Description of the settings that enable direct communication between the Vocera TAP Adapter and the Vocera Platform.
Configuration Field | Description |
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Component Name | Click the Component Name field to display a list of the systems and devices that the Vocera Platform currently supports. Select the name of the adapter to create. |
Reference Name |
Enter a short descriptive name in the Reference Name field to uniquely identify an adapter instance. It may demonstrate the adapter function or other information; for example, Production adapter may differentiate a live adapter from a development or "sandbox" adapter. Likewise, unique reference names are important to distinguish multiple TAP adapters in one Vocera Platform. Good examples for Vocera TAP Adapter are "Digi 20" and "Digi 21", or "Responder 4, Zone 1" and "Responder 4, Zone 2". Similar names may vary based on the number and types of systems installed in a facility. |
Common Settings Configuration Field | Description |
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System Type |
Vocera Platform currently supports a variety of systems connecting via TAP. When integrating with one of the following supported vendors, select the correct nurse call system from the System Type drop-down list:
If you are integrating any other type system communicating via TAP, select Generic from the drop-down menu. |
TAP Password |
If required, enter the password for the nurse call or paging system, allowing Vocera Platform authentication to interact with the system. If a password is provided, it must be six alphanumeric characters. If no password is provided, this field can be left blank. Note: This option is not required and is not commonly
configured for TAP.
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TAP Receiving Configuration Field | Description |
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Listen for Messages? |
Select the appropriate option from the drop-down list to configure the amount of data that Vocera Platform recognizes from messages through TAP. This field allows the choice of appropriate options for an individual facility's needs. In Vocera Platform, any message accepted is reported to the Audit Log for tracking and future reporting if necessary. If the message is not accepted, no logging occurs. The options available are explained here:
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Receiving Filter List |
If the filtering option Accept messages that match the following pattern (described above) was chosen, enter all numbers in the Receiving Filter List field from which Vocera Platform receives messages. These are the only numbers the adapter listens for, and the only numbers to have data stored in the Data Manager. If the adapter is configured to listen for and accept messages, the receiving port must be specified. Additionally, the receiving host must be provided, unless the adapter is configured to listen as a TCP server. The most common filters are four, five, or ten digit strings. Filters can be numbers of digits, specific numbers, or a pattern composed of a range of numbers and wildcard symbols (X, the wildcard symbol for Filters) that work for any number, to accommodate multiple numbers in a single field. Enter each filter on a separate line in the Receiving Filter List field. |
Message Timeout |
Enter the expected length of time, in minutes, between TAP messages. If no messages are processed within this time, an audit event is reported. A message timeout value is required and displays 60 minutes by default. |
TCP Server |
Leave this checkbox de-selected to allow the Vocera TAP Adapter to be the client. In this default configuration, the digibox or TAP device is configured to make the TCP connection as a server and the Vocera TAP Adapter is configured to be the client. Vocera recommends this default configuration. Alternatively, you can select this checkbox to enable the Vocera TAP Adapter to make the TCP connection as a server, and configure the digibox or TAP device to make the connection as a client. Note that in this configuration the Receive Host field is not needed, and is removed from the display upon selecting the TCP Server checkbox. See Configuring a Serial Device to Work with Vocera Platform for additional information. |
Receive Host |
This field displays when the Vocera TAP Adapter is configured as a client. Enter the host of the digibox or TAP device that is configured as the server. Use either the hostname string or the IP address of the device. Note that when the Vocera TAP Adapter is configured as the server, the host is not required and this field does not display. See Configuring a Serial Device to Work with Vocera Platform for additional information. |
Receive Port |
Enter the port to use for TCP communication with the TAP device. This value is a value between 1 and 65535 and must uniquely identify each port for a shared host. If the Send Port is configured to act as a TCP server, each TCP server port must also be uniquely identified. See Configuring a Serial Device to Work with Vocera Platform for additional information. |
This section details the modification of the Vocera Platform settings for sending messages from Vocera Platform. These fields control the amount of outbound traffic from the adapter, as well as the application of filters for those messages.
TAP Sending Configuration Field | Description |
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Forward Filtered Messages? |
Select the appropriate option from the drop-down list to configure the amount of data that the adapter sends or forwards. This field allows the choice of appropriate options for an individual facility's needs. Note: To enable sending even if not forwarding, select the
Forward All Messages option.
This option hides the filter list field from the TAP
Sending menu.
