How do I monitor and control connected devices through Ticketing?
Starting with version 3.7 of the Ticketing application a new hardware control panel is available for controlling and monitoring the current state of either of the following type of connected devices:
- Boom gate
- Traffic Light
- Tag Reader
- Bar code scanner
- LPR
- Camera
Some devices can be controlled and allow an operator to override the automatic processes available.
The following article explains how to use this new control panel.
Device Status Indicators
Along the top of the Ticketing application is a section dedicated to showing the current status of any devices connected to Ticketing. It will group the devices into Booms/Lights, Cameras and Readers. Only devices configured will be shown.
If the status of one of the devices in a group changes but other devices remain active then the status indicator for that group will change to orange.
If all devices in a group stop working or access to the Mandalay hardware service fails then the device groups will display
Accessing the Control Panel
To access the control panel, click on any of the status indicators to display the control panel.
Control Panel
The control panel provides a combination of device controls and status indicators for any device configured. What is available will depend of each device and is explained below.
If multiple bridges are setup in Ticketing then the devices for both bridges will be displayed if configured.
Moving and closing the panel
Once open its possible to move and close the panel.
- Click on the grey triangles in either of the corners to move the panel to that corner of the Ticketing application.
- Click on the grey box with the X to close the control panel.
Traffic Lights
The indicator for traffic lights will show the current state of the traffic lights. This is not a direct reflection of the hardware state and is the state the Ticketing application believes is should be so may not always be the same as the lights.
Overriding traffic light state
Selecting either the Red or Green buttons will force the lights to be locked into that state and ignore any automated control. The selected state will be highlighted in yellow. Selecting the highlighted button will remove the manual override and return the device to automated control.
Boom Gates
As with the traffic lights the state of the boom gate is displayed on screen and indicates the state that Ticketing believes the boom gate should be in not what the gate may actually be set to.
Note: The Ticketing system doesn't tell a boom gate to close, it will only stop telling it to be open. Once it stops telling it to be open the boom gates will use its own internal logic and safety measures to determine if its time to close the gate. This means although the images shown in the control panel is up the boom gate may stay open for longer.
Overriding boom gate position
Using the Open button will force the boom gate to open and/or stay open and remove the auto mode. Clicking the button again will stop telling the gate to stay open and allow the boom gate to use its internal safety close process.
Pressing the Pop button will tell the gate to open for a short period of time before allowing the boom gate to close using its internal safety systems.
Tag Reader, LPR or Bar Code Scanner
For any device used to identify either a vehicle, client or voucher the system will just display a status indication for the device and will not show any details about the data presented.
Camera
The camera device will show the current image stored in its cache.
Offline Devices
If a device goes offline it will be marked as shown below.
