We’re happy to announce the release of Centercode Connect 9.4 this week, with customer roll-outs beginning today. In this post, we’ll talk about some of the new features and improvements from this release, including a brand new module called Assigned Test Platforms.

Assigned Test Platforms (Available in Enterprise Edition)

Assigned Test Platforms (ATP) is a brand new module within Connect that allows test platforms to be better integrated into beta tests at the project level. ATP will allow testers to link the specific platforms being used in a beta test to the project itself, rather than attaching them to individual pieces of feedback. This will make their test platforms more readily available in views, filters, dynamic tags, and reporting. It also opens up completely new functionality. For example, you can then restrict users from testing with the same test platform in concurrent projects if that might result in version conflicts. And for products that utilize remote provisioning or firmware flashing (e.g., set-top boxes and mobile devices), requesting device-specific information like serial numbers in an ATP makes it possible to integrate with in-house provisioning systems to automate beta build distribution.  ATP includes a number of unique features that allow for very flexible implementations and a wide variety of uses. If you’d like to learn more about ATP (beyond the general documentation provided below), please feel free to contact info@centercode.com to schedule a demo.

Distributed Value Enhancements

We’ve greatly extended our Distributed Value system to cover a wider range of scenarios that our clients were facing. Specifically, we’ve added two new methods of distribution (self-selected and automatically assigned) that each have two variations. This brings the total methods for distributing values to participants to five. They are:

• Automatically Assigned – Values will be assigned sequentially to users who view this resource. This is useful for distributing product keys, incentive codes, and other values that are not pre-associated with specific users.
• Self-Selected Dates and Times – Date and time-based values will be presented to users as a list, allowing them to make selections of their choosing. This is useful for scheduling meetings with groups of users. Note that both a date and time are required for this value, and they will be adjusted to the users set time zones.
• Self-Selected – Values will be presented to users as a list, allowing them to make selections of their choosing. This is useful for allowing users to pick a preferred incentive reward.
• Preassigned Dates and Times – Each date and time value will be preassigned to one or more users of your choosing. This is useful for assigning set meeting times to groups of users.
• Preassigned – Each value will be preassigned to the associated user you provide. This is useful for providing assigned values like a shipment tracking number.

Connect Support Bar

Managers or internal teams will notice a new Centercode Support bar at the top of the screen when logged into Connect. When clicked, the Support bar presents quick and easy access to Connect support materials, including our new community forums. The ability to request help, report a bug, suggest a feature, visit our blog, peruse documentation and release notes, and discuss beta testing with other Centercode customers is now only two clicks away. If you’d like to hide the support bar, simply click Centercode Support and it will tuck away until you need it again. This setting will be retained between your sessions.

Connect Community Forums

The Connect Community Forums are a new initiative, available exclusively for our customers, that creates a place for discussing both beta testing and Centercode Connect. It’s been a long-standing wish among our customers to have a community where they can interact with their peers at other companies, and now they’ll have that opportunity. The Community Forums consist of four subforums:

• Ask the Community is intended for any questions you have about Connect, beta testing, UAT/CAT, or any other relevant topic.
• Share Your Experiences is a place for our customers to share best practices, creative ideas, testing triumphs, and the occasional frustration.
• Feature Requests is dedicated to suggesting new features and functionality for Centercode Connect.
• Centercode University is where we’ll be posting advanced tutorials and innovative ideas to get more out of your Connect implementations and improve your beta tests.

We’ll have another blog post later this week with more information about the Community Forums. Additional details on the release, including Centercode Help articles on the new features and an overview of smaller changes, are available in the full Connect 9.4 Release Notes.

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