IRC Monitoring and Messaging software Manual

1. Introduction2. Computer hardware and operating system requirements3. Installing the IRC Monitoring and Messaging software4. How to get started with monitoring (Adding client/ outstation information also discussed here)5. How to get started with messaging (Set up automatic vehicle dispatch and sms notification)6. Testing the messenger.7. How to use the monitoring application.

a. Basic alarm handling.b. Accessing additional client information.c. Creating and using pre defined operator responses.d. Make an alarm for unit(s) that fails to send their automatic test signal.e. Make an alarm for unit(s) that fails to arm or disarm on a specified schedule.f. Set up a schedule for ignoring specific alarms during specific times. (Software alarm bypass

by means of alarm swallowing.)

Introduction

The Monitoring and control pc application was created to complement the range of IRC security and telemetry radio products. Our aim with this software package is to allow the user to monitor alarm signals, command Robotic telemetry transceivers, keep a complete events history, and automate the notification and dispatch of response units. Additionally the monitoring system also acts as a client database.

Computer hardware and operating system requirements

You will need:1. A Pentium 3, 500 MHz pc with 128 Mb RAM and a 5 GB hard disk drive (minimum).2. Alarm monitoring is a strong visual process, we recommend a 17” monitor at minimum.3. A CD ROM, extra 2 serial com ports (for complete monitoring and full messaging, 3 com ports are needed).4. An extra pc set up with software is recommended as a standby system in case of a computer failure, lightning etc.5. Our software is tested on Windows XP and Windows 98.6. A CD writer is a useful and cost effective way to make regular backups. (one CD can hold at least 6 months of log files at a cost of

± R3.00)7. Remember the PC is a key element in your control room, second hand computers are cheap, but they are not reliable. This can

easily reflect on your company as being un-reliable due to the failure to respond to and alarm.8. A UPS and or backup generator is standard in a alarm monitoring control room

-IRC can supply PC hardware but will not be responsible for support on any third party software packages or operating systems.

Installing the IRC Monitoring and Messaging software

When the installation disk is inserted into the CD rom the installation wizard will start automatically. If this does not happen, do the following: Press the windows key on your keyboard and ‘r’ simultaneously. Type in your CD rom drive letter and ‘setup’, and then press enter. (e.g. ‘D:\Setup’)

1. You should now see a welcome message, click on the ‘next’ button.2. Select the Acrobat Reader 7 software installation if it is required for reading help file documents.3. To set up IRC Monitoring only, select “IRC Monitoring software”.4. To set up IRC Monitoring and the IRC product programming software “Install all IRC software”.5. Once the installation is complete, the following dialog will appear ‘Would you like to install the Visual Basic 6.0 runtime

files?’ If you are using windows 98 click ‘yes’, if you are using Windows XP you can click on ‘no’.

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How to get started with alarm monitoring

To get your monitoring system up and running quickly and painlessly, follow these steps:1. Check that your base station /robotone /predtone /desktop controller is powered up, has a radio attached to it (not applicable to

base station or predtone), has an antenna plugged in and that it is connected to the monitoring pc. (get the monitoring running first, the messaging will be handled later)

2. Observe the com port that your base station /robotone /predtone /desktop controller is plugged into. With most new Pentium 4 computers you will find one com port (com 1) close to the keyboard and mouse connectors and, if they are installed, there should be two more situated lower down towards the bottom of the pc (com 3 and 4). The second com port (com 2) is often not visible at the back of the pc and to make it available you will need to install a serial port cable which plugs in on the computer’s motherboard. Older Pentium 3 and earlier computers normally have both com 1 and com 2 available on the outside of the box.

3. Run the Monitoring setup program (figure 1) by clicking on the ‘Monitoring configuration’ icon. Alternatively you can find it on your ‘Start -> Programs -> Monitoring’ menu.

Figure 1

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4. Every option explains itself quite clearly, but pay special attention to: a.“Ignore signals from unknown unit ID’s” – with this option set to ‘yes’ the system will ignore alarms from outstations

which have not been predefined as alarm units. In other words, if you don’t see the unit ID in the drop down list at the top left of the monitoring screen, you will not be informed of alarms coming from that unit. The monitoring software will briefly display a message, “Alarm from unknown unit ID logged away”, upon receiving such an unknown unit alarm.

b. “Password protect the IRC monitoring system?” – When you set this option for the first time, the system will be password protected by a default account. The initial username will be set to “ADMIN” and the password will be set to “RADIO”. This username and password can be used to add new user/ administrator accounts to the system by entering the default username and password and then clicking on the ‘Manage accounts’ button. (Figure 2). Be sure that another user account with administrator level access exists before an attempt is made to delete the default account. Only users with administrative accounts can add or remove other accounts. Also note that when the system is password protected and waiting for a username and password at startup, no alarms will be received. The program will exit if no password or username is typed within 10 seconds. Keep this in mind when setting the option for “Automatically start Monitoring when PC starts up?”

