Device Tracking

Device Tracker 4.1

Overview

When initiating the process to find a device, the target device must first be set to the To Be Found state by the administrator or manager. The “seeking” device, or the device performing the search, is used to determine the distance the user is located in relation to the “target” device, or the device to be found. Location must be enabled on the seeking device to perform the device search.

When a device is found, recommission the device to place it back into the active device pool. Alternatively, decommission the device if it needs to be removed from the active device pool.

A note can be added at any time to capture comments specific to the device to aid in tracking or identifying problems with the device. This feature is available only for administrators and managers.

Optionally, the Check-out feature can be enabled to associate users to devices for accountability with the scan of a barcode.

Mark a Device "To Be Found"

A device must be marked To Be Found before a device search can take place.

To mark a device "To Be Found":

  1. From the device list, tap and hold the device card of the target device to find. Select Set To Find. Device action menu
  2. The status is changed to To Be Found and the device is now listed in the To Be Found category in the dashboard.
  3. To proceed to find the device, continue to the next section Find a Device.

Managers and administrators can alternatively mark a device To Be Found as follows:

  1. Open the device list.
  2. Tap on a device card.
  3. Tap Enable Finding. Manager/admin view to mark a device "To Be Found"

Find a Device

The target device must be set To Be Found to proceed with the device search. A search is initiated from the To Be Found device list. For an associate, the To Be Found device list is displayed after starting the client app. For an administrator or manager, the To Be Found device list is accessible via the dashboard. When the user is ready to take action to perform the device search, the first step is to use the seeking device to find the access point (AP) that the target device is connected to. This provides the general location of the target device. The user walks toward the AP, then uses the Bluetooth proximity indicator on the seeking device to identify how close or far the target device is located in relation to the seeking device. To further pinpoint the device location, a sound can be played by tapping the Play Sound button on the seeking device to locate the target device by audio sound.

To start the search process:

  1. Perform one of the following in the To Be Found device list:
    Tap and hold the device card for the target device. Select Start Finding from the device action menu.
    Device action menu
    Or,
    Tap on the device card for the target device to open the Device Details screen. Tap Start Finding.
               

              "Start Finding" Associate view               "Start Finding" Manager/Admin view

  1. The device tracking screen appears. The device state is changed to Being Found.
  2. Check the Connected AP on the tracking screen on the target device. Walk towards the known location of the AP.
  3. Using the BLE proximity meter, walk towards the target device. The BLE proximity meter identifies the overall trend on how far or how close the user is located in relation to the target device. The closer the target, the further the blue indicator bar expands to the right. As the seeking device approaches the target device, the numerical value on the meter decreases as it reaches “Close” or “0” value. Tracking screen with proximity meter
  4. Tap Play Sound on the seeking device. The target device emits a chirping sound to help identify its location. Walk towards the sound. Continue this step until the device is found.
  5. If the target device is found, tap Device found. The device is then moved to the Found state. If the device is not found, tap Cannot find. The device is then moved to the Cannot Find state. The device is listed under the corresponding categories accessible from the dashboard.

Note:

  • A device is in the Disconnected state if it does not communicate with the server for approximately 12 minutes. If a device search is performed and audio is attempted to play during this time frame, audio cannot be emitted from the target device.
  • If the device being found is powered off during a device search, while powering it on again proximity cannot be detected until the device completes the boot process. Since the secondary BLE is inoperative when the device is powered on, device locationing relies on the primary BLE beacon.

Secondary BLE

For devices with secondary BLE beaconing capability, Device Tracker can locate the device if it loses power due to critically low battery or is manually powered off. Locationing is based on signals transmitted from the secondary BLE beacon. Attempts to locate the device must occur soon after the device loses power, prior to loss of power of the secondary BLE beacon. In this circumstance, the Play Sound feature is disabled during device search since it cannot function due to the loss of device power.

See BLE Profile to enable the secondary BLE beacon.

The Secondary BLE state is viewed from the Device Details screen.

Disable Finding

After a device is marked To Be Found, if the device search needs to be terminated follow these steps (applies to only managers and administrators):

  1. Open the device list.
  2. Tap on a device card.
  3. Tap Disable Finding. Manager/admin view to disable finding

Decommission/Recommission Device

After a device is found, it should be recommissioned to place the found device back to the active device pool. This changes the device status from Found to In Service. Alternatively, to account for only active devices, recommission or decommission a device to add or remove the device to/from the active device pool. This feature to decommission/recommission a device is available only to administrators or managers.

