📆 The v28 Release Schedule is available in the Mercury Community
In this release we're launching some great new enhancements. We'll also highlight some features of the platform that we believe can significantly enhance your productivity. Whether you’ve missed them or are yet to try them, these tools will help Recruiters to be more efficient and deliver better outcomes.
We'll also be showing you some new features that are not part of this release, but are due out shortly - for more information on these, please speak with your Mercury Customer Success Manager.
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🌟 What's being released in Version 28
Compliance History - Idibu Integration - Daxtra Reformatter Integration - UI Improvements and other New Updates - Software Fixes
🚧 More new developments and integrations coming soon
New Search - Analytics - New Mercury Lite App - More Daxtra Integrations > Nexus Search - Match - Magnet - HireAra Integration
🎞️ Extra resources of things you may have missed - Mercury Feature Videos - Special 'Mercury Minutes' Video Series
📚 Mercury Product Library Click the burger menu at top left of page, then click the Editions tab for the full suite of brochures.
🌟 What's being released in Version 28
Compliance History
You can now easily show Candidates were fully compliant with a more comprehensive audit trail should any requests be raised regarding historical Placements. Before this update, only the latest document was available to view as it would overwrite the previous version which, typically happened when they expired and a new one was uploaded.
We have introduced new functionality to retain the change history of Compliance for a Candidate and a Placement. Previously, it was only possible to check that a Candidate was compliant ‘now’ - i.e. that their current compliance was in order. By being able to view the compliance history, it will now enable Recruiters to check that Candidates were compliant in the past as well.
Compliance History - 38301
What
The history of Compliance Status or Compliance Evidence is now retained whenever changes are made.
Where
As Activities on Placement and Contact timelines.
How
By viewing the Compliance History activities on a Contact or Placement, the user can see all changes made to Compliance Evidence and Statuses. This will also be used to display Compliance History in the Candidate Portal. This functionality is controlled by config ENABLE_COMPLIANCE_HISTORY default being set to True.
Some late-breaking news for this item 18-01-2024 We have identified an issue for customers who also have LinkedIn integration, where Compliance History is not being displayed on the Contact Timeline, however, that data is still generated correctly and is available via the Related tab > Activities. We will address this as a software fix for the next Mercury release in version 29.
Idibu Integration /msdyn_blobfile/$value)
Why write multiple adverts when you only need to write one! Save time and drive real efficiency by writing a better quality advert once and post it to multiple sites with ease. Idibu is a multi-posting solution similar to the likes of Broadbean or Logic Melon, designed to help your Consultants maximise productivity. Post quickly to multiple Job Boards - subject to having a suitable subscription in place - all from within Mercury.
Idibu tab on Vacancy - 42395
What
Mercury have built a new integration so you now have the option to post your adverts using the Idibu multi-posting tool, directly from within Mercury:
Where
Via the Manage Adverts tab on the Vacancy form for any customer who has Idibu enabled.
How
Access to the Idibu integration is controlled by configuration, and commercial agreements will need to be made with Idibu to agree user numbers and pricing etc. Once configured, users will see a Manage Adverts tab on Vacancies, and when clicked on, the Idibu solution will be visible in the tab.
Daxtra Reformatter Integration /msdyn_blobfile/$value)
Generate more Interviews by making your Candidates stand out from the competition! A new integration with Daxtra Reformatter has been added to the Mercury solution which allows users to create new versions of a Candidate’s CV, change the layout, add branding and/or anonymise the information to help position them in the best possible way, while also promoting your Company Brand in the process.
Daxtra Reformatter button - 42244
What
Mercury have added access to the Daxtra Reformatter product via the core Mercury product.
Where
A Daxtra Reformatter button is visible on the Candidate Contact Form. When pressed, this will launch a web browser tab that takes the user directly to the Daxtra Reformatter solution.
How
Access to Daxtra Reformatter is controlled by configuration, and a commercial agreement will need to be in place. Once configured, users will see a Daxtra Reformatter button on Candidate Contacts, and when clicked on, the Daxtra Reformatter solution will be launched in a new browser tab.
Pricing is available via your Mercury Customer Success Manager.
UI Improvements and other New Updates
Mercury is continually looking to improve the performance and useability of the Core platform. These improvements can sometimes be small but are also highly impactful. Below is a list of the latest enhancements we have delivered as part of this release.
