Adding a Device

Add a Vocera device with information that lets you identify, monitor, and track a device in your system.

As soon as a Vocera device arrives at a facility, enter its identifying information into the Vocera system so you can track and monitor it appropriately. Do this right away, even before the device is configured; it helps prevent the device from being lost or transferred to another department. It also allows you to monitor and report on the device status.

You can add devices to the Vocera system in any of the following ways:

To add a device, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Device Inventory in the Manage section of the navigation bar.

    The Devices page appears.

  2. Click Add Device to add information for a new device.

    The New Device page appears.

  3. In the General section, complete the fields listed in the table below. An asterisk * indicates that you must provide a value for the field.

    Field

    Maximum Length

    Description

    Device Type

    n/a

    This read-only field specifies the type of device, which is determined from the serial number. Device types include B3000, B3000n, V5000, Smartphone, Apple, and Android.

    MAC Address *

    12

    Specifies the MAC address of the device in hexadecimal characters. For Vocera devices, this field is automatically populated when you enter a valid value in the Serial Number field; the last 6 digits of the serial number and the MAC address are identical.

    For Vocera Smartphones, remove the battery door and then the battery, and then enter the MAC address and serial number listed on the back of the phone. To learn more about the MAC Addresses, see About Serial Numbers and MAC Addresses.

    Serial #

    15

    Specify the serial number of the device.

    For Vocera devices, the serial number is 12 characters. For Vocera Smartphones, the serial number is 10 characters.

    To learn more about the Serial numbers, see About Serial Numbers and MAC Addresses

    Label

    20

    Specify a label that uniquely identifies the device. For more information, see Labeling Devices.

    Owner

    n/a

    Specify the group that owns the device. Click the Find Group button to open the Find a Group dialog box, then choose a group from the list and click Select Group.

    The facility of the group that owns a device can be different from the facility of the device itself.

    Facility

    n/a

    Specify the device's home facility. Click the drop down arrow to view the available facilities, and then scroll down to select a facility of your choice.

    • If your organization has multiple facilities connected to the same Vocera Platform, choose the home facility that represents the device's physical location.

    • If your organization does not have multiple facilities, accept the default Global setting.

      Note: When working with the data-loading template available in Bulk Actions, leave this field blank to accept Global. For more information on data-loading templates, see Bulk Actions
      .

    Status *

    n/a

    Select the device status from the dropdown list.

    If you have System Administrator permission, you can select a new status from the available list of status. See Viewing Device Information Statuses for more information.

    Tracking Date

    n/a

    Specify a date to track the device. For example, you can track when the device was sent for repair or return merchandise authorization (RMA).

    Click in the space provided next to the Tracking Date field to enter a date. A calendar pop-up for the current month is displayed. You can select the current date from this calendar.

    Color

    n/a

    This read-only field specifies the color of the device, which is determined from the serial number. Vocera devices are either white or black.

    Is Shared?

    n/a

    Uncheck this box to indicate that multiple users don't share this device. The Is Shared? checkbox is selected by default.

    Is Disabled?

    n/a

    Check this box to disable the device.

    If the device is disabled and the Call button is pressed, the Genie plays the following prompt, "This device has been disabled, please contact your administrator. "

    Upon hearing this prompt, the user can return the device to prevent inventory loss.

    Note: If you disable a device, and a user is logged into this device at that time, they are logged out immediately.

    Notes

    1000

    Optionally, specify a multi-line text box that lets you provide further information about the device status. For example, "Device stopped working on [DATE] after accidentally being immersed in water" or "Device sent to IT to repair the battery latch."

    Custom

    100

    • Custom 1 — Custom field to enter up to 100 characters to define a custom attribute for a device in the system.You may need this information to facilitate integrations with external data sources. For example, you might need to include an external system identifier such as those used in Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Nurse Call systems.
    • Custom 2 — Additional custom field to enter up to 100 characters to define an additional custom attribute for user profiles. You may need this information to facilitate integrations with external data sources. For example, you might need to include an external system identifier such as those used in Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Nurse Call systems.
    Note: The Custom section is not included as a default section in the Device page. System administrators can configure the custom attributes for devices, users, and groups in the system. For information on configuring Custom section, see Creating Custom Options for Devices.

    To ensure the accuracy of serial numbers and MAC addresses, you can use a bar code scanner to scan device labels or inventory sheets. For more information, see Using a Barcode Scanner to Add Devices.

  4. Select one of the following to close the New Device page:
    • Save — to add the new device to the system.
    • Cancel — to return to the Devices page.