Decommission a Device

When a device is no longer in use or needs to be taken out of the active device pool, it can be set as Decommissioned. This prevents any further device reporting to the server and applies to situations when the device is being sent for repair, the device is being replaced, or the device is deprecated and needs to be removed. When a device is decommissioned, the license is automatically deallocated from the device and returned to the license pool so it can be reallocated to another device.

To decommission a device:

  1. Perform one of the following procedures:
    From the device list, tap and hold on the device card. Tap Decommission from the device action menu displayed. The Device Details screen appears.
    Or,
    If already in the Device Details screen, tap on the top right menu and select Decommission.
  2. The status is changed to Decommissioned and the user is prompted to enter a note.
  3. If desired, add a note by entering text in the Note section to indicate the reason for the device decommission. See Add/Edit a Note section.
  4. Tap back. The note is saved and the device is placed in the Decommissioned category in the dashboard.

Recommission a Device

A device can be recommissioned after being found or previously Decommissioned and needs to be placed back into the active device pool (e.g. returned from repair). Recommissioning a device restarts the device status reporting to the server. When recommissioning a device, if a license is available it is automatically allocated to the device. If no license is available, the device remains in the decommissioned state and a note is automatically added indicating there is no license available. This note overwrites any pre-existing note. When a license is available, the admin or manager must recommission the device to allocate the license and manually delete the note.

Steps to recommission a device:

  1. In the dashboard, scroll down and tap Decommissioned or Found to display the corresponding list of devices.
  2. Perform one of the following procedures:
    Tap and hold the device card and select Recommission.
    Or,
    Tap the device card to display the Device Details screen. Tap on the top right menu and select Recommission.
  3. The Status is changed to In Service, as seen in the Device Details screen.
  4. Tap the Note section to enter or edit text indicating the reason why the device is recommissioned.

Add/Edit a Note

Administrators and managers can add a note to capture comments specific to the device to help in device tracking or identifying device problems. For example, a comment could be "device screen damaged".

To add or edit a note:

  1. From the device list of any category accessed from the dashboard, tap and hold the device card and tap Add a Note. If a note already exists, the option is provided to Edit a Note.
  2. The Note section appears in the Device Details screen prompting to enter in text. Enter a note or comment
  3. After entering text for the note, tap the back button.
  4. The note is saved and can be viewed in the Device Details screen.

Device Check-out

Device Check-out is an optional feature that can be enabled by the administrator. If enabled, the user is required to scan their barcode at the start of their work shift to check-out the device, then logout at the end of their work shift to check-in the device. The check-out screen is in kiosk mode, preventing the user from accessing the device until check-out is performed. When a device is checked-out, the user is associated with the particular device until the user checks in the device.

Check-out

Perform a device check-out at the start of a work shift as follows:

  1. Remove the device from power to automatically display the check-out screen or launch the app on the device.
  2. The check-out screen appears, prompting to scan a barcode. When in the check-out screen, the user is prevented access to the device until check-out is performed. Device check-out
  3. Scan the barcode associated with the user by pressing the scan trigger or tapping on the barcode image on the screen. If the administrator has set a prefix string in the barcode prefix option, the barcode must contain the prefix specified for check-out to be successful.
  4. A message appears indicating the user is checked-out successfully. The app is placed in the background.
  5. The user is now associated with the device.

Note: If Check-out is enabled, after a device is rebooted the Check-out screen may take up to one minute to be displayed.

Check-In

Choose one of the following options to Check-In a device:

Option 1:

  1. Launch the app.
  2. Tap on the options menu from the top right and select Check-In Device.
  3. The user is checked-in. The check-out screen appears prompting to scan a barcode.

Option 2:

  1. Connect the device to power.
  2. The user is checked-in. The check-out screen appears prompting to scan a barcode.

Option 3:

  1. Reboot the device.
  2. The check-out screen appears prompting to scan a barcode.

Option 4:

  1. Perform a battery swap.
  2. The check-out screen appears prompting to scan a barcode.

See Also