on March 31, 2025, at 9 AM PT, all about keeping Sidekick in top shape. Whether you're a seasoned Gladly user or just curious about Sidekick, this session is a great opportunity to sharpen your skills and explore how Sidekick can enhance your workflow.
RESOURCE
Gladly Referral Promotion
Love using Gladly? Now’s your chance to share the experience with others in your professional network. Submit your B2C or e-commerce to receive up to $2,000! Visit the Refer-A-Friend program to learn how.
REVIEWS
You're In Good Company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
March 20, 2025
Empowering Glad App Inclusivity and Accessibility
We continue to make Glad App more accessible for folks using screen readers. This means easier navigation, better labeling, and increased compatibility with assistive tech. We're also making sure everything lines up with the ADA, so the app is super user-friendly for everyone, no matter what.
Glad App Chat input field no longer auto-receives focus when opening Glad App.
Glad App on mobile web devices now fills the device’s screen.
Quick Actions in Glad App that opens an Answer can now be activated by focusing the Quick Action element and pressing the enter or spacebar key
The line separating the chat message composer and messages is now darker.
Full HTML Rendering of Emails
Now, you can see way more of those original HTML emails! We've bumped up the viewing limit from 30k to 250k characters. So, with those super long email threads, you'll finally be able to review them in their original form with the "View original HTML" option. Just keep in mind that if an email goes over the limit, the formatting will be stripped.
Temporary Deprecation of Sidekick ‘Suggest Next Steps’ Feature
The "Suggested next steps" feature in Sidekick has been temporarily removed while we work to improve its accuracy. This feature will be restored in the near future.
[Downtime This Week] ‘Gladly Connect Community’ Rebranding to ‘Gladly Academy’
Our e-learning and training website, connect.gladly.com, will be rebranded as Gladly Academy under a new domain, academy.gladly.com, on Thursday, March 20th. While the branding and website address are changing, you’ll still have access to great content, including Gladly-first training, the Support Hero Gladly Certification, CX-focused courses, and personal skill development resources.
The website will be unavailable on March 20th from 12:30 PM PT until 4 PM PT and inaccessible to complete the rebranding.
Payment Details Auto-Fill Appeared in Glad App Composer
Fixed – Browser auto-fill features such as credit card payment details auto-populated the text composer.
Mobile Chat Notifications Appeared with HTML Markups
Fixed – Glad App Chat notifications on mobile rendered with HTML markings in the push notification body.
Loop Returns Card Not Loading
Fixed – The ‘Returns’ cards would not render or get stuck in a loading state.
CLASSROOM
QA Best Practices for Sidekick
Want to ensure that Sidekick is crushing it? Let's talk QA! We're holding a Classroom session on March 31, 2025, all about keeping Sidekick in top shape. Whether you're a seasoned Gladly user or just curious about Sidekick, this session is a great opportunity to sharpen your skills and explore how Sidekick can enhance your workflow.
RESOURCE
Gladly Referral Promotion
Love using Gladly? Now’s your chance to share the experience with others in your professional network. Submit your B2C or e-commerce to receive up to $2,000! Visit the Refer-A-Friend program to learn how.
REVIEWS
You're In Good Company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
March 13, 2025
Empowering Accessibility: More Glad App Accessibility Updates for Everyone
We’re introducing additional ADA-compliance-related improvements to Glad App to improve screen reader functionality:
The chat timestamps in Glad App are now darker and more readable.
The HTML for Public Answer titles in Glad App now uses a <h2> tag instead of a <div> for better screen reader support. There’s no visible difference.
The border/line separating the Chat conversation and composer in Glad App is now darker, with increased weight with a drop shadow to improve the visual separation between each element.
Additional UI updates to Glad App to increase the visibility of texts and input include:
Visual update to the hover and focus state or the close and back buttons.
A double-focus outline around the Chat with us! button to ensure that there is a focus outline that has at least a 3:1 contrast ratio.
Darkened color of text, icons, and borders of Quick Actions.