Figure 2

c. “Allow each outstation to have multiple alarms in the queue.” – If this is set to ‘no’, the system will ignore duplicate alarms for the specified length of time. This only applies to exact duplicate alarms. Example: The alarm for pin 1 high comes in from unit 00001. The next pin 1 high alarm from the same unit (within the specified time) will be ignored, but if the same unit sends pin 2 high directly after the first signal, both will be displayed.

d. “PC to controller RS232 protocol.” If a desktop controller (white unit with own keypad) or a robotone is to be used to receive alarms, select the first option “Prior 2005-03-01 (Robotic)”. If an IRC base station (blue or black face, has built in radio and backup battery) or a Predtone is to be used, then select the second option” Predator High site Protocol, after 2005-03-01”. If a special NARC base station which runs on the Fleetcall radio network is to be used, select the third option “NARC Protocol”. The last option “RDC Protocol.” is still (august 2005) an experimental protocol (to monitor alarms from RDC base stations). Then after selecting one of the above options type the com port number (see point 2.) in the white space next to the option you selected. It is possible to use more than one of these protocol options and to monitor on more than one com ports simultaneously, but be sure not to have the same port number entered twice. Set the first option, “Desktop controller present?” to “Yes” in case anything other than a robotone is to be used for alarm monitoring.

e. For monitoring over a LAN network or an internet connection, contact us at +2711 315 2849 or visit our web site at www.ircradio.co.za for contact details.

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5. Next, the alarm units that are going to be monitored must be added to the monitoring database. Client information also needs to be entered for the alarm transmitters that you want to monitor. This way a client’s name and other important information can be linked to the alarm signal coming in from a specific alarm unit. To do this you need to run the “Add or edit client information” program.

Figure 3

a. Click on the “Edit/ Create client info template” tab and then click on the button “Create new template”. (figure 4)b. Enter a name for the new template. This template will be used to specify any recurring information associated with

outstations or clients. For example, if you want the system to display every client’s identity or passport number you will have to enter each client’s ID or passport number. But that does not mean you have to re type words “ID or Passport Number” for every new client. This is specified only once in a template and every new unit added to the system using that template, will automatically have the words “ID or Passport Number” in it. You just fill in the blanks for every new client.

c. After entering a name for the template, click on the “Create template” button.

Figure 4

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d. On the next window (figure 5) there are 40 pairs of spaces where any client information can be entered. Example: Delete the words “Prompt number 1” and type in their space “ID or Passport Number”. Now those words will appear in every new unit/ client that is added to the system using this current template. The last few spaces starting with “Name” is reserved for information that will be immediately visible once an alarm is received. The two phone number fields are reserved for phone numbers only. (If you are going to use sms messaging, the “Cell phone (sms)” field will be used to enter cell phone numbers to send sms messages to) There is a second tab with another 16 pairs of additional information that you can use in the same way as the first 40.

Figure 5

e. Once satisfied with the client information template, click on “save changes and exit” This will bring you back to the first window.

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f. Click on the “Enter new alarm unit/ client” tab.

Figure 6

g. Select the programming template with which the alarm unit(s) was programmed. If unsure as to which template it was, use one with the same unit type OR create a template with the windows based predator programming software OR with the same software, simply edit an existing template. This template will determine the default pin descriptions for a new unit, its type when created and its default alarm options. It is simply there to save you from having to type the same things over and over for each new unit that you create.

h. Select an additional information template. (Choose the one you created in steps a to e above.)i. Select the “Create range of units” option to add more than one unit to the system using the same templates.j. Type the radio ID with which the alarm unit was programmed (every unit has a five digit numerical ID) in the white

space next to ‘From:’k. If the ‘create a range of units’ option was chosen, then enter the unit ID of the last unit in the range. (Create range

means that all units starting with ID ‘From:’ up to unit ID ‘To:’ will be added to the system)l. Click on “Create unit/ range’m. You are now ready to go to the “Edit client info and alarm options” tab (figure 7).

