The Groups Template

The Groups template (groups-template.xls) lets you create Vocera groups.

If you specify a site, it must already exist in the database; the template does not create it. If a row in this data-loading template references a site that does not exist, the row causes a validation error and does not load. Any other rows that successfully validate load properly.

When you reference other groups within a group record, the referenced group does not need to exist in the database as long as it is defined as another record in the import file.

Table 1. Group fields

Field

Maximum Length

Description

Group Name

50

The name must start with a letter or digit. It must contain only letters, digits, spaces, apostrophes ('), underscores (_), or dashes (-). No other characters are allowed.

By default, the speech recognition system uses the Group Name to recognize groups. If users refer to a group by something other than the Group Name, provide an Alternate Spoken Group Name.

Alternate Spoken Group Name

50

In the Alternate Spoken Group Name field, optionally enter a variation of the group name. For example, some people might say "the Sales team" instead of "Sales." If you enter the Sales team as an Alternate Spoken Group Name, the Genie will recognize "Call the sales team."

Member Name-Singular

50

In the Member Name-Singular field, enter a name that describes a member of the group. For example, in the group called Sales, a group member would be known as a sales person. This would allow the Genie to recognize a command such as, "Call a sales person."

Best Practice: Do not start the singular name of members with the words "a" or "an" because those words are already in the Vocera grammar.

Member Name-Plural

50

In the Member Name-Plural field, optionally enter a name that collectively describes the members of the group. For example, in the group called Sales, the collection of group members could be called sales people. This would allow the Genie to recognize a command such as, "Send a message to all sales people."

Best Practice: Do not start the plural name of members with the word "all"—for example, all sales people—because that will result in redundant syntax in Genie prompts, such as, "I'm recording a message for all all sales people."

Vocera Extension

75

Optionally enter a telephone extension number for the group in the Vocera Extension field.

Important: This number is a virtual extension, not an actual desk extension.

If the telephony integration option is installed, outside callers who dial the Vocera hunt number can connect to the group by entering the group extension at the Genie prompt, instead of saying the group name.

Scheduling Options

n/a

Specify either of the following:

  • Choose Sequential if you want one person to be the main contact. The second member in the list is called only if the first person is not available, a third member is called only if the first two are unavailable, and so forth.

    The order in which names appear in the Group Member Name list on the Members tab of the Add/Edit Group dialog box is important when you choose Sequential scheduling.

  • Choose Round Robin if you want calls to be distributed as evenly as possible among group members. When you choose round robin, Vocera iterates through members in the group until someone accepts the call; however, the person who most recently accepted a group call is tried last.

If you provide a value other than Sequential or Round Robin in the data-loading template, an error will occur when you try to import the file.

Forwarding

70

Transfers the unanswered call to the number that you enter. This feature requires the telephony integration option. Enter a value to specify a forwarding number, or leave this field blank to specify No Forwarding.

You can also specify the following values:

  • To forward to the group pager number, enter Pager in the field.

  • To forward to a user, group, or Address Book entry, enter the user ID, group name, or Address Book entry enclosed within square brackets, for example, [abuckley], [Charge Nurse], or [Pharmacy].

    Note: Address Book entries are not unique even within a site. If you specify a value in the Forwarding field that matches multiple Address Book entries, the system forwards to the first match.

  • To specify the site for a user, group, or Address Book entry, use a colon to separate the value from the site name, for example, [Charge Nurse:Santa Cruz].

    If you do not specify a site, the site of the group you are importing is used by default.

If the Forwarding field references a user or Address Book entry that does not exist in the Vocera database, the record will be skipped when you try to import it. To avoid data validation errors, Vocera recommends importing group data in multiple passes.

Site

50

Use the Site field to specify the group's home site.

If your organization has multiple sites connected to the same Vocera server, choose the home site that represents the member's physical location. If the group's membership spans multiple sites, specify Global.

The Site field is treated differently if you are importing or updating groups:
  • When importing groups, you can leave this field blank to specify the Global site.

