Manage Events

An event is a Universal Device Manager task that you can schedule. For example:

  • The time that data collection starts or employee lists are updated.
  • An initialization event that sends configuration parameters such as operating parameters, and biometric, employee, job, and labor data, to devices.
  • An event to update parameters on devices. All existing employee information on a device is retained during an update event except the data that changes.

To schedule events for individual devices or device groups:

  1. Create a new event
  2. Assign an event to devices and device groups

When the Universal Device Manager successfully launches a event that includes an email list, Event Manager delivers an email that includes:

  • A success or failure indicator.
  • The name or IP address of the application server where the event ran.
  • The time that the Task Scheduler launched the event.
  • The device or group identification unless the event was system-wide.
Note: Events will run only when Enabled. Events are disabled by default.
Note: If a device or device group is deleted, you must manually remove events that are associated with the device or group.

List all events in the system

To list all events in the system select Configuration > Events from the Devices main menu. The Event Manager grid lists each event by name and includes the following information for each:

  • Name
  • Event Type
  • Creator
  • Enabled status
  • Schedule Summary
  • Date and time of its Next Run
  • Date and time of its Last Run
  • Status of its last run
  • Device Usage—Number of devices to which the event is assigned
  • Group Usage—Number of device groups to which the event is assigned
  • Tag Usage—Number of tags to which the event is assigned

Supported Event Types

  • Collect—Retrieves data from a device or device group.
  • Initialize Comment Codes—Sends only comment codes
  • Initialize Configuration—Sends device configuration data
  • Initialize Device Location Transfer Sets—Sends the device Location Transfer set
  • Initialize Device Work Rules—Sends only device work rules
  • Initialize Device with Device Download Options—Sends the device configuration data selected in the Download Options template
  • Initialize Device with Employee Location Transfer Sets—Sends employee Location Transfer sets
  • Initialize Employee Biometric Data—Sends employee and biometric data
  • Initialize Employee List with Schedules—Sends employee list with schedules
  • Initialize Employee List with no Schedules—Sends all employees without their schedules
  • Initialize Employee Photo Data—Sends all employees' photographs
  • Initialize Employee Totals—Sends employee totals
  • Initialize Labor Accounts—Sends labor levels
  • Initialize Labor Accounts with no Reference Text—Sends only labor levels with no reference text
  • Initialize Pay Codes—Sends pay codes
  • Initialize Punch Interpretation Rules—Sends punch interpretation rules
  • Load Firmware—Sends firmware stored in the database
  • Load Parameter File—Loads a parameter file stored in the database
  • Retrieve Device Logs—Retrieves the app, bio, and biopod logs from the devices
  • Start Data Collection—Starts online data collection
  • Stop Data Collection—Stops online data collection
  • Synchronize Device Time—Synchronizes the time of the devices
  • Update with Device Download Options—Sends the device configuration data selected in the Download Options template. Only the options that are selected for download are updated.
  • Update Employee Biometric Data—Updates employee and biometric data that has changed
  • Update Employee List with Schedules—Sends employee list with schedules. Only changes in the list are updated.
  • Update Employee List with no Schedules—Sends employees without their schedules. Only changes in the list are updated.
  • Update Employee Photo Data—Sends employee photographs. Only changes in the list are updated.
    Note: The data collection options require that the tnt.device.global.datacollection.enabled property be enabled. Data collection will not function at devices when this property is disabled.

The Universal Device Manager also provides a set of system events that apply to all devices. These events are required to keep the Universal Device Manager in synchronization with the timekeeping system and cannot be deleted. They are listed in the Event Manager but are not listed in the Devices or Device Groups workspaces of the Dashboard. However, the Dashboard allows you to run all system events to synchronize all devices with the Timekeeping application by clicking Sync Timekeeping Data.

