The Smartbadge gives caregivers the agility to respond to the complex and unpredictable patient care environment by enabling real-time situational awareness and allowing them to receive a prioritized alert and alarm notifications, make and answer calls hands-free, and send messages securely.

The salient features of the Smartbadge are:

Hands-free calling and answering calls.
Smooth, natural bi-directional conversation.
Seamless texting as done on a smartphone.
Receive phone calls, messages, and alerts with essential information available at a glance.
Present priority items to the end-user.
Integration of hardware, software, and firmware within a single device.
Real-time situational awareness and help in reducing interruption fatigue.

For detailed documentation, refer to the following documents:

Vocera V-Series Smartbadge (User Guide)
Vocera Release Notes Library (Previous versions of the release notes)
Vocera Device Configuration Guide (Information on firmware installation)
Feature Applicability (Information on the minimum required server and firmware versions)

Supported Versions of Vocera Servers

New and Enhanced Features

New Features in 5.6.1.12 (5.6.10012)

Enhancement to screen swipe-to-sleep—Previously, some users inadvertently put their Smartbadge to sleep while swiping between screens. Now, when swiping to turn off the Smartbadge screen, the display darkens in synchronization with the swipe motion. This clear visual feedback ensures users understand the action they are performing. If the screen is released mid-swipe, the badge remains awake, and the full screen is revealed.
Enhancing the display short name feature—To keep the identities of staff members confidential, the display short name feature on the Smartbadge has been enhanced to include additional screens such as call log, inbox, favorites, and notification banners. This behavior is controlled through a property, which is disabled by default.

New Features in 5.6.0.215

There are no new features for this release.

New Features in 5.6.0.204

There are no new features for this release.

New Features in 5.6.0.202

This section summarizes the new features in the Vocera Smartbadge release.

Features Supported on Vocera Platform 6.x and Vocera Platform 5.x

User Interface Redesign—The Smartbadge User Interface (UI) is redesigned to enhance the following user experience.
- Scroll navigation is replaced with intuitive app navigation to resemble smartphone usability. You can navigate within the Smartbadge by tapping on the icons displayed on the home screen for different functions.
- The messages screen and the keyboard are revamped to make it easier for you to read and respond to messages.
- The alerts and messages have separate icons. You can combine them under a single Inbox screen if you prefer a unified view.
- The Badge info and Help are moved from the Settings screen to the new Tools screen.
Wake Word Enhancements—Wake word detection is improved to reduce false trigger.
Add/Remove from Group (requires VS 5.9 and VMP 5.9 for Vocera Platform 5.x)— Group management is enhanced to allow users to add themselves to or remove themselves from a group using the Smartbadge User Interface. Earlier, this was possible only using voice commands.
Pair Smartbadge with MBU app (requires MBU v1.1)—Vocera administrators and the technical support team can use the Vocera Mobile Badge Utility (MBU) for on-site troubleshooting of the Smartbadge. Pairing the badge with the mobile application allows to view badge diagnostic information that aids in solving communication and connection challenges.

Features Supported on Vocera Platform 6.x

Edit Alert Response—Alert response is enhanced to allow a user to change a response to an already responded alert if multiple responses from the same user are allowed on the alert.

Features Supported on Vocera Platform 5.x

French Canadian Localization—The Smartbadge User Interface and prompts have been localized to French Canadian language.

Fixed Issues

Fixed Issues in Release 5.6.1.12 (5.6.10012)

G5W-15191 The swipe-to-delete function does not work for text messages sent from the user console.
G5W-15478 In rare instances, the Smartbadge fails to receive alert notifications during the failover period.
G5W-15602 The Add me or Remove me option is not displayed for groups (Vocera Platform 5.x).

Fixed Issues in Release 5.6.0.215

G5W-14698 In a rare scenario, the Smartbadge experienced an application initiated reboot caused by an assert.
The suspected causes for this assert have been addressed, reducing the likelihood of encountering this assert.
G5W-15199 In a rare situation, the Smartbadge experienced a reboot while handling power-saving operations.
This issue has been addressed.
G5W-15224 Swiping from left to right on the second page of the home screen turns off the display.
This issue has been addressed. Swiping from left to right on the second page of the home screen now brings you back to the first page.

Fixed Issues in Release 5.6.0.204

This release includes minor wake word stability fixes.

Fixed Issues in Release 5.6.0.202

Vocera Platform 6.x

G5W-14289 (CASE-3444) Badge enunciates incorrect response option when only Decline and Callback responses are configured for alerts.

Known Issues

Known Issues in 5.6.1.12

The following list provides information about known product issues in the 5.6.1.12 firmware and the Vocera Smartbadge:

Vocera Platform 6.x and Vocera Platform 5.x

G5W-7356 V5000 Smartbadge performs complete 802.1X authentication when it roams to a new Access Point (APs) that has a profile with 802.11w and OKC enabled.
G5W-6722 No audio is played through the Kimwood and CTXTKER digital USB-C headset.