Nox Core. User Guide Core Version 4.00.xx This manual does not apply to any 3.xx.xx Nox version. Nox Core User Guide 4.00.XX Copyright 2013 SimplyRFiD

Transcription

1 Nox Core User Guide Core Version 4.00.xx This manual does not apply to any 3.xx.xx Nox version 1 P a g e

2 Contents Introduction... 5 What is Nox?... 5 What is RFID?... 5 Support Beyond This User Guide... 5 Preparing Your System for Nox... 6 Minimum System Requirements... 6 Recommended System Requirements... 6 Configuring IP Address and Computer Name... 6 Installing Updates... 6 Installing Required Software... 7 Installing SQL Server In the Database Engine Configuration screen be sure to select Mixed Mode authentication, specify a root password, and add the correct user to the administrators list Installing SQL Server Installing.NET Framework... 7 Run the Installation Wizard... 8 Select Your Installation Directory... 8 Setup Run the Nox Initial Setup and Configuration Utility Product Registration Database Setup Web Server Configuration HTTP Port Camera Port Nox API Port Nox Border Port Nox IO Port Server Address Finalization Administrator Account Creation Administrator Console P a g e

3 Settings Paths Maintenance Operational SMTP Settings Server Settings Video Settings Users Hardware Detect Hardware Configure RFID Readers Configuring Cameras Configure RFID Printers Configure I/O Devices Configure a Zone Running Nox Nox Service Logging In Forgot Password? Monitoring Zones Monitoring the Live RFID Feed Monitoring the Live Video Feed Monitoring the History Pages History Log Video Preview Recorded Video Reports Export Verification Manage Import Add Item P a g e

4 Classes Triggers Print Queue Configuring Triggers What is this trigger for? Configuring Trigger Settings How should this trigger occur? Where should this trigger occur? What can override this trigger? When should this trigger occur? Example of a Configured Trigger Troubleshooting / Frequently Asked Questions Installation The Nox Initial Setup Utility will not stop prompting me for a connection string or is telling me that my connection string is wrong. Where do I get a connection string? How do I access the Nox web site once everything has been installed? Video I think I have configured my camera correctly but no video is showing up on my live feed page My video is being deleted too soon, how can I fix this? Errors / NoxLog How can I tell if everything is working correctly or if there are any errors that need to be corrected? Triggers What is the address format for my cellular provider? P a g e

5 Introduction Welcome to Nox! This manual covers the setup, installation, configuration, administration, management, and troubleshooting of the Nox RFID system. What is Nox? Nox is a sandbox application used to log events triggered by RFID tags and associate those events with high resolution motion-captured video. Nox logs RFID tagged items moving through zones, or checkpoints, to point you in the direction of a video that displays the details of exactly what happened during that event. What is RFID? RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. RFID technology consists of microchips approximately the size of a grain of salt connected to an antenna and embedded into a label or tag. These RFID tags can be read and identified by RFID readers, hundreds at a time with no line of sight. This technology allows Nox to passively monitor a zone for RFID tags and present a list of all the tags it can currently see and all of the tags it has recently seen. RFID is currently being widely used throughout the Department of Defense as a supply chain management tool. RFID allows the DoD to accurately count and log thousands of items moving through dock doors without any human interaction. Support Beyond This User Guide If you are unable to answer any questions you have about Nox in this guide, you should call our offices at +1(703) We are available from 9am to 5pm EST, Monday through Friday. You can also contact us by at support@simplyrfid.com or visit our website at Nox is a rapidly evolving application. Our list of features exists based on customer feedback. If you have any questions about how Nox can work for your application, please let us know! 5 P a g e

6 Preparing Your System for Nox Before installing Nox, make sure that the following system requirements are met and that your system has been properly configured and updated to support Nox. Minimum System Requirements Windows 8, Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate or Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 (All 64 bit) SQL Server 2008 R2 Express Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 Internet Information Services Enabled 4GB RAM Dual Core CPU, 1.5GHz or better 10GB Available hard-drive storage space Recommended System Requirements Windows Server Bit SQL Server Standard 2012 Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 Internet Information Services Enabled 8GB RAM Quad Core CPU, 1.85GHz or better 500GB available hard-drive storage space (used for video storage) Configuring IP Address and Computer Name You will need a static IP address on your server. You can configure your IP address by clicking Start > Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center. Next, right-click on your Local Area Connection and select Properties, you should be able to configure the properties of your TCP/IP connection here. Do not make any changes to your computers IP Address without first consulting your IT department. Installing Updates Be sure to run and enable Automatic Updates to keep your operating system current. 6 P a g e