System Events

  • Download Host Accrual Codes
  • Download Host Comment Codes
  • Download Host Labor Accounts
  • Download Host Locales
  • Download Host Location Sets
  • Download Host Pay Codes
  • Download Host Pay Rules
  • Download Host Smart Views
  • Download Host Time Zones
  • Download Host Work Rules
  • Download TeleTime IP Call Menus
  • Download TeleTime IP Call Menu Restrictions
  • Download Profiles for TeleTime IP User Profile Setup
  • Download TeleTime IP Employees
  • Download TeleTime IP Extension Group
  • Download TeleTime IP Validations

    By default all TeleTime IP events are disabled and must be enabled when the TeleTime IP functionality is in use.

To reposition a column in the display, drag it to the desired location. To include or exclude columns, click tap Filter located in the upper right corner of the table; when the Columns list box filter opens, select or deselect columns. You can also remove a column by clicking tapping the downward open caret in the column heading and selecting Hide Column . Apply a sort to one or more columns by clicking tapping the downward open caret in the column heading and selecting Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. Select Remove Sort to remove the sorting from that column.

To filter this list, click tap Filter and enter a full or partial search string in the empty cells immediately beneath the column headings.

Create a new event

To create a new event, either:

  • Navigate to Configuration > Events from the Devices main menu and click tap New or select an existing event and click tap Duplicate to copy it.
  • Navigate to Configuration > Dashboard, select one or more devices from the Devices view or one or more device groups from the Groups view. From the Actions drop-down select Assign Events and click tap New. This option not only creates a new event, but also assigns it to the selected devices or device groups.
  • Navigate to the Device Details page for a given device by clicking tapping its name in the Dashboard. From the Actions drop-down select Assign Events and click tap New. This option not only creates a new event, but also assigns it to the given device.

The Event Editor window displays. Required fields are marked by an asterisk (*).

  1. Specify a Name for the event and an Event Type from the drop-down menu. The Description is optional.
  2. If you selected an event type of Load Firmware or Load Parameter File, select the desired file from the drop-down list.
    1. If you selected Load Firmware, the Initialize Device with Download Option check box appears. The option is checked (default) to Auto-Initialize devices after loading firmware. Auto-Initialize will use the Download Options configured in the Device Profile to determine which options to download. Auto-Initialize will always download Device Configuration even when it is not selected in the Device Profile under Download Options. Deselecting the check box will require devices to be initialized manually.
    2. If you selected Load Firmware and the update includes InTouch DX G2 devices, the Perform automatic multi-step upgrade when required check box appears.You may optionally enable the check box. If the update involves a multi-step update (for example, from version 3.4.3 to 4.0.0 and then to 4.4.1 or later), the setting automatically performs the entire operation. If the firmware update includes InTouch DX G2 devices and the setting is not enabled, the firmware update will fail for the DX G2 devices if the update includes a multi-step operation.
  3. Specify the Device Type for the event. You can make the event available for All devices, or just the InTouch DX, InTouch or 4500 device types.
  4. Select the Email check box and enter a valid email address if you would like email notifications to be sent when the event is triggered.
  5. Define a schedule for the event by selecting a type (Once, Minutes, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly) and a Time Zone. The Schedule Type determines the remaining parameters that you must complete. By default, the Forever check box is selected. Deselect it to specify and End Date and End Time.
  6. Click Tap Submit when you are done creating or duplicating an event or Cancel to dispose of your changes.

Latest Firmware option

The Latest Firmware option tells UDM to load the latest available firmware for the selected Device type. The latest firmware is systematically placed in Manage Imports > Firmware > Global tab.

To leverage the Latest Firmware option, in the Event Editor window under Event Details:

  1. Event Type must be set to "Load Firmware."
  2. Firmware File must be set to "Latest Firmware."

With these two requirements met, two new fields appear in the Event Editor window under Event Schedule:

  1. Run Duration defines the number of hours the event will run from the event start time (min = 1, max = 24).

  2. Days from Release defines the number of days the event will wait to download firmware after it is released (min = 7, max = 120).