Comments field on Placement Details tab is missing when Type is Temporary - 40362
What
Addressed an issue where the Comments field on the Placement Details tab was not being displayed for Temp Placements.
Where
Placement Details tab on Placement form.
How
When viewing the Placement details for a Temp Placement, the Comments field is now available when it wasn’t before.
Shortlist Progression Date format - 34855
What
Addressed an issue where the Interview Date on the Shortlist Progression Form was not respecting the system user date format.
Where
Interview Candidate Form on the Shortlist Progression.
How
If you change the date format in the Personalisation Settings menu, then this is now reflected on the Interview Date field.
Tooltips on Placement calculated Values - 40366
What
More descriptive Tooltips have been added to the Calculated Values on a Placement, so that it is clearer how the numbers are derived.
Where
Hovering over the Calculated Values on a Placement.
How
By hovering over the Calculated Value fields on a Placement, the following tooltips are now displayed:
| FIELD | TOOLTIP |
| Markup % | (Margin Value / Charge) * 100 |
| Margin % | (Margin Value / Pay) * 100 |
| Margin Value | Charge - Pay |
| Sales Value | Charge * Duration |
| Total Estimated Pay | Pay * Duration |
| Gross Profit | Sales Value - Total Pay with On costs |
| Weekly Margin Value | (Margin Value - On costs) * Weekly Duration |
| True Gross Profit | Gross Profit - Total Non-Reimbursable Costs |
| True Weekly Gross Profit | (Gross Profit - Total Non-Reimbursable Costs) / Number of Weeks |
Restrict Position, Team & Business Unit Codes - 40721
What
To facilitate integrations with Third Party providers, we have added external IDs to Position, Team and Business Unit. We have also introduced a new Role to restrict the changing of their values.
Where
Main forms for each of the above entities.
How
Should be located under the Name field on each form. It's an alternate key, so the value has to be unique across records. If a user has the correct role > Mercury - Can Update Key Data, then this field can be edited
Extend / Clone Placement field exclusion - 43247
What
When cloning / extending a Placement, customers will now be able to configure which fields are copied to the new Placement.
Where
Extending / Cloning a Placement.
How
New Configuration items have been created > EXCLUDE_FIELDS_CLONE_PLACEMENT and EXCLUDE_FIELDS_EXTEND_PLACEMENT which will allow you to configure which fields are copied over to the new Placement. Within the Configuration items, the value - string will need populating with the schema name of the field that you want to exclude. There are certain fields that are unable to be excluded:
* We will be adding the ability to exclude User Fields within the next release.
Interview Shortlist Updates - revert status to Open - 47316
What
In response to customer feedback, we've reinstated the functionality that ensures Shortlist Updates for Interview stages are left in an Open state and can therefore be edited.
Where
Updating Shortlists to an Interview stage.
How
By leaving Shortlist Updates for Interview in an Open state, the user can then proceed to make changes as necessary.
IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTE: Once the Shortlist Updates are created, they are not linked to the Shortlist, so any changes on the Shortlist Updates or Shortlist records will not update any other record, hence the Shortlist Details and subsequently the Interview Date/Time will not get updated. Our recommendation at this time is to delete the unwanted Interview record from the Timeline and to create a new Interview record with the correct Date/Time via the Progress Candidate(s) route. We are planning to introduce a new Reschedule Interview feature as a product improvement to address this.
Software Fixes
In this section we have included details of some general software fixes that we have rolled into this release. You may not have experienced all, or indeed any, of the issues that we have fixed in this release, depending on your particular use of the Mercury software, however, it is worth a read just in case there is something listed that will help you.
Client Portal template in wrong context - 39670
What
Our optional process workflows were defaulted to the wrong context when sending Client Portal emails.
Where
Two processes were being affected:
[OPT] - Client Portal - New Password Email
[OPT] - Client Portal - New User Email
How
These workflows are bespoke for every customer and would originally have been created from templates. The templates for the above workflows have been updated, therefore to benefit from this change, customers would need to create replacement workflows based on the revised templates, once the v28 upgrade is complete.
Zero value Expense email - 23361
What
Candidates receiving an email which incorrectly confirmed a zero value Expense, even though values were submitted.
Where
Email following submission of an Expense via the Candidate Portal.