7 Installing Required Software Installing SQL Server 2008 Download the SQL Server 2008 R2 Express software directly from Microsoft s website. Do not download the software from third parties. Use this link for the current version: Note: You will need to download the _x64_ version of the installation file for compatibility with a 64-bit operating system When installing SQL Server 2008, choose the stand-alone installation and follow the installation wizard. You will need to install the Database Engine Services and Management Tools to the same hard drive as you Nox installation. In the Database Engine Configuration screen be sure to select Mixed Mode authentication, specify a root password, and add the correct user to the administrators list. Installing SQL Server 2012 Download the SQL Server 2012 Express software directly from Microsoft s website. Do not download the software from third parties. Use this link for the current version: Note: You will need to download the _x64_ version of the installation file for compatibility with a 64-bit operating system When installing SQL Server 2012, choose the stand-alone installation and follow the installation wizard. You will need to install the Database Engine Services and Management Tools to the same hard drive as your Nox installation. In the Database Engine Configuration screen be sure to select Mixed Mode authentication, specify a root password, and add the correct user to the administrators list. Installing.NET Framework The.NET Framework is often already installed on your computer by Windows Update. If you receive an error message when running the Nox installer about needing the.net Framework Version 4.0 you will need to download the.net Framework from Microsoft s website. Do not download the software from third parties. Use this link for the current version: 7 P a g e

8 Run the Installation Wizard Once your computer has been preconfigured for Nox, run the.msi installation package to copy all of the Nox files to their correct locations. Select Your Installation Directory You will be prompted to input an installation directory before the installation begins. When prompted, click the Next button on the Nox Setup Wizard. You will be asked to specify an installation folder. SimplyRFiD recommends the default directory unless you want to quickly and easily run Nox off a separate drive or RAID array. You will also be asked to install Nox for yourself or anyone who uses the computer. The recommended setting is Everyone. 8 P a g e

9 Click the Next button after you have selected your installation folder, then click Next again to begin the installation. Nox may take up to three minutes to copy all the files to the installation directory. Click the Close button to finish the installation. 9 P a g e

10 Setup The Nox software must configure your computer to run as a web service. Since your computer will be hosting the web pages used to interface with Nox it will also need to open ports on your firewall and create connections to RFID readers, cameras, and printers. This section of the user guide will walk you through the steps to completely configure Nox. Run the Nox Initial Setup and Configuration Utility The Nox installation files include a setup utility that will automatically configure your computer to run Nox. This utility configures your database and Internet Information Services (IIS). You can find the configuration utility as a shortcut on your desktop or in your start menu under All Programs > SimplyRFiD > Nox Initial Setup and Configuration. Product Registration The first step in the configuration tool is to register your product. Nox requires a key file to be able to access and use the software, even on a trial basis. Your hardware ID will be automatically populated based on your computers information. If you do not have a key file you can click Get Registration Key and this will take you to the Nox Software Registration website where you will enter your information to download a key file. If you do not already have a registration key (provided at time of purchase) you can leave this blank to download a trial key. The screen will automatically update with the information about the key file, number of zone licenses, printer licenses, and the expiration date. This information is not editable. Click Next to move to the next step. 10 P a g e

11 Database Setup This section of the configuration tool will make a connection to the SQL Server, create the database, create the SQL Server user, and install all of the Nox database tables. Any of these sections can be skipped if they have previously been completed or you do not wish to complete them at this time. The first thing that you must do is to establish a SQL Server connection string, to do this click Modify. This will bring up a second screen, with two options, Simple Connection and Advanced Connection. The Simple Connection will attempt to predetermine your Data Source, User Name, and Password, if you already have your connection string or are connecting to SQL Server that is installed on another machine you will need to use the Advanced Connection. By clicking Connect this second screen will close and the connection string will update in the SQL Server field and all remaining fields will now be editable. The default Database Name will be listed as Nox, if you wish to change this name you can do so here. The default installation Location is C:\Nox\bin\, if you wish to change this location you can click the browse button and navigate to the directory you wish to save to or type it in the text box, you can also uncheck Create Nox Database if you do not wish to have the database installed. Before you can move on to the next step you must enter a SQL Username and Password this will be used for the software to access the SQL Server database, you can uncheck the Create SQL User if you don t wish to create a SQL user. Lastly, if you do not wish to have the database tables created you can uncheck Create Database Tables. Click Next to proceed to the next step. 11 P a g e

