New vPanel Design

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Originally Posted by eacollin

How lame is that response.. Why not give some suggestions and be constructive..

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Was done, back-channel.

I concur with Fismo, I really liked the dashboard view over @ Callvantage.
Too bad we don't have a screen print to use as a sample.

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Originally Posted by fisamo

Please don't take my response to your post as being snarky--it's not my intent. But do you have any suggestions for "a completely different approach"?

Here's my suggestion:
I was pretty happy with the CallVantage user interface when I had that service. Upon login, I got a service dashboard that showed status of key features (such as forwarding, do-not-disturb, etc), details regarding the 5 most recent voicemails (caller info, date, time, voicemail had not been listened to if info was in bold)... I could change the status (generally toggle only) of individual features directly from the dashboard, or I could click the name of the feature for more options. Contacts were in a phonebook format (limit of 5 numbers per person; name in phonebook functioned as custom CNAM). Names were all listed alphabetically, with numbers alongside, rather than the records-within-a-record setup that Voipo has implemented.

Most options were all arranged in a single column down the left side of the screen--this column was always visible when logged in. Clicking on one of those options generally brought up the screen I was looking for. In some cases (features one generally wouldn't change often, such as failover destination), I had to click multiple links to get to the screen I wanted, but for the most part, everything I needed was only one click away. In the rare cases where more than one click was needed, it seemed pretty intuitive to figure out how to get to the desired feature controls.

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Another suggestion, when logging off, go back to the VOIPo home page or make the logo on the login screen a link back to the home page. I typically logon, then go to the forum, right now it is a few extra clicks. Thanks

It would be great to have a "Forum" link from the VOIPo control panel.

I would also like to see more detailed caller ID.

I also get confused by the current set of features: more specifically: the contacts and groups and also the "blacklisting," "whitelisting," etc. etc. terminology that is used. It isn't always clear what they mean / what they will actually do.

I find myself testing features all the time because they're frequently confusing.

I think placing them in clearer categories - categories that are not so scattered all over the place as other people have mentioned will make the navigation easier.

I definitely agree with having a "Help" option. It would be great if you could somehow integrate the help articles in the VPanel so I don't have to leave the VPanel to check out the Help link and then have to type the URL again and go back to the page I was previously on.

I was reading the posts about the user interface and CallVantage. I did a Google Images search for CallVantage and there are screenshots of the control panel. Perhaps you could use those to visually explain the control panel features you want that would be clarified with such screenshots?

Here's one: http://images.pcworld.com/news/graph...lvantage1b.gif

There's a couple of images on this page: http://pcworld.about.com/news/May232005id120900.htm

There may be more available through Google Images, so I'd suggest doing a search and finding the photos that show the useful user interface features.

As long as it works in iPhone Safari, Android, Blackberry internet browsers it looks much better. There are a few dead end menus in the current version where you get lost as to how far down in the hierarchy you have gone.

Specifically, I currently can find NO WAY to set up a GROUP. Then i want to forward that group to a funny NO TELEMARKETERS number 973-474-9051 that play a message telling the telemarketer to get lost. I finally found the ADD GROUP button all by itself in the color band at the top. But it doesn't do anything. I cant seem to add any numbers to the group. I cant seem to add the group to an OUTGOING CALL ROUTE. What gives.

VoipoTIM,

If you want some input, try posting the hierarchy in outline format. Include crosslinks (ones that might appear in multiple locations where they make sense intuitively). Then others could copy, edit and repost the hierarchy to show how it could be more intuitive. Right now, no-one wants to take the effort to lay it out for you, but might it they could just copy paste their ideas.

This is actually coming along nicely. We'll have an updated preview for you guys this week.

Initially we will be running both the old and new versions side-by-side for testing and should be ready to start that in 2-3 weeks.

We've been playing with different concepts for last few weeks and I think we have a very good solution for the menu system worked out now which should make things a lot easier.

Basically everything's been organized into a few main categories (Account - Features - Tickets) in the top menu. Then all the subpages within that category are in a side menu.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8508/newpreview.png

We're going to be reorganizing the subcategories some, but this is the overall concept for how we're planning to structure the menus.

There will also be a help bubble beside each item in the subnav.

What do you guys think?

I like!!!

How come "Powered by VPanel"? I thought it was the classy "vPanel"?

I kinda like the name "vPortal" BTW.:)

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Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

There will also be a help bubble beside each item in the subnav.

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Depending on what information you include in the help bubble this is the biggest addition and best change to the new vPanel.

I agree--looks pretty good, but it depends on how the categories are ultimately laid out.

One usability issue I have with the current vPanel, that I haven't seen mentioned lately, is that it relies very heavily on dropdown menus. When there are situations where I have five or less items to choose between, I'd far prefer radio buttons, because all of my choices are visible, and it's a single click to make my selection. Using Tim's screenshot above, I'd recommend that the controls for "Start option", "End option", and "Schedule Every" be changed to a more user-friendly method. Seriously--why should I have to click twice to change a "disabled" to "enabled"?

As another example, every option on the "Features" page (as laid out in the current vPanel) should be managed by radio buttons. The options that require space for the user to specify a number (failover and forwarding) would have that field displayed next to the "Forward To" radio button...

I know I've brought this up before, and (in case it isn't obvious), this is a big pet peeve of mine. I'm not asking you to change it just to make me happy, but because the other selection method would make vPanel MUCH more user-friendly.

Nice work. I like the layout. Can't wait to see the next revision with the categories reorganized.

I too prefer radio buttons, but not hung up on it.

Thanks to all the folks at VOIPo for all your efforts

Nicely done!

When will this be implemented?

A bit surprised to see this still hasn't been implemented. It's been 7 months since we saw a sneak peek at the work being done.

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Originally Posted by jfrizzell

A bit surprised to see this still hasn't been implemented. It's been 7 months since we saw a sneak peek at the work being done.

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It's coming in the very near future.

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Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

It's coming in the very near future.

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Tim - any update on when we will see the new UI?

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Originally Posted by racerdude

Tim - any update on when we will see the new UI?

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Soon. It's been delayed some but is still in the works.

An outsite design firm is also working on a new voipo.com main site too.

Just now getting a chance to weigh in on the revisions. Almost all the input I'd offer has already been offered by others (thanks!).

I would like to suggest indicators in the Call History for two things:

1. Disposition codes (e.g. Answered, Forwarded, VM, Busy, etc.) - including special codes for "routed" calls (e.g. Blacklisted, Whitelisted, Busy Tone, Disc Tones, Forwarded, etc.).

2. A link to the corresponding call routes table entry for each call in Call History that was routed (in or out).

Rationale: A great deal of the value that VoIPo delivers is the ability to route incoming calls so nuisance calls can be managed and priority calls are well handled. Many of us seem to spend time in vPanel periodically going thru Call History finding calls which should be routed differently in the future (mostly telemarketers and wrong number callers in my case). I currently do this in two browser tabs. It would be much easier if the above ideas are incorporated into future vPanel versions. The ideas need more work, but hopefully the basic ideas are clear enough.