  • When updating groups, the Site field is required. You cannot leave the field blank.

Group Type

n/a

Specify either Department, Subdepartment, or Ordinary (the default).

  • Ordinary – a group whose members are NOT considered members of a parent department. Examples of ordinary groups include administrative groups, groups with dynamic membership, role-based groups, and bed/room groups.

  • Department – a group that corresponds to a department within the organization using the Vocera system. By designating a group as a department, you provide accounting features and speech recognition enhancements that are not available to other Vocera groups. For example, you can differentiate users by specifying their department in voice commands.

  • Subdepartment – a subgroup of a department group. Members of a subdepartment are also considered members of a parent department. A subdepartment should be directly contained within an existing department or another subdepartment.

If you provide a value other than Department, Subdepartment, or Ordinary in the data-loading template, an error will occur when you try to import the file.

If you specify Department, the PIN for Long Distance Calls and Cost Center fields can also be entered for accounting purposes.

PIN for Long Distance Calls

50

Optionally specify a value in the PIN for Long Distance Calls field.

A telephony PIN authorizes members of a Vocera department to make phone calls and allows an organization to charge departments for those calls.

A PIN template can include digits, special characters, and PIN macros.

Use this field only if you are working with a department group.

Cost Center

100

Optionally specify a value in the Cost Center field.

A Cost Center ID enables Vocera to track system usage by department and potentially allows an organization to charge its departments for relative usage.

Use this field only if you are working with a department group.

Forward When

n/a

Specify either of the following:

  • All forwards every call that comes in to the group, without notifying group members.

  • Unanswered forwards only calls that are not answered by any member of the group.

If you provide a value other than All or Unanswered in the data-loading template, an error will occur when you try to import the file.

Remove Users on Logout

n/a

Specify either True or False (the default) to indicate whether membership in the group is temporary.

If you enter True, Vocera automatically removes users from the group when they log out, but leaves the rest of the user profile in the database. Users are not added into the group automatically when they log back in.

Important: Users are only removed from the group when they log out. Keep in mind that users may place badges in the charger or simply leave the site without logging out when their shifts end. To accommodate this behavior, consider setting the following options to log users out automatically:

  • Enable the Auto Logout When Badge In Charger setting.

  • Check the Enable Auto-Logout Period setting.

Pager Number

75

Pager number for the group. You can configure Vocera to forward a group’s calls to this specified pager.

If you enter a value for this field, any user can issue the "Send a page" voice command to send a numeric page to this group.

Off-Site Calls

n/a

Specify either True or False to indicate whether calls to the group can be received by members who are currently at a different site from the caller. If your Vocera system has only one site, this option does not apply.

If you don't want members of the group to receive calls from people at other sites, specify False.

Off-Site Broadcasts

n/a

Specify either True or False to indicate whether broadcasts to the group can be received by members who are currently at a different site from the person who initiated the broadcast. If your Vocera system has only one site, this option does not apply.

If you don't want members of the group to receive broadcasts from people at other sites, specify False.

Manager Group

101

Specify the group whose members can manage the group you are importing. To qualify a group by specifying its site, use a colon to separate the value from the site name (GroupName:SiteName). If you do not specify a site, the site of the group you are importing is used by default, and the group name is limited to 50 characters.

Add Group

101

Specify the group whose members are allowed to add themselves to the group you are importing. To qualify a group by specifying its site, use a colon to separate the value from the site name (GroupName:SiteName). If you do not specify a site, the site of the group you are importing is used by default, and the group name is limited to 50 characters.

Device Group

101

Specify the group whose members manage the Vocera devices used by the group you are importing. To qualify a group by specifying its site, use a colon to separate the value from the site name (GroupName:SiteName). If you do not specify a site, the site of the group you are importing is used by default, and the group name is limited to 50 characters.

Permission Only

n/a

Specify either True or False to indicate whether the group is used to grant or revoke permissions only and should not be callable. If you specify True, calling and broadcasting to this group will be disabled.