12 Web Server Configuration IIS is a service built into Windows used for hosting web sites. Since Nox is a web application, it will need IIS installed in order to access any of the user interface features. Fortunately, you will also be able to access Nox from any computer connected to your network without needing to install any additional software Step three of the configuration utility prompts you for several ports. These ports are all used for different parts of the Nox application. HTTP Port Used to connect to the user interface. The recommended port is 80 since most browsers use port 80 as their default HTTP port. Camera Port Used to receive data from IP cameras. If you are running a camera as part of your Nox system you may need to point its HTTP server to this port. Nox API Port Used to interface with many Nox devices, such as the NoxVault handheld RFID reader. Nox Border Port Used to connect to another computer running Nox Border. The Border application operates the Check In and Check Out services built into Nox. Nox IO Port Used to connect to sonar and beam sensors when integrating Nox with a conveyor system. Also used when connecting to alarm or light stack devices. Server Address This is your local IP address. You must have a static IP address. Whether you choose to use the default ports or specify your own, clicking the Next button will start the IIS installation process. This process may take up to 10 minutes. After IIS is finished installing, Nox will add a new website and disable the Default Website that was running on port 80. This process automatically creates rules in the Windows Firewall for the specified ports. If you do not wish to create one or all of the Firewall Exceptions you can uncheck Create Firewall Exception Note: Do not run this configuration utility if you already have websites running in IIS. We do not recommend sharing your Nox server with other applications; however, if you must install Nox on a server with other applications running in IIS you will want to configure your Nox website manually. Note: Nox only configures firewall rules for the built-in Windows Firewall. If you have another firewall running you will want to open up incoming and outgoing connections on all the ports you specified in this stop of the configuration. Finalization The final setup of the configuration will allow you to start the Nox Service by pressing the Start Service button and to go to the Nox software by pressing the Launch Website button. You can also access the Nox website by browsing to or to the IP address of the server. 12 P a g e

13 Administrator Account Creation The first time you connect to Nox you will be prompted to create an administrator user account. Enter a username and password and confirm your password before clicking Next Step. You will be asked to log in using your new account and accept the End User License Agreement once the account has been created. If you need to make changes to your login, or add or disable users, you can do so by switching the user role to Administrator and then clicking on Settings > Users after you have logged in to Nox. 13 P a g e

14 Administrator Console The final steps of the installation include configuring all of the hardware and maintenance settings. All of these configuration settings can be found in the administrator console. You can get to this by logging into Nox with an administrator account, selecting Administrator from the user role drop down menu. Settings The administrator console is split into two sections, Settings, which includes maintenance, operational, and SMTP settings, as well as User settings, and Hardware, which is where all of the different devices will be configured. Paths This section contains the directory settings for the locations of some of the Nox system files. The paths refer to a location on the computer or server where the Nox software is installed and will only affect that computer. Change these settings at your own risk. Note: If you modify the video path, you must also create a virtual directory in IIS to map your server to this new path. 14 P a g e

15 Maintenance This section contains the maintenance settings and storage settings. You are able to modify the number of days of history, video, and recorded video that you will store as well as when maintenance will occur. Operational This section includes settings for print engine, CSV separator, RFID Serialization, and filter options. Basic Settings The Basic Settings section covers two different settings, print engine selection and CSV Separator setting. There are two options for print engine, Nox printing and Bartender printing. The Nox option is the default and recommended option. It uses the built-in printing controls and requires no additional software. This will use print templates in the native printer language. The Bartender option requires a licensed copy of Seagull Scientific Bartender software and the Commander service configured to poll the print directory for new print files. The CSV Separator is used to define the delimiting character that will be used in all imports and exports. The default is a comma (,) but other characters are common in different countries. RFID Serialization Settings The RFID Serialization Settings section covers both parts of RFID tag encoding. The Nox software uses the DoD RFID encoding scheme to encode RFID tags that are produced from the system. That encoding scheme requires a CAGE (Commercial And Government Entity) Code and serial number. Nox comes default with these settings set to CAGE: 4G3L1 (SimplyRFiD s CAGE code) and starting serial number 1. If you purchase pre-programmed RFID tags and plan to print RFID tags as well you may want to plan to 15 P a g e