Edit an event and determine the devices and device groups to which it has been assigned

To edit an event:

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Events from the Devices main menu, select the event that you want to edit, and Click Tap Edit .
  2. In the Event Details tab, you can edit the following options:
    • Name - Enter a name for the event.
    • Description - Enter a description of the event.
    • Device Type - Select a device type from the drop down.
    • Event Type - Select an event type from the drop down.
  3. If Load Firmware has been selected as the Event Type:
    • Firmware File - Select a firmware file from the drop down. The 4500 supports .kru, .krm, and .krl file types. The InTouch supports .krx file types. The InTouch DX supports .krs file types. If no firmware files have been imported, the drop-down list is empty.
    • Initialize Device with Device Download Options - Leaving the Initialize Device with Download Option check box checked (default) to Auto-Initialize devices after loading firmware. Auto-Initialize will use the Download Options configured in the Device Profile to determine which options to download. Auto-Initialize will always download Device Configuration even when it is not selected in the Device Profile under Download Options. Deselecting the check box will require devices to be initialized manually.
  4. Select the Usage tab to see the devices and device group to which the event has been assigned.
  5. Click Tap Update when you are done editing the event or Cancel to dispose of your changes.

Enable and disable events

The Event Editor creates events in the enabled state by default. Enabled events are visible and available for assignment to devices and device groups. If you do not want events to be available for assignment, select them in the Event Editor and click tap Disable .To enable events, select them in the Event Editor and click tap Enable .

Delete events

To remove one or more events from the system, navigate to the Event Editor, select the events that you want to delete, and click tap Delete . When ased to confirm the deletion, click tap OK.

Note: System events cannot be deleted.

Run events from the Event Editor

To immediately run system events on all devices or other events on assigned devices, navigate to the Event Editor, select the events that you want to run, and click tap Run .

Assign an event to devices and device groups

To assign one or more events to devices and device groups:

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Dashboard, select one or more devices from the Devices view or one or more device groups from the Groups view.
  2. From the Actions drop-down select Assign Events. All enabled non-system events are listed.
  3. To filter this list, click tap Filter and enter a full or partial search string in the empty cells immediately beneath the column headings.
  4. Select the events that you want to assign and click tap Assign. (Alternatively, you can create a new event and assign it to the selected devices or device groups by clicking tapping New.)

You can also assign an event to a single device by clicking tapping its name in the Dashboard to navigate to its Device Details page and following steps 2 through 4 above.

Create and assign an event to devices and device groups

To create a new event and assign it to devices and device groups:

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Dashboard, select one or more devices from the Devices view or one or more device groups from the Groups view.
  2. From the Actions drop-down select Create New Event. The Event Editor window displays. Under Event Details , required fields are marked by an asterisk (*).
  3. Specify a Name for the event and an Event Type from the drop-down menu. The Description is optional.
  4. If you selected an event type of "Load Firmware" or "Load Parameter File," select the desired file from the drop-down list.
  5. Specify the Device Type for the event. You can make the event available for All devices, or just the InTouch DX, InTouch or 4500 device types.
  6. Select the Email check box and enter a valid email address if you would like email notifications to be sent when the event is triggered.
  7. Define a schedule for the event using the fields shown under Event Schedule in the Event Editor window. in selecting a Schedule Type (Once, Minutes, Hourly, Daily, or Monthly) and a Time Zone. The Schedule Type determines the remaining parameters that you must complete. By default, the Forever check box is selected. Deselect it to specify and End Date and End Time.
  8. Click Tap Create when you are done creating or duplicating an event or Cancel to dispose of your changes.
Note: You can also assign an event to a single device from its Device Details page, following steps 2 through 8 above,

Latest Firmware option

To leverage the Latest Firmware option, in the Event Editor window under Event Details:

  1. Event Type must be set to "Load Firmware."
  2. Firmware File must be set to "Latest Firmware."

With these two requirements met, two new fields appear in the Event Editor window under Event Schedule:

  1. Run Duration defines the number of hours the event will run from the event start time (min = 1, max = 24).

  2. Days from Release defines the number of days the event will wait to download firmware after it is released (min = 7, max = 120).

Unassign an event from one or more devices or device groups

To unassign an event from a device or a device group:

  1. Select Configuration > Events from the Devices main menu.
  2. Navigate to Configuration > Events from the Devices main menu, select the event that you want to unassign, and click tap Edit .
  3. In the Usage tab, select the devices or device groups from which you want to unassign the event, and click tap Remove.
  4. . Click Tap Update when you are done unassigning the event.

