Summary
In this article, we summarise key product updates released in Q3 2023
These include:
Workflows launched (replacing Playbooks)
Logs Explorer launched
BigQuery integration supports CRM data as well as usage data
"File Fetcher" to import data from cloud storage providers
"Calendar View" of Tasks in the Actions Module
Automation Template: "Dynamically assign Tasks to Users"
Who is this article for?
All Planhat users
Series
Product updates summary - Q3 2023 β¬ οΈ You are here
Article contents
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
Introduction
Here at Planhat, we have a culture of continuous improvement, and we update Planhat frequently.
The aim of this article series is not to detail every single release, but more to give you a high-level overview of some of the key customer-facing updates - functionality changes you'll see in the UI.
Our Developers also often make improvements to elements in the "backend" - infrastructure/architecture - to enhance performance (e.g. make things load extra quickly, or be even more robust/reliable). We are not going to list these updates here.
βJuly 2023
New Task "Status" field
π Details
This expands out the earlier Task "Outcome" field
Outcomes ("Done"/"Ignored") are system default and archive the Task
You can now also have a selection of other statuses that you can use before completion (including custom ones) such as "Waiting for customer" or "Blocked"
The "log a note" behaviour (when completing a Task) is also expanded, with different options possible - and you can choose your own default option to save clicks
For further details, check out our article here
π Benefits
Task management within Planhat is now more flexible/customisable and quicker/easier
This enables, for example, better "project risk" management - e.g. if a key step is blocked, then you want to alert people
New "Calendar View" of Tasks in the Actions Module
π Details
In the Actions Module, in addition to the List View, you can now view your Tasks in a kanban-style Calendar View
This UI is super clear, customisable and easy to use
For further details, see our article here
π Benefits
The Actions Module is typically the part of Planhat where you, as a CSM, spend the most time
With this enhancement, it's easier for you to manage all your to-dos from different places (including Workflows) - there's advanced functionality available with fewer clicks
Enhancements to the Pendo integration, including support for Pendo Segments
π Details
Support for Pendo Segments (filters)
Time zones accounted for, so more recent data is shown
You can now create new End Users and sync using just email address
Plus other improvements to the integration and the documentation
π Benefits
Planhat's Pendo integration allows you to pull all your customer usage data into Planhat. It's highly powerful and flexible
With these updates, functionality is further enhanced
Once your usage data is synced into Planhat, you can analyse it and take action on it
End User email merge tags
π Details
End User custom fields are now available in email merge tags (when "Multiple Recipient" = disabled)
π Benefits
Merge tags enable you to automatically populate emails (e.g. from Sequence Workflows) with personalised details
Extending support to include End User custom fields gives you more flexibility to automatically populate emails with your choice of End User data
New permission: "Email from dynamic sender"
π Details
This permission enables Users to send emails from "dynamic senders" such as "Account Owner" and "Account Co-Owner"
The permission can be found in the "workflow permissions - features" section. You could choose to enable it for some roles and not for others
π Benefits
In some cases, you might want Planhat users to be able to send emails using their colleagues' email accounts ...
