Welcome to the initial release of the Vocera Voice Server 5.0 software!
This release provides the following speech recognition and speech processing enhancements:
Nuance Recognizer 10.2. The Nuance speech recognition engine has been upgraded from version 8.5 to version 10.2, improving Vocera's overall speech recognition performance.
Improved tolerance for side speech. The VS 5.0 release has improved the capability to distinguish a command in a stream of conversation; for example, when the person initiating a call is completing a conversation with another person at the same time.
Homonym recognition. In previous releases, the VS prompts a caller to disambiguate between multiple users whose names are spelled the same way; for example, when two users are named Chris Jenkins, the system uses an identifying phrase (when available) to prompt the caller: "Do you mean Chris Jenkins in 4 West Nursing? Do you mean Chris Jenkins in Imaging?"
In the 5.0 release, the VS additionally prompts callers to disambiguate between multiple users whose names are pronounced the same way but spelled differently; for example, users named Chris Jenkins and Kris Jenkins.
Faster recognition results. The Genie will return your recognition result ("Finding Carlos Sandoval") more quickly than it did in the past.
Utterance collection is enabled by default. The system maintains a maximum of 14 days of utterances in the \vocera\nuance\callLogs\MyApp directory. The directory tree within "MyApp\" is [Year]\[Month]\[Day]\[Hour]. For example, the directory \vocera\nuance\callLogs\MyApp\2014\07July\17\20 contains utterances recorded on 17 July 2014, between 8:00 and 9:00 pm.
The Nuance Vocalizer 6.0 text-to-speech engine. Vocalizer is used when the system does not have a recorded name, and it pronounces many words better than the previous engine; however, it does not pronounce all words properly. If you notice medical terms or common hospital nomenclature that are pronounced incorrectly, please report them. If you notice personal names that are pronounced incorrectly, please record the names, as recommended in previous releases.
Nuance Vocalizer also provides a new persona with a softer, faster, and more natural sound.
The latest version of Vocera Voice Server provides the following enhancements:
64-bit software. The VS 5.0 software allows access to the extended memory of a 64-bit operating system.
Support for Windows Server 2012 R2. Vocera also continues to support Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows Server 2003 (a 32-bit operating system) is no longer supported.
Standard RTP. The proprietary VRTP transport used in earlier versions of the VS has been replaced by standard RTP.
Enhanced predictive search on the Add, Edit, and Delete Users page of the Administration Console. You can now search for first name, last name, the combination of first and last name, or User ID.
New license key architecture. The Vocera Voice Server license key is now a file instead of an environment variable. This file is provided to you in a separate email.
New web services API for messaging. The web services API unifies the functionality of the existing VMI and VMP APIs. Please contact Vocera Technical Support for additional information.
Third-party software upgrades. The following third-party software upgrades provide 64-bit compatibility or security enhancements:
The latest release of Vocera Voice Server no longer supports the following features and components:
Windows Server 2003
Vocera Telephony Server (The Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway completely replaces the legacy Vocera Telephony Server. Support for analog and digital PBXs is still provided by hardware gateways such as the Dialogic Media Gateway.)
Voice Prints (May be replaced by another form of verification in a later release)
Care Transition / voice integration
Vocera Connect for Smartphone
Vocera Connect - Cellular
Multiple recognition servers
B1000a
Dictation
TCP Genie
Client Redirect Utility
Frequently Called Departments (May be supported in a later release)
SysRecParms and SysFreqDeptRecParms (These custom settings are ignored if they are specified in properties.txt, and they are not necessary in this release)
Vocera Motorola Smart Phone
To upgrade from VS 4.x:
Open the Voice Server Administration Console and navigate to the System > Preferences page.
Choose Save Changes.
The server updates your database and removes any settings for deprecated features.
To perform a new install: Follow the steps in the section of the Vocera Installation Guide called "Running the Vocera Voice Installation Program."
For Vocera Report Server:
Vocera speech recognition has been enhanced to more accurately process what users are saying. By providing more accurate responses to recognition attempts the user experience is enhanced to react in less confusing manner. For example, the Genie replies “I didn’t understand” instead of “I think you said…” in response to the user attempting to call someone who is not configured in the database.
As a result of this enhancement some customers may experience a larger number of voice recognition rejections in the Vocera Report Server speech recognition reports. The increase is due to the recognition engine more accurately reacting to what the user has said and provides an opportunity to target user training for those users who are having trouble with recognition.
The latest version of Vocera Voice Serverand its related servers (the VRS, VSTG, and VCG) require a 64-bit operating system (Windows 2012 R2 or Windows 2008 R2).
If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Vocera, make sure one of the following Vocera products is installed:
If you require a telephony connection to Vocera Voice Server 5.0 and you have an analog or digital PBX, you must connect to the Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway through a hardware gateway such as the Dialogic Media Gateway. If you have a SIP PBX, you can connect to the Vocera SIP Telephony Gateway directly.