One process is affected:
[OPT] - Expenses: Handle Expense status changes
How
This workflow is bespoke for every customer and would originally have been created from a template. The template for the above workflow has been updated, therefore to benefit from this change, customers would need to create a replacement workflow based on the revised template, once the v28 upgrade is complete.
Inactive Fee calculations added to Vacancies - 42200
What
Inactive Fee calculations were being created on Vacancies.
Where
Begins from a Permanent Agreement with Staged Fees and Fee calculations:
How
On a Permanent Agreement, which is set for Staged Fees, you have the ability to create Fee calculations, which will in turn create Fees on the Vacancy when added / synced. This will now only create active Fee Calculations:
Shortlist Address fields not populating - 22981
What
Resolved an issue where not all Address fields were populating at Interview stage.
Where
On any Shortlist record.
How
When Progressing a Candidate to Interview stage and selecting a Face to Face meeting, we found that not all Address fields were being pulled through. We have now ensured all Address details from the Address selected during Progression will now populate on the Shortlist.
Email Editor > multiple SharePoint locations for a Contact - 45698
What
If a Candidate has multiple SharePoint locations, users were unable to select a document to attach within the Email Editor. The Email Editor will now load Regarding documents if the Candidate has more than one SharePoint document location.
Where
In the Email Editor, when attaching documents from the Candidate.
How
When creating an email that is Regarding a Candidate in the Email Editor, Recruiters can now see all documents for that Candidate even if they have more than one SharePoint document location. Users are now able to select a document from any SharePoint location for a Candidate when sending an email from the Email Editor.
Multiple entity-level Document Locations causes errors - 45786
What
Having multiple document locations at the entity level can lead to plugin errors.
Where
On a Contact Record.
How
While creating a new Contact.
Candidate Company form script > State or Province error - 41421
What
Updated the State lookup label if the Show State lookup is set to Yes, and you have entered your own value in the lookup field caption.
Where
Countries entity.
How
Updated the code to check for Null instead of Not Null.
Missing State in Candidate Address after creating and saving Placement - 33258
What
Candidate State field on a Placement got cleared upon a new Placement creation.
Where
Placement entity Address tab.
How
When a Placement is created having a Candidate with State and Country fields populated.
Unable to open PDF from Email Editor - 19746
What
SharePoint .pdf files in the Email Editor now open in a new browser tab when clicked.
Where
Email Editor attachments.
How
When a SharePoint file is selected in the Email Editor, it will appear in the Attachment field as a button. When you click the button, it will open the file in a new browser tab.
Shortlist Progression Date format - 34855
What
The Interview date on the Shortlist progression form now respects the system user date format.
Where
Interview Candidate form on the Shortlist progression.
How
If you change the date format in the personalization settings menu, this is now reflected on the Interview date field.
Textkernel > Intermittent CVs missing from Contacts and SharePoint after parsing - 45128
What
Addressed a bug where CVs were sporadically not being saved when parsed via the Textkernel integration.
Where
CV parsing when utilising the Textkernel solution.
How
The issue was found to occur in instances where the SharePoint folder didn't exist before trying to create the subfolder to save the CV to. This was fixed by creating the relative URL and SharePoint folder if it didn't already exist.
Email Editor > Unable to attach CVs from a Vacancy - 47244
What
Fixed an issue where CVs were not getting attached when opening the Email Editor from the Progress Candidate(s) > Submit pop-out.
Where
In a Shortlist, when using Progressing a Candidate to Interview, there is a Send CVs by email button.
How
Clicking that button will now auto-attach the CV in the Email Editor.
Multiple SharePoint locations on a Contact record - 45702
What
Fixed an issue where multiple Document locations were created when parsing a CV.
Where
In Documents on a Contact record.
How
We've added a check to only create a Document location if one doesn't already exist - so only one is ever created.
Shortlist Update > Interview Time Zone - 3744
What
Fixed an issue where the Date/Time of an Interview was not being displayed in the user's local time zone, meaning they couldn't be sure when the interview was happening or know when a follow-up call would be appropriate.
Where
Setting the Date/Time of an Interview, and viewing the Date/Time of an Interview on a Shortlist Update.
How
When arranging an interview, the Recruiter can now select a Time Zone. The default Time Zone will be the time zone of the Recruiter or Consultant arranging the interview. When the interview is arranged, the Shortlist Update displays the Candidate's interview time in the current user's local time.