... but you'll likely want to clamp down on this permission so not everyone has access
Rename and reassign list and multipicklist values
π Details
If you want to change a list value (here we're talking about the option name itself, rather than changing the value assigned to a record - e.g. change the option of "Information Technology" to "IT"), instead of creating the new value and then bulk reassigning records, you can now simply rename the value in the field settings
If you rename a list value, the change is propagated to filters and Automations, but not to Calculated Metrics or Formula Fields
π Benefits
If you need to change list values (e.g. because something has changed name), it's now a lot easier to implement this
"File Fetcher" launched - initially for Google Cloud Storage and AWS S3
π Details
A new template has been added to the Automation Station to fetch data from Google Cloud Storage or AWS S3
In subsequent updates, this was expanded to include other cloud storage providers and moved into the Operations Module
Updated documentation here
This includes both CRM data and time-series (usage) data
π Benefits
This allows you to pull data into Planhat from flat file imports, without needing to do them manually. Just drop new files to be imported into a bucket in your cloud storage provider, and Planhat will fetch them periodically
Enhanced text field usability
π Details
Following the recent update to rich text fields, now simple text fields get an update too
Simple text fields are a string of characters in a container: basic one-line text that gets cut off in cells if the string is too long, requiring horizontal scrolling
With this update, you can now put your mouse over text fields to show a tooltip displaying the whole of the field/cell contents, if it's truncated in the UI
π Benefits
This is super useful if you are storing long values in text fields
"Powertool" to merge duplicate records of a data model
π Details
Previously, although there was a Powertool to merge End Users, for other models there wasn't an easy way to handle duplicates in bulk. Now, we have enhanced this Powertool and expanded it out for other data models
You can choose whether source ID or external ID duplicates should be processed first
You can also select a date or numeric field to determine the order in which data is prioritised
For further details, please refer to this article
π Benefits
This new functionality is useful for improving the data hygiene of your tenant, if you have a lot of duplicates. It helps you quickly and easily clear up your data
Going forwards, this tool is expected to be needed less, as duplicates will be increasingly prevented in the first place
Changes to date fields regarding time
π Details
The old "Date" type fields (which stored a time stamp that was not exposed in the UI) have been replaced with:
New "Date Time" fields with a date and time shown in the UI (most Date fields were converted to these)
New "Date" type fields that only store the date and not a time
As part of this, time stamps are now surfaced in some filter rules (so you can select a time zone to define what "this week" etc. corresponds to)
For further details, you can read our guide here
π Benefits
Date fields and filtering are now a lot clearer, and if time zones are affecting the date definition it's exposed in the UI
You can now use pure "Date" fields that don't include a time stamp, if required
"Team List" has moved to the Data Module
π Details
The "Team List" in the Team Module has moved to the "Users" tab in the Data Module
This is the first step of a wider reorganisation of Users (team members) within Planhat
This opens up filtering options for Users, and there are some new system properties (fields) for Users too
"Team Insights" has now moved from the Team Module to Customer Intelligence Module > System Reports
π Benefits
Being in the Data Module means you can easily build filters and folders on the User model
You can also apply a Company filter (e.g. Enterprise Companies) to see the Owners related to the Companies in the filter
Using the portfolio filter (the initial in a circle), you can easily filter by teams of Users
New Automation Template: "Dynamically assign Tasks to Users"
π Details
You may hear this referred to as "pooled work assignment"
This Automation Template allows you to automatically assign Tasks to different Users based on extensive criteria:
Based on any Task filter
In different ways depending on the Company filter it relates to
To Users based on User filters, as well as teams
Using a custom condition (e.g. "who has the lowest number of Tasks due in the next 7 days"), not a hardcoded set of rules
Via any User field on the Task, not just the Owner
As filters and teams are custom, this is incredibly flexible
π Benefits
This Automation Template means it's really easy for you to achieve a "round robin" type of Task assignment, where Tasks are distributed to different Users (team members) based on a wide variety of customisable criteria
It's super useful when a team is responsible for group of Companies
August 2023
"File Fetcher" Automation Template can be used with Google Drive and OneDrive
π Details
Previously we released an Automation Template to import data from Google Cloud Storage or AWS S3 - both CRM data and time-series usage data (metrics)
In this release, we extend support to Google Drive and OneDrive too
Note that in a subsequent release, the "File Fetcher" was incorporated into the new Operations Module as a templated integration - for instructions for all cloud storage providers, see here
π Benefits
This Automation Template allows you to pull data into Planhat from flat file imports, without needing to do them manually. Just drop new files to be imported into a bucket in your cloud storage provider, and Planhat will fetch them periodically
With this release, you now have even more flexibility in terms of which cloud storage provider you can use
Default column preferences for Profile tabs
π Details
This feature applies to both Company Profiles and End User Profiles
This is available for Planhat users with the "Admin access" permission, and lets you define what the default setup should be for:
The tabs across all Profiles (so for example, if you update the "End User" tab columns on Spotify, it also applies to Cisco)
All other users who have yet not defined their personal column preferences
π Benefits
This enables you, as an admin, to design the optimal layout for your team, to ensure they see the most relevant information
Streamlining of "aggregate by" for Calculated Metrics
π Details
There used to be a setting on individual Calculated Metrics to set a way to aggregate data in case of multiple values per timespan (e.g. "SUM" or "AVG"), but then you could also set this on Page widgets. With this release, you just set it on Page widgets
As part of this, we now support MIN and MAX as options for "aggregate by" in Page widgets
π Benefits
This makes aggregation in time-series Page widgets (Trend Charts) simpler and clearer
New metric slideout
π Details
This is available for all metric (time-series data) types - Calculated Metrics, System Metrics, Custom Metrics and User Activities
With this new UI, you now have:
Custom time window
Custom date aggregation (weeks, months, etc.)
