Welcome to This Week in Zoho, your weekly drop of all the need-to-know Zoho news and updates that you won't want to miss!
You may have noticed we've been less weekly than usual over the last month - we've been busy moving offices and expanding the team, but now we're getting things back on track and have a whole stack of updates for you!
Before we begin, a quick introduction: I'm Jake, a Zoho consultant and developer with over 5 years of experience. I run Limitless
, a gaming-changing Zoho Consultancy that offers unlimited consultancy and development starting at just ￡1500 per month! Learn more by booking a free introductory meeting by clicking here
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Now, back to the main event, here are all the Zoho updates you need to know about this week (plus some big updates from the weeks we missed!):
Native WorkDrive Integration
- Native WorkDrive Integration: New CRM signups now have WorkDrive for file storage instead of Zoho Docs. Existing users will be able to migrate as Zoho roles out the update.
- Document Tab Enhancements: The ability to view Team Folders from WorkDrive will be released as part of this upgrade.
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Attachments Related List Connected to WorkDrive: Files uploaded via the Attachments Related List being stored in WorkDrive, this means that once this update is live, most of the current limitations like limited storage and upload limits will be removed.
Zoho will be sharing more about the upgrade path over the next few months, but this is a really exciting upgrade that will make WorkDrive the obvious choice for CRM users.
Quick Filter in CRM Reports
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Quick-view filter: Add up to five filter criteria to reports, covering fields like Date, Checkbox, User Lookup, and Picklist for refined analysis.
- Live filtering: Filters now appear on the left-side panel, updating results in real-time as you adjust parameters.
- Pre-define filters: Set filters during report creation, allowing team members to view focused data (e.g., sales by rep).
- Picklist colour codes: Picklist values in reports will display their designated colour codes.
Minor Workflow Upgrades
- Reschedule scheduled actions: Modify scheduled workflow actions, applying changes to both new and previously scheduled actions.
- Date formula fields: Workflow rules can now be executed based on date formulas.
- New record limits: Updated limits for records created through automation actions like tasks or meetings.
- Task workflow triggers: Workflows now trigger for tasks created via automation, with loop prevention.
CRM Sandbox Enhancements
- Services module support: Test and configure service categories, job sheets, and more within the sandbox.
- Appointments module support: Manage and track appointments in the sandbox environment.
Zoho Desk 2024 Autumn Release
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Pinned comments in tickets: Agents can now pin important comments or threads for easy reference.
- Ticket status update on replies: Automatically update ticket status while sending a response.
- Knowledge base improvements: Customers can follow specific articles or sections for updates and enjoy better navigation with accordion and tab features.
- Scheduled data backups: Admins can set regular backups for easy data recovery.
- IM replies in Blueprint transitions: Agents can now reply directly through IM channels like WhatsApp during specific transitions.
- Ticket thresholds: Set maximum ticket limits for agents and departments to balance workloads.
- Macros for ticket transfers: Use macros to move tickets to specific departments or layouts for better workflow management.
- Zia Answer Bot enhancements: Zia can now generate responses using knowledge base articles or ChatGPT, with support for 13 languages.
- Mass WhatsApp Messaging: Send bulk WhatsApp messages to multiple contacts while avoiding duplicates.
- Facebook Messenger & Instagram Integration: Manage customer communication directly from social media.
- Customisable Business Messaging Widget: Add a real-time chat widget to your website with custom design options.
- Multi-WABA Support: Manage multiple WhatsApp Business Accounts for different brands or departments.
- IM Webhooks: Automate tasks and enhance workflows with instant messaging integrations.
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Zoho FSM Integration: Convert tickets into work orders for field service tasks directly within Zoho Desk.
- ?? Personal Favourite ?? API Usage Alerts: Set custom API usage thresholds and receive notifications.
Zoho Analytics 6.0 Update
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Real-time data sync with Zoho CRM (Enterprise Plan Only).
- 25+ new data connectors including Oracle Netsuite, ClickUp, Airtable, etc.
- Sync History and Audit History for better data monitoring.
- ?? Personal Favourite ?? Streaming Data API for adding custom real-time data sources.
- Undo Import for error rollbacks (Enterprise Plan Only).
- Data Pipelines with no-code transformation tools (Premium Plan & Enterprise Plans Only).
- New chart types: Sankey, Racing, Geo Map Layers, and more.
- ?? Personal Favourite ?? Improved conditional formatting with colour bands and relative fields.
- Enhanced dashboard design tools like customisable themes, new text formatting and widget forecasting.
There are even more updates included with this release of Analytics, especially around AI and user management - I would recommend you check out the full blog from Zoho for all the details.
September Product Updates
- Branch-Specific Journal Entries: Track credit/debit differences across branches more effectively with new branch-specific views for manual journals.
- Bulk Download e-Invoices: Download multiple invoices in JSON format for easier submission to the e-Invoicing portal.
- Extension Settings: New options in the Zoho Books Developer Portal allowing the configuration of secret keys and redirection domains for better security and user flow during extension installations.
- Keyboard Navigation Enhancements: A new "Navigate-to" feature improves keyboard accessibility, letting users jump to key sections quickly.
- ?? Personal Favourite ?? Criteria for Custom Buttons: Add criteria to custom buttons to control visibility and functionality based on specific conditions.
August Product Updates
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Custom Dashboards: Available for Elite and Ultimate plans, allowing customisation of widgets, reports, and charts.
- Report Permissions: Enhanced permissions for sharing reports without giving module access.
- Enhanced Barcode Templates: More customisation options for barcode templates, improving inventory and product tracking.
- Export Journals: Users can now export journal entries for streamlined reporting and external analysis.
- Custom Field Search for Journals: Advanced search capabilities allow users to filter journal entries based on custom fields, making it easier to find specific records.
iOS and iPadOS 18 Updates
- ?? Personal Favourite ?? Capture receipts from the lock screen: Use iOS's Locked Camera Capture to capture receipts quickly.
- Quickly create transactions from Control Center: Instantly create invoices, estimates, and more via a widget.
- Device contact sync: Import contacts from your device into Zoho Books.
- Unified contacts: Zoho Books contacts now appear in your device’s Contacts app.
- Track project time via Apple Watch: Monitor and adjust project time with watchOS 11's Live Activities.
August Product Updates
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Bin Locations: Now you can organize warehouse inventory by assigning items to specific bins, improving efficiency.
- ?? HUGE UPDATE ?? Stock Count Revamp: Easier planning and scheduling for physical inventory checks, with a smoother interface for discrepancies.
- Custom Barcode Templates: More design flexibility for barcodes, making tracking even more efficient.
iOS and iPadOS 18 Updates
- Quickly create transactions: Add Zoho Billing to your Control Center for instant access to creating invoices, quotes, items, and more.
- Contact sync: Sync device contacts with Zoho Billing for seamless customer management.
- Unified contacts: Zoho Billing contacts appear in your device’s Contacts app under a dedicated tab for easy access.
- Action button customisation: Customise the action button on iPhones to quickly perform Zoho Billing tasks.
Zia AI Updates
- Zia Bot: Manage tasks, issues, and projects with natural language commands.
- Zia Search: Quick, conversational searches for project data.
- Zia Insights: Actionable insights from reports for better decision-making.
- Zia Translate: Translate comments into 70+ languages for global collaboration.
- Generative AI: Use ChatGPT for content creation, paraphrasing, and refining text within projects.
Thank you again for taking the time to read through this newsletter ??.
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