16 either use two different CAGE codes or to use two different starting points (start at serial number 1 in Nox and serial number 1,000,001 in pre-programmed) to ensure that there are no duplicates. Filter Options Nox allows you several different options to filter RFID tag events in the event that you are only concerned about a certain set of tags and you are in a very dense tag environment. The filter types are: None: This will disable the filter options. This is the default setting Prefix: This option will filter tags based on the set of characters listed in the Filter Value section. Database: This option will exclude all RFID tags which are not recorded in your database. Enabling this feature will degrade performance. If you select the Prefix option you will need to set a Filter Value this will be the first x characters that you want to filter all reads by. If you enter 24 characters the system will only show that one 24-digit RFID tag. 16 P a g e

17 SMTP Settings This section contains all of the settings to control the way Nox sends s when certain triggers occur. If you wish to receive s when certain events happen you must first configure these settings. Server Settings This section covers all of the settings related to the server, server ports, and API authentication. 17 P a g e

18 Basic Settings The Basic Settings include the Server Name and the Worker ID both of which are nox by default. The Worker ID controls the name of the Nox process of the server. This value is used to control multiple Nox instances running on one server or remote Nox clients running off one server. API Settings These settings control the API server configuration. The API Server Address should be set to the external IP address of the Nox server, accessible by any clients that would attempt to access the API server remotely. The API Port is set during installation; if this is changed the changes will need to be reflected in IIS and in your servers firewall. If you are using the API to connect to the Nox server and wish for authentication you will need to check API Requires User Authentication, more information about this is listed in the API Documentation. Image Server Settings The image server controls video output from Nox. The Image Server Address should be set to the external IP address of the Nox server. The Image Server Port is set during installation; if this is changed the changes will need to be reflected in IIS and in your servers firewall. Additional Port Settings The Border Port configures the connection port for the Nox Border Check In / Check Out application. The IO Port configured the connection port for conveyor sensors running on Barix devices. If these are changed the changes will need to be reflected in IIS and in your servers firewall. Video Settings This section includes the four features that can be configured for the video portion of Nox. Enable Video Associations / Enable H264 Video Creation Nox, by default, has both of these settings enabled. This allows for all video events to be associated to the history event that occurred at the same time and in the same zone. Also all video will be created using the H.264 standard. If you wish to turn either or both of these settings off, uncheck the box. Seconds of video pre-/and post- event These settings configure the amount of video you will get before and after the actual event time. This is beneficial for areas where you might want to see where someone is coming from or headed after they pass through a zone. The default values are 10 seconds for both of these. 18 P a g e

19 Users This page contains a list of all users for you Nox software as well as allows you to Add Users. To add a user click Add User on the right hand side. Enter a unique User Name and Password; the user will be able to change his or her password by clicking their user name in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Confirm the password by re-entering it. Select a Language for the user, currently the options are English or Spanish, check Active for an account that you want to use right away, if you don t wish for the account to be operational you can un-check this box. Assign a User Level: Read Only: This level allows the user to see the Live Feed, History Feed, and Reports. The user is allowed to view information on ID s but cannot make any changes to the system. User: This level allows the users to do everything that is listed for Read Only but also import data, add items, classes, and triggers, and edit information. Administrator: This level is a full access account. The user has access to all sections of Nox including adding, modifying, and deleting hardware and modifying settings. The Security Settings can be left blank for the user to set him or herself or filled in at this point. These settings allow for password recovery in the event that someone forgets their password. 19 P a g e

20 Hardware The second section of the Administrator Console is the Hardware section. This section will allow you to add, modify, or delete any hardware devices connected to Nox. Detect Hardware The landing page for the Hardware section of the Administrator Console is the Detect Hardware function. This function will scan your network for hardware devices that you can connect to your Nox software. For every item found it will display the IP Address, Manufacturers Name, Device Type, and give you the option to Configure the item if not already in use. You can press the Refresh button to rerun the Detect Hardware function. Pressing the Configure link next to any item will take you to that items respective configuration page. Configure RFID Readers Before setting up anything else in Nox you will want to set up and configure your RFID readers. You can set up a new reader by logging in to Nox with an administrator account, selecting Administrator from the User Role dropdown menu and clicking on Hardware > Readers. You can add any number of RFID readers by clicking the Add Reader button. 20 P a g e