Clear sentence structure
π Benefits
This makes metrics even easier to view and analyse
"Null" can be set in Automations
π Details
You can either use a replacement code (<<null>>) or, in a list property, select the "NULL" option from the dropdown.
π Benefits
This enables you to remove (rather than just replace) a value using an Automation
BigQuery integration supports CRM data as well as usage data
π Details
Initially, the BigQuery integration was designed specifically for syncing usage data (User Activities and Custom Metrics), but now you can also use it for CRM data (Companies, End Users, Licenses and so on)
π Benefits
If your CRM data is stored in BigQuery, now you can use this integration to easily sync it into Planhat (and even sync CRM data from Planhat back to BigQuery if desired)
This expands out the BigQuery integration to fully cover all your data needs
Once you've synced all your usage and CRM data into Planhat, you can view it in the context of other data types, analyse it, and take action
September 2023
Playbooks have evolved into Workflows
π Details
Company and End User Playbooks have been replaced with Project and Sequence Workflows
Projects are available for both Company and End User models, and the UI is an inline-editable customisable table; they are optimised for Task management
Sequences can be used to send emails automatically; they have a streamlined interface with extra guidance on timing of step execution
Various other features have been added too, such as the ability for group/step conditions to be based on Task or Workflow data
π Benefits
You now have the choice of two specialised Workflow types, designed for the two main types of use case: Projects for project management, and Sequences for automatically sending emails
We've added extra condition functionality so now Workflows (or parts of them) can be automatically activated/deactivated based on an even wider choice of data
Changes in Calculated Metrics rebuild process - "Metric Build Period"
π Details
Previously, Calculated Metrics were automatically rebuilt back to 14 days ago if there was new raw data for that time period; otherwise, you had to manually rebuild, which went back 3 years
Now, a customised rebuild period can be configured for your tenant (and specific Calculated Metrics if you like), which has a default value of 30 days
There is a new "Metrics rebuild" permission that gives the relevant role the ability to perform a manual rebuild if required, although manual rebuilds are expected to less likely now
π Benefits
Raw data changes within the new (typically longer) build period are automatically included in the Calculated Metric
Older (typically unnecessary) dates for the Calculated Metric are no longer rebuilt
Configurable "Data Access Period" introduced for each Planhat tenant
π Details
The "Data Access Period" determines how far back you can access your data. Data outside this period will still be stored, but become inaccessible across the app, including in any metrics
It's set per Planhat tenant and can be changed by Planhat staff members
If you would like to extend yours, speak to your CSM
π Benefits
This means data is not stored longer than is necessary
New Users (team members) can be added without notifications
π Details
When you add new Users (team members) to your tenant, you can now specify if you don't want them to receive notifications
Users can enable these notifications at a later date if desired
π Benefits
As a CS Ops person setting up your Planhat tenant, you may add some Users to your Planhat tenant so they can be set as Account Owners or Account Executives etc., but perhaps they aren't currently using Planhat so they don't want notifications (yet)
ARR and MRR both available within each tenant
π Details
We have introduced "mirrored MRR and ARR" fields - this unlocks some features as described under "Benefits" below
You can use role permissions to determine whether you want fields of both MRR and ARR to be visible, or just your preferred one
π Benefits
There is now more flexibility in using MRR and ARR in your tenant
You can map integrations to both MRR and ARR fields
In filters and Automations etc. you can reference both ARR and MRR fields
With permissions, you can ensure you only show what is relevant to your team, so your view is not cluttered with unnecessary fields
Logs Explorer launched
π Details
The Logs Explorer displays all changes made to all model records in Planhat
You can easily filter and search the logs to find what you're looking for
The length of time the logs go back depend on a tenant admin setting
π Benefits
You can drill down into logs to trace exactly what caused an update or creation of a Company, License or any other record throughout the app - e.g. if you spot something unexpected, what caused that change?
Further reading
For more recent product updates, check out our 2023 Q4 log
For previous product updates, see our article on 2023 Q2