The options are explained below:
|
Sending Filter List |
Vocera Platform will forward messages to another system when the message's recipients match what is contained within the Filter List. The most common filters are four, five, or ten digit strings. The numbers can be assorted mixtures of digits (0-9) and wildcard symbols (the letter X is the wildcard symbol) that work for any number to accommodate multiple numbers in a single field. |
TCP Server |
Leave this checkbox de-selected to allow the Vocera TAP Adapter to be the client. In this default configuration, the digibox or TAP device is configured to make the TCP connection as a server and the Vocera TAP Adapter is configured to be the client. Vocera recommends this default configuration. Alternatively, you can select this checkbox to enable the Vocera TAP Adapter to make the TCP connection as a server, and configure the digibox or TAP device to make the connection as a client. Note that in this configuration the Send Host field is not needed, and is removed from the display upon selecting the TCP Server checkbox. See Configuring a Serial Device to Work with Vocera Platform for additional information. |
Send Host |
This field displays when the Vocera TAP Adapter is configured as a client. Enter the host of the digibox or TAP device that is configured as the server. Use either the hostname string or the IP address of the device. Note that when the Vocera TAP Adapter is configured as the server, the host is not required and this field does not display. See Configuring a Serial Device to Work with Vocera Platform for additional information. |
Send Port |
Enter the port to use for TCP communication with the TAP device. See Configuring a Serial Device to Work with Vocera Platform for additional information. |
Message Types are used to store message data within the Data Manager. Stored message data may trigger a Rule or be used at a later time for a display on a Workflow page, for filtering a View, be referenced in another Rule, or any other use of data permitted by Vocera Platform.
This section describes how to configure the Regex strings and mappings that are used to decode the message data. The system matches message types in the order which they are defined. After the first message type has been successfully matched and processed, no further attempt is made to match any subsequent message type. If a message type is successfully matched, but there is an error in processing the data, the system will continue to the next message type. See Understanding Regular Expressions for an overview explanation and examples of Regex code and mappings.
Select New Message Type in the Message Types section at the bottom of the configuration page, and complete the fields described below.
Message Type Configuration Field | Description |
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Reference Name |
Enter a descriptive name for the collection of settings specified in the new Message Type being created, such as Alerts, or Cancelled Alerts. Replace the default entry (New Message Type) in the Reference Name field. |
Active |
Select the Active checkbox to allow the Vocera Platform to use the new Message Type. The Vocera Platform will ignore the Message Type if this option is disabled. |
Starting Dataset |
Select the Starting Dataset from the drop-down list that will serve as a starting point for the attributes or attribute expressions included in the Regex mapping. See Understanding Regular Expressions for an overview explanation and examples of Regex code and mappings. |
Store Message Recipient |
Select the Store Message Recipient checkbox. It is recommended that this option be selected. Selecting the Store Message Recipient checkbox causes the Message Type fields expand to include a new Recipient Regex and Recipient Value field in the display. |
Recipient Regex |
Specify a regular expression that matches the key of the message; the recipient. If this field is empty, the regex default is the generic (.+) expression to provide backwards compatibility. For example, "([A-Z0-9]+)@*.*" will allow alphanumeric usernames such as User01@ext-inc.com to be used as the recipient. Note: To prevent high CPU loads, each regular expression
used in the appliance is limited to run for five
seconds. If the regular expression's processing time
exceeds this threshold, an audit event is generated and
the regex fails to match results. See Understanding
Regular Expressions for an overview explanation
and examples of Regex code and mappings.
|
Recipient |
Specify the attribute path to the recipient of the incoming message in this field, when Store Message Recipient is selected above. This value is where Vocera Platform looks for data required to send messages. An example of an attribute path would be line.number. |
Note: Information below varies based on a facility's
individual method for sorting patients as well as its
organization of internal messages. The following
examples are not to be taken as universal nor should
they be used in place of otherwise needed
changes.
|
|
Recipient Value |
Specify a value that the recipient path will map to in Recipient Value. For example, if the regex (below) is "([A-Z0-9]+)@(*).(*)" and the recipient (above) is User01@ext-inc.com, then $2 can be used to store "ext-inc". If this field is empty, the first capture group will be captured; in this case, "User01". |
Regex |
Create a Regex string to parse the body of the incoming message into the value paths contained in the Regex Mapping below. The example given is a sample Regex string which shows where to find a patient with an alert in a facility that produces bed data. Each segment of this Regex code corresponds with a mapping in the following Regex Mapping field. The Regex string for this example is: (\d+\*(\d+)\*(1|2))\s+(.*) |
Regex Mapping |
Specify one or more attributes or attribute paths in the Regex Mapping field. Regex mapping values are displayed one per line. See Understanding Regular Expressions for an overview explanation and examples of Regex code and mappings. The following mappings are used for this example:
Note: There can only be one attribute per line that
corresponds to a segment in the Regex Mapping
code.
|
Clone Message Type |
Select Clone to create a duplicate of the selected message type. The reference name of the cloned message type will automatically be unique, and will be set as inactive by default. |
Remove Message Type |
If one or more message type is created, the ability to remove a message type becomes active. Select Removeto delete the message type from the adapter configuration. |