Updates to the focus state of Quick Replies use a double outline to ensure a focus outline with at least a 3:1 contrast ratio.
The search input background is white and darkens the text and border color.
The clear search icon is black and updates the hover and focus states to be more visible.
A hover and focus state for search result items.
Accessibility label for agent typing indicators for users with screen readers.
Instagram and Facebook Messenger Setup UI Updates
We’ve updated our Instagram and Facebook Messenger setup flow to align with Meta’s latest UI changes, ensuring a seamless experience connecting your business Pages and granting Gladly the necessary permissions.
Temporary Deprecation of Sidekick ‘Suggest Next Steps’
Sidekick's "Suggested next steps" feature, which appears when handing off to an Agent, will be temporarily removed in next week’s release as we work to improve its suggestion accuracy. We plan to restore this feature in the near future.
[Downtime] ‘Gladly Connect Community’ Rebranding to ‘Gladly Academy’
Our e-learning and training website, connect.gladly.com, will be rebranded as Gladly Academy under a new domain, academy.gladly.com, on Thursday, March 20th. Besides the website address and description changes, it’ll continue to be where you find all Gladly-first training courses, like the Support Hero Gladly Certification, along with many CX-focused e-learning courses and personal skill development.
The website will be unavailable from 12:30 PM PT until 4 PM PT and inaccessible to complete the rebranding.
New Gladly Platform Sub-Processor
This is a notification that Gladly will use ElevenLabs as a data sub-processor to generate audio responses.
App Platform Actions Failing
Fixed – App Platform Actions failed due to an expired OAuth access token not being re-tried with the refreshed access token, causing the re-try to fail.
PRODUCT
Proactive Voice Setup Video
This Proactive Voice setup video streamlines the process of launching your first Campaign. It provides clear, visual guidance, eliminating guesswork and reducing setup time. With this resource, you can confidently navigate the Proactive Voice setup, ensuring your Campaigns are launched efficiently and effectively.
RESOURCE
Gladly Referral Promotion
Love using Gladly? Now’s your chance to share the experience with others in your professional network. Submit your B2C or e-commerce to receive up to $2,000! Visit the Refer-A-Friend program to learn how.
REVIEWS
You're In Good Company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.
March 6, 2025
Proactive Voice IVR Template Includes New ‘Hang Up’ Node
The addition of the Message (Hang up) node after the Message (Voicemail Message) in the template ensures Proactive Voice IVR Campaign calls end after leaving a voicemail.
Empowering Accessibility: Making Glad App Accessible for Everyone
We’re introducing a small number of ADA-compliance-related improvements to Glad App to improve screen reader functionality:
The Back link and close (X) button on the header of Glad App can now be triggered when either option is in focus or the space bar is pressed.
The HTML for the "Header" and "Active chat header" in Glad App is updated to use an H2 tag instead of a div for better screen reader support.
The border/line separating the Chat conversation and composer in Glad App is now darker, with increased weight with a drop shadow to improve the visual separation between each element.
New Gladly Platform Sub-Processor
This is a notification that Gladly will use ElevenLabs as a data sub-processor to generate audio responses.
Voice/SMS Phone Number Purchase Error
Fixed – Purchasing a Voice/SMS phone number through Gladly resulted in a 500 error, blocking the purchase process.
RESOURCE
BSN Sports Scores Big with AI-Driven Customer Service
BSN Sports revolutionized their customer service by embracing Gladly's AI capabilities, affectionately naming their AI assistant "Stanley" and making it a true team member. Their creative implementation approach led to dramatic improvements in efficiency while maintaining their personal touch with customers. Discover how they achieved 90% service levels and reduced staffing needs by more than half during peak seasons.
RESOURCE
Gladly Referral Promotion
Love using Gladly? Now’s your chance to share the experience with others in your professional network. Submit your B2C or e-commerce to receive up to $2,000! Visit the Refer-A-Friend program to learn how.
REVIEWS
You're In Good Company
We’d love to hear from you! Please share your insights on Gladly and leave us a review on G2 Crowd.