Getting the Most from LiveTiles Directory

This article explains best practices for increasing user engagement and collecting quality data with Directory.

Introduce Directory to Your Company

Setting user expectations before using Directory is paramount to making sure they embrace the solution. A brief introductory email letting your audience know that Directory will be finding missing information across the organization, reaching out to fill in the gaps, and making sure everything is up-to-date.

Set Sights on Users With Directory Scoping

Directory, as a directory analysis engine, will only display results as accurately as the pool of users that it analyzes is. You'll also want to make sure that Directory does not communicate with non-user accounts. 

By default, Directory already skips analysis of Active Directory (AD) objects that do not have a mail property (in the case of hybrid deployments), or any accounts that do not have Log-On enabled (in the case of online deployments). This should exclude most service accounts from the analysis results, and therefore prevent Directory from communicating with those accounts as though they were actual users. One exception to this is for accounts with mailboxes, such as meeting rooms. 

If your Active Directory is organized such that user and non-user accounts are segregated by AD Organizational Units (OUs), you can configure Directory to only analyze OUs that contain your target user objects. Just use the Directory Scope settings from Settings -> General, where you can Include or Exclude OUs by searching for them, or using the diagram view:

Branding and Communications

In an age where we are ever-wary of phishing attacks, it is important for users to be comfortable in trusting communications that come from Directory. 

Some important configuration changes that impact this are:

Branding - make sure that the profile page and emails align with your company branding schemes with proper company logos and colors. This can be configured from Settings -> Branding.

Configure a custom mail account - By default, Directory will send emails from hyperbot@hyperfish.com. Any well-trained user will question the authenticity of an email coming from an unrecognized domain. In Hyperbot channel settings, the email channel can be configured to:

• Use a custom email address, using a verified domain in Sendgrid service, It's necessary to configure DNS entries and to verify domain. Please contact our support team.
• Use an existing internal Office 365 mail account to be sent from

Set up a vanity domain (Directory Premium only) - You can set up a vanity domain, e.g. https://profile.contoso.com, that users access instead of sending them to https://app.hyperfish.com. This will make sure that users feel comfortable visiting a secure page that is authorized by your organization. View instructions on setting up a vanity domain.

Customizing Email Templates - The Why Behind the What

Customizing Hyperbot email templates can be a great way to let users know not only what information is missing from their profiles, but why that information is important to daily business operations. 

Out of the box, Directory comes with three different email tones that define the language of emails sent to users. You can modify the language of all communications that come from Hyperbot. If you customize any of the templates, a fourth Custom option will appear.

Let users know why the attributes you're asking them to complete/update is important by editing email templates from Settings -> Hyperbot -> Personality -> Email Templates:

Use Profile Validation

It isn't enough just to make sure profile data is populated and entered in the correct format. Profile data must be up-to-date as well. 

The Profile Validation feature will ensure that Hyperbot contacts users at a regular interval (every 1-12 months) and presents a snapshot of current profile information, asking users to confirm whether it is up-to-date.

Configure Profile Validation from Settings -> Hyperbot -> Profile Validation:

Managing Attributes with Directory

Use Hyperbot to Manage Your Most Important Attributes

Hyperbot will only reach out to users for missing or incorrect attributes that are set to 'Hyperbot and Editable' in an attribute's settings (Settings -> Attributes). 

Make sure you have the most essential attributes set to 'Hyperbot and Editable' and any optional attributes set to 'Editable.' Otherwise, users may become frustrated when they are constantly contacted by Hyperbot for a pager number that they don't have. 

Use Formats to Normalize Attributes Across Your Organization

Formats/Validation options, when applied to attributes, ensure that users enter predefined terms or values in a specific format.

Two powerful ways to start using formats are:

Drop-down or Autocomplete - Drop-down and Autocomplete formats provide a pre-determined list of options for users to select from. These are useful for attributes such as Job Title, or Department, where some users may enter 'HR' vs. 'Human Resources.' 

When there are a large number of valid responses, the 'Autocomplete' format type allows users to type-ahead and filter down from a predetermined list of options.

To start using Drop-down or Autocomplete validation rules, Edit the attribute from Settings -> Attributes, select the validation tab, select the 'Render As' type of Drop-down or Autocomplete, and save the changes to the attribute.

Text with Regular Expression - Configuring a text format with a regular expression pattern is a good way to validate user text input. For example, you can create a Phone format that makes sure all users fill out their phone numbers in the exact same way.