Learn about new features added to Vocera Server, version 5.3.0.
This section describes new features, enhancements, and changes for voice commands, voice prompts, and feature behaviors. The Vocera Voice Server Release 5.3 includes the following new features:
Announcing Phone Numbers for Incoming Calls. When Announce Caller's Name After Tone is enabled in the Vocera Administration Console, Genie provides helpful information to Badge users about incoming calls. Genie will announce the caller's name or the phone number; If both are available, the name will be announced. Find this setting in Choosing Genie Settings in the Vocera Administration Console.
Announce Name of Group when a Message is Sent to a Group. When a message is sent
to a group or multiple users in a group, Genie announces the group name and the sender
of the message. Example: You have a message for <Group Name> from
<Sender>
Code Lavender is considered an integrative medicine service and a vital tool to ensure that individuals are able to continue after being presented with a difficult case, diagnosis, or loss. Hospital staff, patients, and family members often fall victim to fatigue, despair, and generally negative feelings that may impact all attempts of healing. A Code Lavender event ensures that hospital employees, patients, and patient families feel that they have the mental and emotional strength and energy to cope with challenging situations.
Refer to the Vocera Voice Server Administration Console Guide
for details about configuring Code Lavender. See the Vocera Badge User Guide for
usage guidelines and command descriptions. New voice commands include Schedule Code
Lavender for <group name>
, Start Code Lavender for <group
name>
, Delete Code Lavender Reminder for <group name>
, and
Delete All Code Lavender Reminders
.
Allow VCS to play the Urgent Broadcast notification chime instead of relying on the Voice Server to play this tone. A new property, IPPhoneClientDisableBroadcastChime is available to VCS Clients. This change prevents exhaustion of server speech port resources when a group containing many VCS clients is involved in an urgent broadcast. This feature is Off by default and requires VCS 3.4 or later clients to work correctly.
Add Doctor Prefix to Alternate Spoken Names. When Vocera Administrators are
creating user profiles, they can check the Dr Prefix box to
indicate the user is a doctor. This is configured on the User >
Speech Recognition tab where Alternate Spoken Names ASN are
defined. When Doctor Prefix is enabled, it is not necessary to
also type "Doctor" in the ASN fields. The system automatically adds name variants,
including the Doctor
prefix when the name is announced.
Vocera User Console Navigation Menu is Changed. The Vocera User Console Announcements panel is renamed to Preferences. Users with access to the Vocera User Console use the Preferences panel to define settings for Genie, notifications, reminders, messaging, and call handling.
Easter Eggs Controls. Vocera Administrators can control the use of Easter Eggs commands by Site. If you determine that the feature is inappropriate for users at a particular Site, you can disable the feature.
Intelligent Backoff Strategies for Call, Broadcast, Add me to group, and Record Message Commands. Intelligent Command Backoff is a mechanism to help improve accuracy in speech recognition. The backoff strategy enhances the user experience with Vocera voice commands, offering additional help to users and significantly reducing overall user frustration when voice commands are not understood. This feature is typically useful if your organization has a big database of users and groups. Command Backoff is enabled by default, and no additional configuration is required.
Command Backoff triggers on when the Vocera Genie fails to recognize the names of recipients (individual or group) used with some commonly used voice commands such as, Call, Broadcast to <group name>, Add Me to <group name>, and Record a Message for <user name>. See the Vocera Voice Server Administration Console Guide for details.
Practicing Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a type of meditation practiced widely in many homes and workplaces. Practicing mindfulness has proven to bring awareness and attention to everything we do. Vocera recognizes that practicing mindfulness can reduce stress, sharpen concentration skills, and contribute toward the overall mental and physical health of individuals. You can say the Play Mindfulness command to take a mindfulness break at work with a guided meditation of 30 seconds, one minute, or five minutes. Mindfulness is enabled by default. See the Vocera Badge User Guide for details.
Offer to Learn a Name. The Vocera voice prompt offers an interactive way to learn the name of the most frequently called users if you spell the user's name using the Call command. Vocera Genie plays a prompt offering to learn the name of the user that you called by spelling the name at the time of your next login. You can choose to accept this offer by saying "Yes" or decline the offer by saying "No". When you accept the offer, Genie asks you to say the user's name three times after each tone sound. The system saves the name of the user in the database. See the Vocera Badge User Guide for details.
