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What's New in 8.7

DISCLAIMER

Texts presented in the article may differ from posts made earlier. The texts are reworked in favor of readability.

New and updated features§

Indoor Tracking§

Support for the new hardware platform – Connect-RTLS from BluFi:

  • Indoor coordinates (active beacon number) are sent as text messages.
  • Periodical tracking is not possible, only upon subscriber’s moving from one beacon to another.
  • The breadcrumb trails can be shown and animated for subscribers moving inside the building.
  • Routes, geofences, rules and alerts are enhanced to support indoor positioning.
  • Beacons can be named in addition to their number to identify them easily.
  • Beacon can be deleted from the building from the Beacons menu. It is no longer possible to delete beacon by pressing DELETE key on the keyboard.

MOTOTRBO SLR repeaters support§

  • Additional repeater properties and alarm types are added for MOTOTRBO SLR repeaters.
  • According to compatibility testing conducted on SmartPTT, the application is fully compatible with SLR repeaters.
  • New SLR repeaters are compatible with legacy IP Site Connect protocol.

Connect Plus§

  • Support for voice calls via control stations in Connect Plus. Please note that for presence data, GPS and text messages, IP connection to XRC controller is still required.
  • Fast GPS support for Connect Plus 1.6.

System Monitoring§

  • List of repeater’s alarms and parameters are shown in special block on the right side of Diagnostics tab.
  • The view of the repeaters list in the Diagnostics tab can be changed by rearranging columns, configuring the list of columns to be shown, grouping repeaters by any criteria.
  • RSSI has three levels (low, medium, high) shown in real-time monitoring graphs to accommodate future enhancements in hardware. The default RSSI level ranges are listed below and can be changed in a configuration file.
    • Low RSSI is less than -100 dBm
    • Medium RSSI is between -100 dBm and -80 dBm
    • High RSSI is more than -80 dBm
  • Alarm notifications are configured simultaneously for all devices in the network. It’s not required to add all the devices used in the network.

Cross-patches§

  • A special panel was created to organize cross-patches on dispatcher’s side. Only group calls can be patched.
  • A patch can be created between talkgroups in the same or different radio systems or between different radioservers.
  • A call made in one of the talkgroups of the cross patch, will be transferred to all other groups in this cross patch. If it’s impossible to make a call to one of the groups of this cross patch (e.g., the radio channel is busy, or the radioserver is disconnected, etc.), the call will be still made to other talkgroups. Radio subscribers of the busy talkgroup won’t hear this call.
  • For radios, patch calls look just like calls from the dispatcher.
  • Patch calls can be easily activated/deactivated or muted for the operator.
  • The state of the patch calls is automatically saved and restored upon the dispatch console restart.

Manually set subscriber location§

Now it is possible to set the subscriber’s location manually using the Set location option. All you need to do is to click on the map, or enter the coordinates into the appropriate fields.

Positioning rules§

  • The GPS Rules settings was renamed to Positioning Rules, and includes Indoor Tracking rules as well.
  • New rule type: Amount of subscribers within a control zone or on the route.

Mobile App§

Compatibility with MOTOTRBO R2.4a and Connect Plus R1.6§

Interface and behavior changes§

SmartPTT Dispatcher main menu reworked§

  • The Settings and Help menus are transformed to icons and moved to the top right corner of the dispatch console window.
  • The Operators menu is removed. Changing of operators is possible via a separate icon in top right corner. The operators settings are moved to Settings menu.
  • The Lock UI layout option is moved to UI Layout Settings.
  • The View menu renamed to Tools menu to reflect the content. Now, it’s the left-most item.
  • The option to check for updates is moved from Service menu to the Help menu.

Conference calls§

  • New conference window, where the dispatcher can add participants to the conference call directly from list.
  • The Mute microphone option, which mutes the dispatcher for the ongoing conference call.

NAI Systems Setup Changes§

  • Type of the NAI systems (IP Site Connect, Capacity Plus or Linked Capacity Plus) is selected at the system creation.
  • For the NAI – Linked Capacity Plus system, there is a dedicated tab with the list of sites, where the site priorities and max number of phone calls for each site could be changed (SmartPTT PLUS only).