Figure 7

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n. Select one of the units that was created and click on ‘Edit’ to enter all the specific information for that unit such as phone numbers, ID numbers etc. Note the ‘unit description’ field. That is this text that will be displayed in the list of clients; in the monitoring program (it is popular to make the unit description the client’s name).

Figure 8

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o. Click on the “Alarm unit properties” tab to change the alarm options. You can also change the pin and state descriptions which will be displayed when an alarm is received (figure 9).

Figure 9

p. NOTE Alarm options: There are two sets of alarm options, those for a transmitter pin being triggered high (closed contact) and those for pins being triggered low (open contact). Example: I check the box next to pin 1 in the ‘Basic’ column on the ‘High (closed)’ side. This means that I will enable an alarm signal coming from this unit for pin 1 going high (12v) to be displayed on the monitoring software. This implies that, if I leave the same checkbox blank, the monitoring software will not display the pin 1 high signal coming in from the alarm transmitter. Therefore: Please make sure that the alarm options for each client are correctly set up; you do not want a client’s panic alarm to be ignored! If unsure of which alarms are to be monitored, tick all the checkboxes under both ‘Basic’ columns.

q. The ‘Basic’ alarm option means that the monitoring software will display the alarm signal. The ‘Radio message’, ‘Sms to client’ and ‘Siren’ options work in much the same way. Example: If you wish to have a radio text message sent automatically for an alarm, tick the ‘Radio message’ option next the pin for the appropriate state (high/ low).

6. Run the IRC monitoring application and start receiving alarms (or, if required, proceed to the next section and set up messaging).

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How to get started with messaging

1. If automatic messaging is required for sending radio or SMS messages, first make sure the monitoring system is set up properly as specified above.

2. To make use of radio messaging ensure that a Pathfinder messaging radio is connected to the PC. Radio messaging requires a Pathfinder (RM4) radio with its messaging board installed and can not be done through the normal base station, robotone, predtone or desktop controller which is used for alarm monitoring. Observe which serial port the radio is connected to. (refer to step 2 in ‘How to get started with alarm monitoring’)

3. To make use of SMS messaging make sure the GSM modem is connected to the monitoring computer. SMS messaging requires a Siemens GSM modem with a simm card from one of your local cell phone service providers. IRC can supply the GSM modem. Observe which serial port the modem is plugged into. (again refer to step 2 in ‘How to get started with alarm monitoring’)

4. If messages (radio or sms) are to be sent automatically in response to alarm signals, make sure the “Use IRC Messenger” option in the Monitoring setup program is set to ‘Yes’.

5. Make sure that the appropriate alarm option (the option for sms and or radio message) is selected for each alarm unit, for each alarm type, depending on whether or not you want a sms or radio message for that specific alarm signal. These options can be set for each unit using the “Add or edit client information” program. Select a unit, click on edit and then select the “Alarm unit properties” tab to get to the alarm options.

6. In the case of sms messaging to the client, make sure that the sms recipient(s) cell phone number(s) are entered on the Client information page in the “Cell phone (sms)” field (also done using the “Add or edit client information” program). Run the IRC Messenger application. Click on the Settings -> General menu.

Figure 10

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Figure 11

7. Again the options are self explanatory but pay special attention to:a. Very important: “Automatically send messages (radio / GSM) when an alarm is received by the IRC Monitoring

software”, check this box or else no messages will be sent automatically from the monitoring program!b. “Radio messaging com port” – select the com port to which your messaging radio is attached (as in step 2) and make

sure not to select a com port which is used by the monitoring application or by GSM messaging (on the next tab). If you want to use only GSM messaging select “Not used” at the Radio messaging com port option.

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c. For sms messaging to work, select: “Enable GSM capabilities”, set the message center number with the country code (e.g. +27829119 for Vodacom and +27831000113 for MTN in South Africa)

8. The GSM phone pin code is the pin for the simm card in the GSM modem (Just like any normal cell phone). If you start the messenger up without the correct pin code three times (if the simm card requires pin) the simm card will be blocked. To unblock you will have to put the simm card in a normal cell phone and enter the simm puk number. After changing the GSM settings save the settings, close the messenger application and reopen it again (This is to initialise the GSM modem and simm card correctly).