Prompt to Play Unread Messages at Logout. When a user logs out, Genie prompts the user to play unread messages before the logout occurs. The user can choose to play messages as usual or proceed to log out. This is useful if you are waiting for an answer or need to pass information to the next shift.
Reminder Enhancements. Users can now schedule both recurring and non-recurring
reminders for groups or for a list of users, and record recurring reminders for oneself
using a Badge or the User Console. Users can create voice reminders from the Vocera
Badge by saying voice commands; Users with access to the Vocera User Console can create
Text reminders from the new Reminders tab in the User Console
interface. See the Vocera Badge User Guide for details about recording voice
reminders, and the Vocera User Console Guide for details about text reminders.
New commands are, Record a reminder for <myself | user, user,
user, … | group>
and Record a recurring reminder for
<myself | user, user, user, … |
group>
.
Updated Prompts for Transferring Login from Badge to Smartphone. When a logged in user switches from one device to another (such as, from a Badge to a smartphone), the prompt now indicates that the user is being transferred to another device rather than being logged out.
Badge Voice PIN Authentication. Badge users can now define a numeric Personal Identification Number (PIN) to provide upon logging in and to play messages. The PIN requirement is set by the Vocera Administrator and can be set for individual users or groups.
This section describes administrator configuration requirements for new features, enhancements, and behavior changes that appear in the voice user interface for badges, smartphones, and the Vocera User Console.
Third-party Software Versions
The following third-party software versions are included in this release and provide 64-bit compatibility or security enhancements:
3rd-party Software | Version |
---|---|
Apache HTTP Server | 2.4.29 |
Apache Tomcat | 8.5.24 |
Java™ Java Runtime Environment (JRE) | 1.8.0.152 |
MySQL Server 5.7 | 5.7.21 |
Badge Properties Editor. The Vocera Badge Properties Editor (BPE) is now available as a Web-based tool for configuring Badges.
Forward on Broadcast to PBX Extension. Vocera Administrators can designate a desk phone extension to receive broadcast or instant conference calls along with the other members of the group. The desk phone recipient will be in listen-only mode for the duration of the broadcast session.
Group Voice Mail. Vocera Administrators can disable the ability to send voice mail messages to a group. The setting is in the Group > Forward tab of the Vocera Administration Console. Group Voice Mail is enabled by default.
Call Forwarding Options Set by Vocera Administrator. Under the User > Forward tab, Vocera Administrators can set forwarding permissions for individual users. A user can be allowed to forward all calls, only unanswered calls, or only when they are offline.
Prevent Text Messages from Being Sent to Offsite Users. Vocera Administrators can prevent text messages and alerts sent to groups from being sent to users who might be offline or at a different site. This feature should be used for Groups which tend to receive a lot of location-sensitive messages.
For example, if a message is sent to Trauma Team A from Site A, and a user who is a member of that Group is working at a different site, the user who is offsite should not receive the message. The exception is that users and groups in the Global Site will always receive messages.
Badge Voice PIN Authentication for Secure Messages. Voice PIN authentication provides added security for Vocera users when an unauthorized user attempts to log in using someone's name or tries to play messages. The voice PIN authentication feature is not enabled by default. The Vocera system administrator must enable the required security permissions to allow users to record a voice PIN.
Administrator-defined Ring Tone Settings. Vocera Administrators can define ring tones for call type, messaging, and notifications. Configuration options are set for all devices or only shared devices.
Vocera Documentation: Vocera documentation is no longer installed on the Voice Server; All documentation links within the product now point to the hosted content and should continue to work as expected. You may also navigate directly to the same content in the Vocera Publications Portal at https://pubs.vocera.com. The advantage to this move is that documentation may now be updated more frequently, and the content available from the product links will always be the latest.
If your Voice Server is behind a firewall that prevents it from accessing the
Internet, you may optionally download a Doc Pack
that will install the
documentation on your Voice Server machine. Contact Customer Support for access to the
Doc Pack; After installation, you will need to restart Tomcat.
