12 Weeks & 115 Thousand Lines of Code Later

September 9, 2021
 min read

Vxt Release 3.0.2

Well, it's been a long time coming. Back in December, we teased a whole range of new functionality and changes to the app. Today, we're happy to report that our latest, and largest ever update is live on iOS, Android & browsers. Since October, our team has been battling to rebuild much if not all of our service from the ground up to make Vxt easier to use for our wide range of customers, as well as, ensuring that our systems are reliable at scale as we continue to grow. And, after changing, creating & destroying 115 thousand lines of code, we've done it.Whilst many of the new systems developed as a part of this update are behind the scenes we are also releasing many new user-facing features and product changes. Over the coming few weeks we'll dive deep into each one with how-to videos and blog posts, but for now, here's an overview.

Inbox sharing

You can now seamlessly share access to your inbox with colleagues in your Vxt Organisation. Inbox sharing can be very useful when you're working on shared projects with your teammates or if you're particularly busy when they're free and vice versa you might like to help each other stay on top of missed messages. If you have admin staff in your team who regularly help fulfill customer service tasks this can also be a great way to reduce response times and improve your customer service experience.

A screenshot of the Vxt Web app showing the inbox sharing tab.
Screenshot from Vxt Web of the voicemail inbox sharing tab.

To share an inbox with a teammate, make sure you're both in the same Vxt Organisation, or create one, then open the inbox you'd like to share and navigate to the Inbox Sharing tab. From there it's self-explanatory but if you have any trouble you can, of course, email our friendly team at info@vxt.co.nz.


Multiple inboxes

It's easier than ever to use multiple numbers with Vxt including phones with multi-SIM capability or a combination of mobile & non-mobile numbers. You can set up Vxt with any geographic (landline/desk phone) number, as well as toll-free numbers, using our new phone call authentication system. Once you've set up an additional phone number or had a phone number shared you can easily swap between the inbox you are viewing using the drop-down menu on the top left hand of the mobile app.


Setting up landlines, desk phones etc

When we first released our mobile application in August 2019 using a landline, toll-free, or any other non-mobile with Vxt Voicemail was impossible. Not ideal. Later we released a feature called Personal Inbox Numbers which allowed users to forward voicemail from landlines or multiple phone numbers to one Vxt account. Unfortunately, for users setting up a personal inbox number wasn't particularly easy. This work around had some drawbacks as well. You couldn't tell which phone your voicemails were associated with because they all appeared in a single inbox. With our new system it's easy to set up multiple inboxes as described above. And if you're setting up Vxt with a device which can't receive SMS text messages, we can verify that you own the phone by giving you an automated phone call that reads out a verification code.


Set up overhaul

For most people, setting up Vxt is their first exposure to conditional call forwarding, which is how you send your voicemail to us. For good reason, mobile service providers and phone manufacturers make it hard for apps to change conditional call forwarding settings without intervention from users. That's because toll fraud and other common types of telecommunications crime can cause a lot of issues. If conditional call forwarding settings were easy to manipulate, bad actors would jump on the opportunity to exploit them.  Our new set up process makes turning Vxt on more user friendly and intuitive by using a simple diagram that changes as you complete the process.

An in app screenshot of the call forwarding set up screen inside of the Vxt app.
The new call forwarding screen in the Vxt mobile app

Making complicated processes simple and easy is something we value and while this might not seem like a big deal, we're quite proud of it! Annoying issues with how telecommunications companies handle conditional call forwarding and fail to comply with good practices & standards remain, such as the common issue with iPhones on the Vodafone network.     We've also introduced the ability to create an account using different methods. Historically, you've only been able to create an account with your phone number, now you can sign up with an email/password, Google & Apple.


Updates you can expect to see over the next few months

We know there are a few minor bugs with the app as of releasing this update as can be expected with such a major overhaul, but we're working to resolve them quickly and if you notice any we'd really appreciate a message at info@vxt.co.nz. Over the next few months, we'll be rolling out some more minor improvements, large new features, and Vxt Call. You can sign up for early access to Vxt Call here. We'll also be releasing many integrations. If there are any integrations you'd particularly like to see please let us know.

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