Vocera Communications System Release Notes

Version 4.4.3.60

Updated: March 1, 2023

What's New in 4.4.3

This section summarizes the new features in this release.

What's New in 4.4.3

This section summarizes the new features in the 4.4.3 release.

Vocera Client Gateway

Vocera Client Gateway (VCG) Site Awareness – VCG site awareness eliminates delays in signaling and media calls from faraway locations or multiple sites. In Vocera Voice 4.4.3, specify VCG site awareness by manually changing the default setting for the VOCERA_SITE Windows environment variable. For more information, see the Version 4.4.3 Vocera Server Installation Guide .

Vocera Server

SSLv3 disabled by default – SSLv3 has been disabled by default in the web server configuration to prevent exposure to the SSL-specific “POODLE” vulnerability. This change will force web clients to use TLS.

Note: When upgrading to 4.4.2 or later from previous versions the initial restore must be done using the “Legacy Restore” function in the VRS Administration Console. Subsequent backup / restore operations will automatically use the new process.

B3000n Badge

VS 4.4.3 provides software to support the first generally-available release of the B3000n badge! See the B3000n Release Notes for information about the features of the B3000n.

Vocera Report Server

Improved: VRS backup and restore process – The backup / restore process has been redesigned to be faster and more efficient resulting in the following optimizations:

  • Reduced backup file size
  • Reduced temporary disk space requirement during the backup / restore process
  • Reduced processing time required to run a backup or restore task

What's New in 4.4.2

This section summarizes the new features in the 4.4.2 release.

Vocera Server

  • Note: When upgrading to 4.4.2 or later from previous versions the initial restore must be done using the “Legacy Restore” function in the VRS Administration Console. Subsequent backup / restore operations will automatically use the new process.

  • Windows Server 2012 Support – The Vocera Server is now supported on the Windows Server 2012 platform. On Windows 2012, you must use "Run as administrator" to start the Vocera Server and to edit any text files that the server uses. For best results, use the Services window to start the Vocera Server.

    The Vocera Report Server, Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway, and Vocera Client Gateway are also supported on the Windows Server 2012 platform. The Vocera Telephony Server requires Windows Server 2008 or 2003.

  • 3rd Party Software Support – The following 3rd party software updates are available with this release:

    • Tomcat 7.0.52

    • Apache 2.2.25

    • MySQL 5.1.73

B3000 Badge (firmware build 3.1.0.36)

Firmware build 3.1.0.36 is equivalent to firmware build 175, which was released as a separate firmware pack. Moving forward, B3000 firmware will be numbered with the 3.x.x.x convention.

  • Mixed Mode encryption now supported – A new badge property, B3.EnableMixedMode, lets you provide Mixed Mode functionality. When this property is set to true, unicast packets are transmitted in AES encryption and Multicast/Broadcast packets are transmitted in TKIP encryption, or vice versa.

  • PMK Caching can now be enabled – A new badge property, B3.EnablePMKCache, allows you to enable PMK caching, which is supported by many AP vendors. When this property is set to true, whenever a badge roams from one AP to another AP, the badge initially learns the PMK id generated for that specific AP. If the badge finds the same AP again, it sends the PMK id in an Association request packet or a Re-association request packet. When the AP approves the PMK id, the AP ignores the complete EAP packet exchange and goes directly to a four-way handshake. Note that PMK caching is supported with AES-CCMP encryption only.

What's Fixed, Enhanced, or Improved?

The following list contains fixes and improvements made to the Vocera Voice product.

Release 4.4.3 Fixes

For Vocera Server:

For Vocera Report Server:

Release 4.4.2 Fixes

Release 4.4.1 Fixes

Important Behavior Changes

Changes in behavior between product versions may require you to modify your configuration or your processes after you install. This section summarizes the changed behavior that you may need to accommodate.

Changes in Behavior Starting in 4.4.2

The following changes in behavior occurred in Vocera 4.4.2 and continue in successive releases:

Prerequisites

Before installing this release, make sure at least one of the following Vocera products is installed:

Note: Vocera Recognition Server is not updated by this service pack.

Installing the Version 4.4.3 Update

  1. Make sure you have one of the prerequisites.
  2. Schedule downtime. The following table provides estimated installation times and server downtimes for this service pack. If you install the service pack on a Vocera clustered environment, downtime will be minimal (only seconds per failover) if you follow the installation instructions.

    Note: When upgrading from pre-4.4 releases to 4.4.0 or greater, a prompt trimming process will run to optimize the recorded name prompts. In a cluster upgrade, this process can run up to three times and could add unexpected delays to the upgrade process. For more information please contact technical support prior to planning the upgrade to versions of Vocera Voice software 4.4 and above.

    Estimated installation time and server downtime

    Server Installation Time Downtime
    Standalone Vocera Server 20 minutes 20 minutes
    Clustered Vocera Server 20 minutes per node (* Remote restore time varies based on the size of the database). Seconds per failover
    Vocera Telephony Server or Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway (single server) 20 minutes 20 minutes
    Vocera Telephony Server or Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway array (multiple servers) 20 minutes per server 20 minutes
    Vocera Client Gateway 20 minutes 20 minutes
  3. Log in to the computer using an account with administrator privileges.
  4. Download the service pack installer, a self-extracting executable file named vs_4.4.3.50.exe.
  5. Install this service pack on any computer that runs the Vocera Voice Server, Vocera Telephony Server, Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway Vocera Badge Configuration Utilities, or Vocera Client Gateway. Update your Vocera Voice Server first.
    • If you are upgrading a cluster, run the installer on each standby node, fail over, and then run the installer on the remaining node.
    • If you are upgrading a standalone system, just run the installer. The installer stops your services, applies the service pack, and then starts the services again.
  6. After you install the service pack, verify that the Vocera version number has been updated to version "4.4.3". You can verify that the Vocera version number has been updated in the following places:

    • The title bar of the Vocera Control Panel window.
    • The bottom right of the Administration Console or User Console.
  7. If you have deployed VAI applications, copy the server.jar file from the \vocera\server\lib directory on the Vocera Voice Server into your application's \lib folder. Generally, you should not need to revise or rebuild your application unless it uses methods that have changed in the latest version of server.jar.

Known Limitations

The following list contains all known product limitations to date:

Known Issues

The following list contains known product issues:

B3000

B2000

Vocera Smartphone

Vocera Server

Vocera Telephony Server

Vocera Client Gateway

Vocera Connect for Cisco

Vocera Staff Assignment

Third-Party Software