Multigroups§

  • MultiGroup settings is moved to the Bridging tab.
  • MultiGroup calls can be limited to selected channels in a special tab.

Telephone interconnect§

  • The Telephone interconnect settings in the dispatch console are split into two items: Telephone interconnect settings and Telephone subscribers.
  • The last called numbers will be shown on top of the Telephone Subscribers panel..
  • Each telephone subscriber can now has its own ring tone for incoming calls.
  • The maximum number of simultaneous phone calls can now be limited per network, as well as per site in LCP networks (SmartPTT PLUS only).
  • The list of codecs to be used by the radioserver and the client application was implemented, with the ability to change priorities and enable or disable them.

Operator change behavior§

  • The dispatch console is completely restarted upon changing the operator.
  • All outgoing calls from the operator will be terminated upon changing the operator.

Databases§

  • All databases from the selected database server are now listed in the Database window.
  • In the dispatch console the database backup restore is done to the currently selected database, overwriting it.

Job Ticketing§

  • Validity period can be set for a Job ticket. SmartPTT will try to deliver the job ticket within this period. If Validity period expires and the job ticket isn’t delivered, it will be marked as Outdated.
  • The Hide complete Job Tickets after [ ] seconds filter is replaced by the Show complete Job Tickets option.

Categories§

Subscribers and groups can be assigned to categories in the Properties of category window.

Notifications about update subscription expiration§

  • The notification window and the warning sign will now appear in the status line and the license information window in the dispatch console and the SmartPTT Radioserver Configurator sixty days before the update subscription expiration date.
  • These notifications can be switched off by the user and they won’t be shown anymore.

Other adjustments§

  • A system warning will be shown is shown if two repeaters in the network share the same ID.
  • The option to pick a custom ring tone for incoming calls and messages per dispatcher.
  • Reports. The radioserver can be selected as the data source for most reports.
  • Rules in Radioserver Configurator. The ability to select multiple subscribers as receivers of message when the rule is triggered.
  • The Subscribers panel. The number of online and offline subscribers is shown.
  • Event log. The Source column and a field in the information panel were added to display the originator of the event.
  • The Find on Map. If the Find on Map option was called, but no map is open, the map selection window will be opened.
  • Dispatcher intercom. It is now possible to accept incoming call from unregistered dispatcher. The IP address will be shown instead of the dispatcher’s name.
  • It is possible to adjust the position of channels and groups in the Radio Fleet panel using the profile settings and Talkgroup settings in Radioserver Configurator.
  • The Search functionality was added to automatically search for available radioservers in the Radioservers settings on the dispatcher console.
  • The Allowed Radio ID’s setting is separated from the channels tree in the Profiles settings in Radioserver Configurator.
  • The Export Radio Subscribers and the Import Radio Subscribers options allow exporting and importing all subscribers’ settings, including the location request periods.
  • Please note that initial start of the dispatch console after update may take up to 20 minutes, due to the changes in database structure and required updates in the existing database. Please wait and don’t interrupt this process.

Suspended§

  • Separate menu option for saving/restoring the database in the client was removed. Now the database can be backed up and restored only in Save/Restore Dispatcher Settings.
  • The Categories button was removed from the subscriber’s Properties window. Subscribers and talkgroups can be assigned to categories only in the Category Properties window.
  • The System usage report doesn’t contain the list of events anymore. This information is available in the Monitoring report.
  • Form now on, maximum 5000 events can be shown at once in the Event log.
  • The Dispatchers window from Settings. The Listen to other dispatchers calls checkbox was removed. Calls to other dispatchers are now controlled with the help of profiles, just like private and group calls.
  • The Dispatchers window from Settings. The Current dispatcher option was removed. From now on the current dispatcher will be listed among other dispatchers.
  • Custom consoles. Channel selector. Call are no longer initiated automatically upon switching channels.
  • Web consoles and mobile clients no longer require separate Radio ID, CAI and IP address – these settings are inherited from selected profiles (like dispatchers).

See Also§