21 The reader configuration screen allows you to set the following properties: Reader Settings: Reader Name: This is how your reader will appear when configuring zones. IP Address: This is the IP address of your reader. Your reader must have a static IP address in order for Nox to reconnect automatically after a power failure. Reader Type: This is a dropdown menu of the RFID readers that Nox supports. The default will always be Impinj Revolution (R220, R420), you must select the Reader Type so that the software knows how to connect and communicate with the reader. Number of Antennas: This is the number of antennas that are connected to your reader, including any built in antennas. The default will always be 2. Active: The active setting tells Nox whether or not to use this reader. If you need to temporarily disable a reader you may uncheck the Active setting. The default will always be checked. Advanced Options: Initialization String: This setting is for ThingMagic readers ONLY. This allows you to preconfigure your RFID reader to enable hardware filtering of certain RFID values. For more information, consult your ThingMagic documentation. Worker ID: The Worker ID allows you to control many readers across many different sites by running a remote Nox tool at each site and giving each reader a unique Worker ID. Leave this ID set to nox when not using multiple sites. Absent Threshold: The absent threshold is the number of seconds a tag must be absent or missing from the view of the RFID reader before Nox creates an Absent event. The default will be set to 4 seconds. Flicker Throttle: Flicker throttle is the number of times a tag must be read before Nox considers it Present. Increasing this value helps prevent erroneous tag reads. Nox will ignore tag reads that are not read the specified number of times within the Absent Threshold. Session: The EPC GEN 2 RFID standard allows for up to four sessions, these sessions server two purposes: o Determines how often a tag will respond to a query from the reader o Allows for multiple readers to conduct independent inventories Server Polled: The server polled setting tells Nox whether or not to send requests to this reader for new RFID tag data. This should always be checked unless you are creating a virtual reader for a conveyor or handheld RFID reader application. Note: After making any changes to your readers you must restart the Nox Service. Launch the NoxStub application in the \bin directory where you installed your Nox software, then click on Stop Service, wait for the service to stop, and then click on Start Service. 21 P a g e

22 Configuring Cameras Nox integrates with AXIS and LILIN brand IP cameras; Nox is able to get images from either brand camera without having the camera push the data to the server. This helps by not having to configure the camera with the server information. Configuring AXIS Brand Cameras Configuring the Motion Detection Settings Since Nox is able to pull images from the camera you do not need to set up an event server or event type on the camera, the only setting you will need to configure is your Motion Detection settings. To do this, navigate to your cameras IP address in a browser, on your camera settings page click on Events > Motion Detection then click the Add Window button. Drag and resize your motion detection window until it covers the entire area of your camera view where you want to monitor for motion. Adjust the sliders until a person walking around in view of your camera causes the lines on the motion detection graph to turn red. Click the Save button before continuing to the next step. 22 P a g e

23 Configuring LILIN Brand Cameras Nox integrates with LILIN IP cameras. To set up a new LILIN camera you must first configure the camera to send images to your Nox sever when it detects motion. Configuring the Motion Detection Settings Begin by logging into your camera by navigating to the camera s IP address in your web browser. Click on Setup in the upper right hand corner of the screen, and then click on Motion Detection under Alarm on the left hand side. Select the entire area of the frame that you want to detect motion in and make sure the entire area has turned red, you can do this by clicking and dragging the box to cover the entire area then release the mouse and it will turn red. You will also want to click Enable and set your Motion Sensitivity so that a person walking through the frame makes the red M show in screen. Click Submit to save these settings. 23 P a g e