This section provides information about known product defects and limitations in the current release.
The following list provides information about known product issues in the browser:
You must run Internet Explorer 10 and 11 in compatibility mode to access any of the consoles. If you do not use compatibility mode, certain console features will not work, and you will see inconsistent behavior.
To run Internet Explorer 10 or 11 in compatibility mode:
Open Internet Explorer and use the menus to choose Tools > Compatibility View Settings.
The Compatibility View Settings dialog box appears.
Enter the IP address of your standalone Vocera Server or each node in your Vocera cluster in the Add this website field and click Add.
Each IP address appears in the Websites you've added to Compatibility View list.
Click Close to return to Internet Explorer.
The following list provides information about known product issues in the Voice Server:
The Vocera Voice Server sometimes does not restart after a service timeout failure. In rare situations, the Vocera Voice Server does not close all speech ports successfully when it fails due to a service timeout. If this situation occurs, the Vocera Voice Server does not restart properly. Workaround: Reboot the Vocera Voice Server. (24380)
Vocera QoS Manager displays an error when the Windows QoS Packet Scheduler is either not installed or disabled. In this situation, you see the message "Error 1920. Service Vocera QoS Manager (vQoSManager) failed to start." Workaround: Install the QoS Packet Scheduler for the NIC. See the "How to Confirm Windows QoS Packet Scheduler Installation" topic in the Vocera Infrastructure Planning Guide for more information. (24308)
The installation program fails without displaying an error message. In rare situations, the installation program does not actually install all the required components, but still appears to succeed. Workaround: Uninstall all Vocera components manually from Windows Programs and Features, reboot the server, and attempt the install again. (24276)
The Nuance Recognizer component may not uninstall properly during an uninstall of the 5.0 Voice Server. If this occurs, the uninstall program displays a message stating "Package Nuance Recognizer 10.2 x86_64 Error: Error 1316. The specified account already exists." Workaround: Run the repair option on the Nuance Recognizer install from the Windows Programs and Features then attempt to re-run the uninstall. (24289)
The JRE component may not uninstall properly during an uninstall of the 5.0 Voice Server. If this occurs, the uninstall program displays a message stating "Package jre1.7_64 error" and warning that you must restart the system to complete changes to Java 7. Workaround: Restart the system and the uninstall proceeds properly. (24292)
Callers to Direct Access number may hear partial prompts. Callers dialing the guest access or the direct access number may hear the beginning of prompts cut off. This can occur when VRTPJitterTolerance is set to False on the VCG. Workaround: set VRTPJitterTolerance to True in the vgwproperties.txt file. (23390)
Voice Server fails if a user attempts to log in to a site other than Global that contains no users. This is a rare situation that requires a combination of events; it occurs when a location has been assigned to new site (other than Global) without any users. If a badge associates with the AP assigned to the location, and the badge user then attempts to log in, the server will fail. (23363)
Genie does not play the "Urgent Message" prompt when the recipient is in a call. The badge still plays the alert tone, enunciates the text of the message, and offers any response options; however, the "Urgent Message" prompt is not played. (23252)
In a clustered environment, installing the Vocera Server on drives that are mapped to different letters may cause the system to fail in certain situations. Workaround: Make sure the VS is installed on the same drive letter on each cluster node. (22465)
In some situations, restoring a very large backup (greater than 30,000 users) may not succeed. As a workaround, increase the Java heap size from 1.3GB to 1.8GB.
Learned names and learned commands (enrollments) recorded in previous versions of Vocera may not upgrade successfully. In certain situations, the failed enrollment upgrade may prevent the user who recorded the name or command from calling the enrolled name. If this occurs, you must remove the enrollment. Contact Vocera Technical Support for additional information.
Locales other than US English are not yet available.
When a Buddy list includes a group but no individual users, the server does not update the voice grammar, and you will be unable to call the Buddy. The workaround is to add at least one individual user to the Buddy list. (23279)
In certain situations which are still being investigated, the Vocera Voice server may experience a spontaneous failover. (23276)
The repair option of the installer does not succeed. If you damage an install and run the installer a second time, the installer offers a repair option. This option is not currently supported. (19047)
The following list provides information about known product issues in the Report Server:
When you restore a VRS archive file, all scheduled reports are listed twice. The workaround is to delete the duplicated scheduled reports. (23601)
Integration group report does not display message activity for users whose home site differs from the group's site. Workaround: Move the users into the same home site as the group. (23183)
Cannot filter reports by user after changing the name of a site on the Voice Server. If you change the name of a site on the Voice Server, you cannot select a user when you filter report data by site. Workaround: Use the Voice Server to rename the site with its original name and then perform a dataload on the Report Server. (20071)
The following list provides information about known product issues in the Web Services interface:
The initiator of a web service message receives an XML fault if the priority field is included in the message but left blank. The workaround is to exclude the Priority field if you do not specify a priority; the message will default to low priority. (23421)