This section lists the prerequisites needed for
Prerequisites for
The latest version of
If you're upgrading from an earlier version of Vocera, make sure one of the following Vocera products is installed:
If you require a telephony connection to
If you are performing a direct integration between the
Reminder for running the Vocera Consoles: Turn Compatibility Mode off in the browser you are using for the Administration Console, the User Console, the Staff Assignment Console, and the Report Server Console.
Starting with VS 5.0, the following features and components are no longer supported unless noted otherwise.
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.)
SysAutoCheckLogin property in propeties.txt. This server-side feature has been replaced with an automatic login reminder played locally on the badge.
Voice Prints
Care Transition (voice integration)
Vocera Connect for Smartphone
Vocera Connect - Cellular
Multiple recognition servers
B1000a
Dictation
TCP Genie
Client Redirect Utility
Vocera Connect for Cisco (A component of the Vocera Voice Server which provided Vocera services to CUCM via Cisco JTAPI, a Java telephony interface that exposes full call control of Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phones.)
Vocera Motorola Smart Phone
Follow these instructions to upgrade from
Prerequisite: The Windows Operating System where you are installing Vocera Voice Server and any subsequent Vocera localization packs, should be installed with an English-based language pack, or optionally a French language pack in the case of the French Canadian locale. Other languages may cause unexpected issues with Vocera software.
The server updates your database and removes any settings for deprecated features.
To perform a new installation, follow the steps in the section of the
This list includes items fixed or improved in the Vocera Voice Server, version 5.3.0.
VMI messages with the same text are pronounced correctly.
This problem no longer occurs.
If a user is slow to start speaking in a voice mail message, a timer ends the message after one minute.
This situation no longer occurs.
The reconnect email notifications are sent once every 10 minutes. If this interval needs to be adjusted, contact Vocera Support.
Address headers were too long for allotted character limits. Headers are now called through multiple APIs to accommodate correct addressing.
Instructions for Vocera license upgrades have been updated to cover all upgrade scenarios for cluster and stand-alone environments, and include the new Refresh option when adding users or telephone lines.
Of four possible scenarios for success or failure of the operation, one was not accounted for in the user interface. Logic has been added to handle all error processing scenarios.
In a rare case, a customer experienced a failover and network event that kept a number of badges from communicating with the server. AutoLogout was done with a time value of 10 min rather than the configured value of 120 min. Resulting in 3500 users being logged out.
The Vocera User Console allows a user to set call forwarding to another user even when the permission has not been granted. Forwarding options have been added to allow Vocera Administrators to define forwarding permissions for individual users and groups.
Messages sent to multiple recipients are interpreted as a broadcast and the callback option is not appended to the enunciation. The call back option is added to the badge menu prompt for the message, but the user must scroll through the message to select the Call option.
The Callback option must be checked and the phone number provided.
This situation no longer occurs.
The apostrophe character is not allowed in Site names. Delete the Site and recreate it without the apostrophe in the Site name.
In Administration Console under Defaults > Genie Settings, the speaker icons widget fails to play the genie voice sample as expected.
A rare race condition can occur when a user tries to conference two parties while one of the users has put the caller on hold and is rejoining the call during the conference operation. This situation is now properly handled.
The combination of the User name, Group name, and Site name can exceed the character limitation. The character limitation has been increased to 101.
The Who Called
command fails to list callers that attempt to reach a user when the user is not in DND
mode.
This section provides information about known product defects and limitations in the current release.
Information about known product issues in the Vocera Voice Server, Version 5.3.
Genie enunciating Help should not be played after login. Genie plays, "help is available..." even when a Badge user is not trying to log in or after a command has been spoken. (VCXP-6802)
Make Reminder commands available over VAA Direct Access. Voice reminder commands are not available to users accessing Genie over VAA Direct Access. (VCXP-5998)
Weekly voice reminders are adding delays in delivery time each week. (VCXP-6953)
Install and Uninstall errors are not being suppressed. While installing or uninstalling, users are repeatedly presented with pop-up messages saying to reboot for changes to be applied. (CRVC-14177)
Workaround: Do not reboot when prompts are displayed. Wait until the installation or uninstall process is complete to reboot.