24 Configuring Cameras in Nox Once you have configured your camera setting you will need to configure Nox to accept data from that camera. In the setup screen, click on Cameras then click Add Camera. On the camera settings screen set the following properties: Camera Name: A name used to identify your camera. IP Address: This is the IP address of your camera so that Nox can check to ensure the camera hasn t lost power or network connectivity. Type: This is the manufacturer name of the camera that you are using so that Nox communicates properly with the camera. Login: This is the username used to connect to the camera when logging in via the IP address (default for AXIS: root ; default for LILIN: admin) Password: This is the password used to connect to the camera when logging in via the IP address. For AXIS cameras this will be configured when you first configure the camera. For LILIN cameras the default is pass. Frames per Second: This is the number of frames per second of video that will be saved to the Nox server Server Polled: Unchecking this will mean that the camera will be pushing images to the server, you will need to setup an event server and event type on your camera to do this. Active: Setting the camera to inactive will disable it from saving data, associating video, or appearing on your display. Click the Save Changes button when you are finished to save your camera settings. 24 P a g e

25 Configure RFID Printers Nox integrates with Zebra RFID printers. To set up your printer, log in to Nox with an administrator account, select Administrator from User Role, click Hardware> Printers, and then click Add Printer. On the printer settings screen set the following properties: Name: This is the name used to identify your printer. Description: This is an extra text field used to add more detailed information about your printer IP Address: This is the IP address of your printer. Print files will be pushed to your printer over FTP using this address. Remote: This setting is used when your printer is running in a location that is on a different network from the Nox software. Use this setting when installing Nox in the cloud in conjunction with the Nox Remote application. Click the Save Changes button when you are finished to save your printer settings. 25 P a g e

26 Configure I/O Devices If you are using Nox with an alarm or sensor device you will need to add this device. To add a new I/O device, log in to Nox with an administrator account, Select Administrator from the User Role drop down menu, click Hardware>I/O Devices, and then click the Add Device button. On the I/O Device Settings screen set the following properties: Name: This is the name used to identify your I/O Device. IP Address: This is the IP address of your I/O Device. Device Type: This is the type of controller that is being used with your I/O Device. Nox currently supports Barix, Netduino, and Arduino devices. Active: Check this setting if the device is currently connected to the network and being used in conjunction with the Nox software. Server Polled: Check this box if the server should be checking for triggers that apply to this I/O Device. This should always be checked for active devices. Click the Save Changes button when you are finished to save your I/O device settings. 26 P a g e

27 Configure a Zone A zone is a logical area identified in Nox that is monitoring one or more readers and cameras. Nox will not be able to display any information without a zone configured with readers, cameras are optional. To create a new zone, log in to Nox with an administrator account, select Administrator from User Role, click Hardware> Zones, then click the Add Zone button. On the zone settings screen set the following properties: Zone Name: This is the name used to identify the zone. This will show in the history event and the live feed indicating where the item has shown up. Sticky: This feature will prioritize an RFID tag and assign it to a specific zone. Tags can only be in one sticky zone at a time. This is used for things like automatic Check In / Check Out, or automated inventory. Active: Unselecting this option will disable the zone. RFID reads and camera events will stop logging and the zone will no longer display anywhere in Nox. Cameras: You will be able to select what camera(s) you want to monitor your zone. Cameras are not restricted to just one zone so you are able to put one camera in each zone that it relates to. RFID Reader Antennas: You will be able to select which antennas on specific readers will monitor the RFID reads for your zone. This is also where you will select the antenna power and the read strength that you have on each antenna. Antennas can only be assigned to one zone at a time. To assign an antenna click the name of the reader to show all attached antennas, use the slider to set the antenna power. Moving the slider all the way to the right will set the power to 27 P a g e

28 the maximum available for that antenna. If you are unable to move the slider from the Off position that antenna is already assigned to another Zone. Click the Save Changes button when you are finished to save your zone settings. 28 P a g e

29 Running Nox Nox Service The Nox Service is installed to the \Nox\bin\ directory along with NoxStub.exe. The service should be left running at all times. If for any reason the service stops running, is shut down, or does not restart after rebooting the server, it can be manually started with NoxStub.exe. Run NoxStub and click the Start Service button to restart the service. It is also important after any change has been made to any hardware, settings, or triggers that the service must be restarted. To do this run NoxStub.exe click Stop Service, wait for the service to stop, click Start Service, and close NoxStub. Logging In There are two ways that you can access your Nox software. If the software is installed directly on your computer you can connect by browsing to this will only work if the software is installed directly to the same computer that you are trying to access the software from. The second way you can log in is by browsing to the IP address of the server in a web browser. For example, if the IP address of your server is you can type in your web browser URL field and press enter and you will be taken to the login page. Enter your username and password and click the Login button to login. Once you are logged in you will be taken to the Live Feed page as your landing page. Forgot Password? If you forget your password you can use the Forgot Password? link on the login page. You will be asked to verify your username and address and then press Continue. 29 P a g e