🚧 More new developments and integrations coming soon
Here we look ahead to more great Mercury developments and innovations that we're working on for future releases, including new integrations, where we are continually looking at select Partners who offer high quality, complementary technology, that we feel will add real value to our clients. Integrations will be available as per the Mercury Core versions stated in each case, and subject to commercial agreements being in place.
New Search Faster and easier to use, helping you find the right Candidate first!
In our last Mercury Core release, version 27, we announced that our New Search offering was on its way. We believe it will deliver a significant improvement in terms of speed and performance. Not only that, but it also unlocks the potential of Microsoft’s AI capabilities which will see even greater functionality coming into Search over the following months.
Our Public Preview of New Search, which included extensive customer feedback sessions, happened back in mid-December, and as part of this latest release - version 28 - the New Search button will be available on the Mercury ribbon menu. We are now working on indexing Candidate and Contact data so that customers can access the new Search solution as part of the next Mercury Core release - version 29. For those customers who use the existing Search solution, you will be able to run both options in parallel for a period of time.
New Search is highly intuitive, very fast and designed to help you leverage your own database so that you look there first!
You can surface your results in a Tile View, as shown below, or with the more traditional List View, which is useful when working a larger list of results. Because we index your Candidates, you can create very accurate searches and you can of course drive follow-up actions such as Shortlisting or instigating a call or an email:
We know Recruiters love to search in different ways, so we have tried to capture these too. Switch seamlessly between Standard filters to Boolean, where we will present ‘related terms’ to help refine your initial search - or use our Advanced Search that allows those perhaps less comfortable with Boolean, to simply drag and drop Job Titles, Tags and Keywords to create powerful search groups:
Analytics Giving you the information you need to help drive your business forward
We understand the power of data and the impact it has when used properly. While reports typically tell you what has happened, dashboards what is happening, Analytics tells you where, when, and potentially even why it happened, so that you can take action.
Mercury Analytics combines all of this to help you become a more data driven organisation, but also democratises data by giving everyone across your business easy access to the information they need to be successful – all secured by user level permissions of course.
Analytics went into Public Preview earlier this month with a small number of clients. We anticipate this phase will be relatively short and will run throughout January 2024. Subject to customer feedback, we are currently working towards Analytics being available from Spring 2024 onwards.
Our Analytics suite comes with 15 headline reports that cover the following areas, all of which have multiple layers that allow you to drill into the data in even greater detail:
-
Business Overview
-
Business Development Activity
-
Contract Finishers
-
Contract Lost Revenue
-
Contract Runners
-
Contract Monitoring
-
Contract Starters
-
Financial Overview
-
Individual Hub
-
Permanent Starters
-
Recruitment Activity
-
Recruitment Overview
-
Vacancy Overview
-
Placement Value
-
Performance to Target
While the reports are extensive, we think the Contract Lost Revenue report will be of great interest to Finance teams, and views such as Business Development Activity will really help you identify the drop-off in your recruitment process:
New Mercury Lite app Only access what you need! A Lite version built for different roles within your Agency.
Yet to go into Private Preview, but is now available in our own internal Sandbox environment – see below. We will likely run previews through Q1 of 2024 and estimate it being in Restricted General Availability via our Mercury Core version 30 release.
We know that in most Recruitment Agencies, Consultants play different roles and have different responsibilities - from pure Resourcing to those more focussed on Candidates Management or Client Acquisition. This reality means that they are likely to use very specific parts of the system on a regular basis. So, to help improve their user experience, we are working towards a Lite version of the Mercury CRM, so that they are simply presented with what they need to do their job. Of course, this Lite version will be underpinned by the full Mercury platform so is not a separate CRM, simply a custom user interface built for the needs of the individual Recruiter.
More Daxtra Integrations > Nexus Search - Match - Magnet
Daxtra’s new and improved Nexus Search along with their Match functionality will be available in our Mercury Core version 29 release. We are also looking at Daxtra Magnet to help those clients who want a more 'on-demand' parsing solution, and we expect this to be available in our Mercury Core version 30 release, if not before.
HireAra Integration /msdyn_blobfile/$value)
HireAra make Candidate presentation beautiful and easy, which really helps to make your Candidates stand out. Their solution helps to drive great efficiency so you can create beautifully branded, consistent and standardised Candidate CVs and Résumés in seconds. We expect this integration to be available in our Mercury Core version 29 release.
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