Urgent TextMessage via email is not being delivered with urgent priority to VCS. Sending an urgent text message to a Vocera user/device from an email account is not being delivered with urgent priority and is not being enunciated. Added a check for immediate message delivery when sending an email to VMP. Email forwarded to VMP will now enunciate on badge and VCS clients based on the MsgEnunciateMode/MsgEnunciateModeSmartphone setting. (CRVC-12136)
Urgent prompts are enunciated on the badge when the text message priority is high and EnunciateMode = 5 or 6. Badge user hears 2 kerplunks, followed by "Urgent message from.." and then the high priority text message. Vocera must distinguish between high and urgent priorities while preserving the urgent flag that will determine what kerplunk to play. (CRVC-12561)
(Vocera Report Server Only) Empty characters when exporting reports. When you are exporting a report to a spreadsheet, specifically a comma-separated values (CS) file, sometimes the data set is empty. (DE16138 / CRVC-2410)
Workaround: Export to a Microsoft Excel format instead of CSV.
Voice reminders are not played when "Announce Caller Name " is disabled. When the Announce Caller's Name is disabled and the Accept Calls using Buttons Only setting is also disabled, users receiving reminder notification will only hear a ring tone instead of the expected behavior which is a ringtone followed by the prompt "Would you like to hear a reminder?" (DE15526 / VCXP-813)
Workaround: Enable the Announce Caller's Name setting.
Workaround: Use the Staff Assignment User Console User Interface to navigate.
No user in a group can respond to a normal or high alert call. When placing a call to a group with a normal or high alert status, the user is unable to call the sender back and results with the prompt "I'm sorry, no one answered". (DE12547)
Workaround: Only alerts with urgent priority allow return calls.
Some learned names and commands are not available after an upgrade: You may encounter speech recognition problems, after an upgrade from Vocera Voice Server, version 4x to Vocera Voice Server, version 5x. This problem occurs because of changes to third-party voice recognition software beyond Vocera’s control. (DE14443)
Workaround: If you encounter this issue, use the Learn a Name
command as usual to ensure speech recognition performance.
Text-to-speech playback is incorrect for groups written in all capital letters. Group names using all capital letters resulted in the letters being individually read out by the text-to-speech engine. (DE12922)
Workaround: Spell group names using lowercase letters.
Non-VMI messages are not being enunciated. Non-VMI messages are not
correctly enunciated when setting the
Workaround: None
Multiple Choice Response messages fail to be updated on the sender's side. Messages containing Multiple Choice Response (MCR) options from VCS clients or VMP web console, result in sent messages which are not being properly tracked on the sender side, fail to be updated when the badge user responds. This situation can occur when the MCR options are too long for the badge to display or if the MCR options contain certain special characters. (DE7741)
Workaround: None
Workaround: None
(VRS only) Tomcat timeouts when running a data load if the email configuration is incorrect. If the setting to send an email on data load completion is enabled but the email configuration is invalid, the data load process will hang. (DE14965 / CRVC-2584)
Workaround: Correct the email configuration or disable the data load notification email.
Workaround: None.
IPv6 Mode causes Broadcast Test to fail. The Broadcast Test tone does not work when the server is in IPv6 address mode. (DE15551 / CRVC-2482)
Workaround: None
High/Normal alerts from CWE are not getting delivered on VCS client.
High and Normal alerts are not getting delivered to VCS client when sent
from CWE; However Urgent alert is getting delivered but not showing in
Secure Message
list in VCS client.
Workaround: Two property name-and-value pairs are required. The properties are comma-separated, so if you use more than one CWE client ID, separate them with commas. The client ID must appear in both lists, and VMP must be in the SuppressAlertClientID list. Two flags have been added to the properties.txt file; The alerts are now being delivered in the VCS client and all alerts appear in the “Secure Messages “ list.
SuppressAlertClientID={CWE client id},VMP CWEClientIDs={CWE client id}
Upgrade Compatibility with Clinical Workflow Engine (CWE). Customers with CWE are unable to upgrade to Vocera Voice Server, version 5.2.3 receiving an "Import Failed" error message when importing user groups. This failure occurs when Staff Assignment data from the vsa_data.txt file is not imported. (CRVC-2423)
Workaround: None. Contact customer support if your Vocera Voice Server environment interoperates with CWE and you are upgrading to Vocera Voice Server 5.2.3. CWE is not compatible with VS versions newer than VS 5.2.2.