Figure 12

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9. If alarm messages are to be sent to response vehicles via sms or radio, click on the ‘Vehicle editor’ button on the main messaging window. Enter the response officer’s name, radio ID (if not applicable, just enter any 5 digit number), cell phone number, dispatch area, channel and cell phone number. Be sure to tick the “Currently in use” box if you want this officer to receive dispatch messages.

Figure 13

10. The messenger application communicates with the monitoring application through a TCP-IP port (only when the ‘Use IRC Messenger’ option is set to ‘yes’’). To do this the two programs have to connect to each other once they are both running. If the messenger or monitoring application seems to pause for a few seconds every now and then it is due to either the Monitoring or the Messaging program not running. If you run both applications they will connect to each other through a TCP IP port and they will not pause any more. Alarms and messages coming in during such a pause will only be delayed and not lost.

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Testing the messenger 1. To test the radio messaging connections and settings:

a. Select a vehicle in the ‘Vehicle to send new message to’ dropdown list.

Figure 14

b. Type a text message in the ‘Message to send’ box on the ‘Radio’ tab.c. Click on the ‘Send to one’ button.

Figure 15

d. If the vehicle radio is set up and switched on it should now receive the text message. If there is no vehicle radio available you can look at the red TX lamp (transmit) on the messaging radio when you click on the ‘Send to one’ button. The TX lamp will briefly light up when the base radio sends a message. If this is the case the messaging connections are correct and the communication port settings for messaging are also correct.

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2. To test the sms messaging connections and settings: a. On the GSM tab select a recipient from the ‘Select number(s)’ dropdown list.

Figure 16

b. Type message in the ‘Message to send’ space.c. Click on the ‘Send sms’ button.

Figure 17

.d. The recipient should receive the sms within approximately 20 seconds after sending.

3. To test automatic message sending,:a. Firstly make sure that there is a client/ alarm unit entered on the additional information editor. Also see that for at

least one of the alarm types of that unit, the ‘Radio message’ and ‘Sms’ options are selected. There must also be a cell phone number entered for that client.

b. Check that the ‘Use messenger’ option in the monitoring configuration is set to ‘Yes’.c. If you have not done so already, do test 1 and 2 to make sure the communications port settings and connections are

correct.d. Manually invoke the alarm type (see a) for the unit the IRC Monitoring application.e. The messenger application should now send the sms and radio message for that alarm.

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How to use the monitoring application.

(A ) Basic alarm processing.

Responding to an alarm message normally follows the following sequence:

1. The alarm signal is received and gets displayed on the monitoring screen.

Figure 18

2. The operator reads the alarm type and the client address. 3. The operator gives the alarm type and address verbally to the response officer via radio. (This step can be automated with radio or sms messaging)

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4. At this point the operator logs the vehicle dispatch event, in the OB entry space. The response officer goes to the alarm site in the mean time.

Figure 19

5. The response officer reports back on the alarm situation. The operator then appends the officer’s report to the alarm signal’s OB entry.

Figure 20

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6. Finally the operator files the alarm away by hitting the f10 key.

At any point during the processing of one alarm, another alarm(s) might come in. In such a case the operator can switch between the different alarms by clicking on the alarm entry in the alarm queue.

(B) Accessing additional information:

When an alarm event is highlighted (by clicking on it) in the alarm event list, the address and contact details for that client is displayed on the top left of the screen.

Figure 21

In case the operator needs to access more information about the client, he can click on the client’s address to show the additional information for that client. To see a one day history of the client’s alarms click on the date or time label (see figure 22).

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Figure 22

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To see a one day history of alarms for the client, click on the alarm date or time label.

Figure 23

To view a client’s information or one day history, without an alarm event being present in the alarm event list, select the unit ID in the dropdown list and then click on the ‘Client Info’ button.

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An alternative to selecting a client from the dropdown list is a search, done by clicking on the search button, to the right of the ‘Select unit’ dropdown list.

Figure 24

Start typing the client’s name or any other specific information about him to produce a list of matches. Then select a match and click on ‘Use match’.

(C) Creating and using pre defined operator responses.

Pre defined operator responses are sets of actions that the operator needs to complete in order to process an alarm. Such a set of actions can be associated to any unit ID and any alarm type.

Each pre defined operator response gets given a name Example ‘Medical Panic’.

Each action in such a response has: The option to allow the operator to type an OB entry. The choice of weather or not the operator can proceed to the next action without an OB entry. A time limit so that the operator can be reminded about the action that needs to be completed. The action text or instruction.

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To create such a pre defined responses to alarms run the ‘Response Editor’.