Synchronize the date and time of a device with the server database

The system provides two methods by which device dates and times can be synchronized with the server database date and time:

  • Synchronize automatically
  • Synchronize on-demand

Synchronize automatically

The time and date settings of all devices within a Device Manager system are synchronized automatically with the database server. The system will check to determine whether the device time needs to be adjusted every time a device netcheck occurs. Device settings are synchronized if they vary by more than 5 seconds from the database server time. To synchronize device time less frequently, configure the tnt.device.schedule.time.synch.enabled property and set up an event to synchronize device time.

Note: A device that has never been initialized uses the time zone offset for Eastern Time (GMT-5:00) and does not observe daylight saving time. When the device is initialized, the time and date are adjusted appropriately for the established configurations.

Synchronize on-demand

You can manually synchronize the date and time of devices with the database server time. The time synchronization event details appear in the Device Details page for each device. To manually configure devices to synchronize with the server database date and time, select an option based on the device protocol:

Use the On-Demand synchronization feature with server-initiated devices

To manually synchronize the device date and time with the server database:

  1. Set the tnt.device.schedule.time.synch.enabled property to True. The default setting is False.

  2. Run the Synchronize Device Time event as follows:

    1. Navigate to the Device Dashboard and select the device or device groups that you want to synchronize.
    2. Select Actions > Assign Events.
    3. If a Synchronize Date Time event already exists, select it and click tap Assign.
  3. If a Synchronize Date Time event does not exist:
    1. Click Tap New.
    2. In the Event Editor window, fill in the fields as appropriate, selecting an Event Type of Synchronize Date Time.
    3. Click Tap Create.
    4. Click Tap Cancel to exit Assign Events.
  4. Navigate to Configuration > Events.
  5. Select the Synchronize Date Time event and click tap Edit .
  6. In the Usage tab, validate that you want to run the even on the listed devices and device groups.
  7. Click Tap Cancel.
  8. Reselect the Synchronize Date Time event and click tap Run .
  9. Navigate to the Device Dashboard and select your device.
  10. Select Troubleshooting > Test Device. Verify that your device time is now synchronized by looking at the time on the device or by looking at its Device Details page.

Use the On-Demand synchronization feature with device-initiated devices

To manually synchronize device-initiated devices with the server database date and time:

  1. Set the tnt.device.schedule.time.synch.enabled property to True. The default setting is False.

  2. Run the Synchronize Device Time event as follows:

    1. Navigate to the Device Dashboard and select the device or device groups that you want to synchronize.
    2. Select Actions > Assign Events.
    3. If a Synchronize Date Time event already exists, select it and click tap Assign.
  3. If a Synchronize Date Time event does not exist:
    1. Click Tap New.
    2. In the Event Editor window, fill in the fields as appropriate, selecting an Event Type of Synchronize Date Time.
    3. Click Tap Create.
    4. Click Tap Cancel to exit Assign Events.
  4. Navigate to Configuration > Events.
  5. Select the Synchronize Date Time event and click tap Edit .
  6. In the Usage tab, validate that you want to run the event on the listed devices and device groups.
  7. Click Tap Cancel.
  8. Reselect the Synchronize Date Time event and click tap Run .
  9. Either perform an action on the device or devices after the event, such as Initialize Device, or schedule an event to take place after the scheduled Start Date of the time synchronization event. The time synchronization occurs when the system processes the subsequent event or action. For example, if you schedule a synchronization event to occur at 8:00 PM on Tuesday, you must ensure that the date and time of a scheduled device update occurs on Tuesday at 8:01 PM.
Note: A net check event will not trigger the time synchronization event on device-initiated devices.

Viewing time synchronization details

The time and date of the synchronization event appear on the Device Details page of each device. If devices do not have an event scheduled and tnt.device.schedule.time.synch.enabled is disabled, the time and date appear as N/A on the Device Details page.

If tnt.device.schedule.time.synch.enabled is enabled on 4500 devices configured with the device-initiated protocol, the device synchronizes with the database time but the date and time of the synchronization event do not appear on the Device Details page.