Frequently Asked Questions on TOS changes regarding information sharing and interviews

[Valeria K]

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Wes C wrote:

Re Dropbox integration

Is it really integrated? I don't see it in the list of services in the website's Messenger configuration page, and I don't see any option to link it in the apps. How do we access this integration?

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Hi Wes,

Dropbox option is available in Messages under the attachment button. Here is a screenshot. 

[Wes C]

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Valeria K wrote:

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Dropbox option is available in Messages under the attachment button. Here is a screenshot. 

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Thank you, I didn't think to look there on the website version, since it's not on the attachment button on the desktop or mobile apps. Will those apps be updated to support the Dropbox integration?

[Valeria K]

Hi Wes,

It is available on mobile apps as long as you have the Dropbox App and are logged into it on your phone as well. Then you can click the paper clip button, then click Browse and click on the Dropbox icon. 

[Wes C]

Thank you, Valeria.

The concerns about the reliability and availability of the audio/video calls and the scheduling functionality remain. We need exceptions to use scheduling tools and for when calling isn't working, please.

[Anita N]

Wes,

I think you are being too kind - We don't need exceptions for when calling isn't working. This would require us to waste time with a non-working call first, frustate the client, and only then be able to use some other means?

Upwork does not seem to understand that the freelancers on this site are, at their core, service providers. Service providers need to make sure that everything is as easy as possible for their clients. We should not have to jump through hoops just to make sure we have a trouble-free phone call!

[Wes C]

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Anita N wrote:

Wes,

I think you are being too kind - We don't need exceptions for when calling isn't working. This would require us to waste time with a non-working call first, frustate the client, and only then be able to use some other means?

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Anita, I understand what you're saying and agree. What I'm asking for with the exceptions is the same thing we have with the products we use today. Skype is having troubles? I'll spin up a Zoom or a Google Meet, or just share my cell. Today we have options.

I'm ok with using their calling functionality during an interview if it works (granted, I've seen no evidence so far that it does since we have no ability to test it without involving a client), but we need the option to fall back on something else. 

Without that option, the freelancer looks like an amateur who can't be bothered with setting up a professional set of tools to work with. It doesn't matter that it's not our choice - we're the face.

It's the same thing with scheduling tools like Calendly. Tools like that are part of the professional work environment now. If UW provides a functional tool for asynchronous calendar scheduling, I'm happy to use it. But it doesn't exist yet. Until then, we need to be able to use the tools that are available, or, again, we look like amateurs.

[Anita N]

All I'm saying Wes is that we shouldn't have to rely on a fallback if or when something fails. We should be free to use any form of communication that is most comfortable for us and our clients.
As you correctly note, this just makes us look like amateurs, not professionals who are being treated like children since the forum we are relying on to do business doesn't trust us.
Also, if I were a client being told I can't speak on a regular phone until I actually hire, I frankly would look elsewhere.

[Dana K D]

Anita, you have 100% summed this up in a neat little nutshell.  What other business entity in the free world dictates that people cannot use the most common and universally available communication tool (a telephone) to determine whether or not they wish to exchange $$$ for goods and services?

[Pandora H]

Because that would be just a mite unpopular, eh? Seriously though, this is not going to block scammers at all. Or at least, not in the numbers the site actually NEEDS.

They will get rid of a few bad actors intially, and while we are all bending over backwards to comply, the bad actors will be doing business as normal.

Which is why I say, and am not the only one, there is more to it than that, and not knowing why makes it really hard to argue against.

[Anita N]

Thank you Dana! Well put!