Figure 25

Basic steps for creating a pre defined operator response:1. Click on the ‘New Response’ button.2. Type a name for the response by which one can identify the response.3. Select ‘Response to alarm’ as the response type.4. Decide on the individual actions which need to be completed by the operator in order to process the alarm to which this

response will be associated.5. Type the number of actions that was decided on in the space provided.6. For each action in the response: Set the extra info (OB entry) options, enter the time allowed to complete the action and enter

the operator instruction. Click on the right arrow next to the ‘action number in response’ to edit the next action.7. Once satisfied with the response, click on ‘Save changes and exit.’

To associate the response to an alarm:1. Run the ‘Client information editor’ and select the client or unit that you want to associate the response with.2. Click on the ‘Edit’ button and then on the ‘Pre defined operator responses tab’.

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3. On this page you can now select a pre defined response to associate it with a specific alarm from the alarm unit.

Figure 26

4. Click on ‘Save Changes and Exit’ once the selections have been made.

Check that the response works the way it was intended to by manually invoking an alarm:1. Run the IRC Monitoring program (if it is already open, please close it and re open it so that the new response settings can be

applied).2. From the dropdown list select a unit to which the pre defined response was associated.

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Figure 27

3. Click on the ‘Invoke Alarm’ button

Figure 28

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4. Select the alarm type to which the pre defined response was associated and click on Generate Alarm.

Figure 29

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5. The list of actions that needs to be completed will be shown. A manually invoked alarm will show up exactly like an alarm that was received from an actual alarm unit.

Figure 30

5. For each action type an OB entry and click on the ‘Next to do item’ button to proceed to the next action. Once the last action is reached the alarm will be filed away to the log file.

(D) Make an alarm for unit(s) that fails to send their automatic test signal.

In the past it used to be the responsibility of the control room software to request each unit’s status on a regular basis in order to detect faults or loss of communication out in the field. This means that a total of two signals had to be transmitted for each such query (1. request status, 2. reply from alarm unit).In order to reduce the amount of airtime spent on doing routine hardware checks, the system now operates like this: The alarm unit is programmed to send a test report signal on regular intervals (done when programming the unit). The amount of times per day that the unit sends the test report can be set from 0 to 24. The software, knowing each unit’s report intervals, therefore expects to receive a test signal from every unit during certain time slots. No request gets sent from the base, which therefore halves the amount of radio traffic. If the alarm unit fails to send the test signal during the expected time slot, the software will invoke an alarm for that test signal failure. This method also has the benefit of spreading the test signals and their processing more evenly over time.

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The alarm unit does not necessarily have to send a test signal, any type of alarm signal from the unit during the report time slot will be sufficient.

How to process test signals:1. Make sure that in the Monitoring Configuration the option for ‘Process 24 hour self tests’ is set to yes.2. Make sure that the ‘Basic’ alarm option for ‘Status Report’ is set for each applicable unit in the ‘Add or edit client information’

program.

Figure 31

3. Ensure that for each unit, the test signal interval is set the same as it was when the alarm unit was programmed.

(E) Make an alarm for unit(s) that fails to arm or disarm on a specified schedule.

1. Ensure that the option to make use of pre- defined responses is set to ‘Yes’.

Figure 32

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2. Create a new response using the ‘Response Editor’ and set its type to ‘’System arm/disarm failure’.3. Select the unit’s ID for which you would like to set up an opening- and closing- schedule.

Figure 33

.4. Click on ‘Create schedule’ to define the opening and closing times.

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Figure 34

Figure 35

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5. Click on ‘done’ to return to the main screen.6. Set up the operator instructions for responding to the opening/ closing violation (refer to ‘(C) Creating and using pre defined

operator responses’)7. Ensure that the Basic alarm option is set for ‘Opening/ closing’ for the unit in the ‘Add or edit client information’ program.

Figure 36

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(F) Set up a schedule for ignoring specific alarms during specific times. (Software based alarm bypass by means of alarm swallowing.)

1. Create a new response using the ‘Response Editor’ and set its type to ‘Virtual arm/disarm’.

Figure 37

2. Select the unit’s ID for which you would like to set up the alarm ignore schedule.3. Click on ‘Create schedule’ to define the ignore alarm times and the pins that it applies to.

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Figure 38

4. Click on ‘done’ to return to the main screen.5. Alarms will now be ignored by the Monitoring program, for the specified pins, during the scheduled times.

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