30 You will then be asked the secret question that you set up for your user name. Enter the answer to this question and press Continue. You will get a confirmation screen letting you know what your temporary password is. You can click the Login button and login and then change your password. 30 P a g e

31 Monitoring Zones A zone is an area being monitored by a combination of RFID readers, antennas, and motion sensing cameras. Zones may be monitored in real time using the Live Feed or History tabs. Monitoring the Live RFID Feed The Live RFID Feed page shows a real-time list of all RFID tag events at all zones or can be filtered to show the real-time list of all RFID tag events in a particular zone by selecting that zone in the pull down menu on the right. This page will display the camera feed of up to four cameras at a time. Below the camera feed is a constantly updating list of ID s that are currently present and recently absent. You can freeze this list in its current state by positioning your mouse over the list. When the list is frozen it will appear to be grayed out. From the Live Feed you can click any ID and this will take you to the Item Detail page for that particular tag which will have additional information about an item. 31 P a g e

32 Monitoring the Live Video Feed This page can be reached by clicking Video Feed below Live. This page shows the camera feed from up to 6 cameras at one time. You can select which camera feeds are displayed by selecting the name in the drop down menus to the right. 32 P a g e

33 Monitoring the History Pages History Log The History Log displays a detailed list of events as they happen. The History Log also has criteria that you can sort the information by to give you the events that occurred during a certain time period, at a particular zone, or with a particular Event Type. This page is constantly updating as tag reads are received. You can click the tag ID to navigate through to the Item Details page, or click the Video link, when available, to view the Video of the event. Video Preview The Video Preview displays the video available for a certain event. You can get to this page by clicking the Video link next to an event in the History Log or by clicking Video Preview under History. You can also set certain criteria to find video for by selecting the Zone, Camera, Start date, and End date on the right hand side and click Apply Filter. This will display any video that matches your search. If you wish to save the video to an external source you can click the Generate Video link at the bottom of the page. 33 P a g e

34 Recorded Video This page will show you all video clips that have been generated to be saved to an external source. This is also where you will be taken when you click the Generate Video link from the Video Preview page. You can get to this page by clicking Recorded Video below History. This page will display all current video clips, the status, and give you the ability to delete the video clip. If you click on the thumbnail picture of the clip you will be able to download the clip to your computer. 34 P a g e

35 Reports Nox comes with several built in reports that will export information in a *.CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. Additional reports can be requested from SimplyRFiD, created using the Nox API, or created by connecting Nox to Crystal Reports. Export This page allows you to Export a.csv file based on certain criteria. Class: This gives the user the option to export a list of all items that are assigned to the specific class or in All classes. Selecting All will export all id s in the Nox system. Location: This gives the user the option to export a list of all items that were most recently associated with that particular location. Item State: This will give the user a list of all items that have the selected item state. This item state is set using the NoxVault handheld to perform an inventory o Found: Items with this state were found / located in the correct location o Missing: Items with this state were not found / not located in the correct location o Unexpected: Items with this state were found in a location but not in the correct location. These are items that are already in the system. o Unrecognized: Items with this state were found in a location but are not in the system. These are items that Nox / NoxVault do not currently have listed. Inventory State: This will give the user a list of all items that have the selected inventory state. This inventory state is set using the NoxBorder Check In / Check Out application or an automatic Check In / Check Out trigger. o Checked In: Items with this state are currently checked in to their respective location. o Checked Out: Items with this state are currently checked out. Verification This page will show a list of all RFID values that have been added to the Nox software but have yet to be seen by an RFID reader in any zone. Clicking Delete All will clear all of these items from the list. 35 P a g e

36 Manage The manage page contains tools and functions that can be used to add data to Nox, set up and manage system triggers, and manage the print queue. Import This page allows for a.csv file to be imported into Nox to quickly add information and ID s into the software. To import a file click the Choose File or Browse button (this will depend on your browser) and select your file. The file must be in.csv format to import correctly. You can also choose to copy and paste your.csv contents into the text box on this screen. Once you have entered your information click the Import button on the right to import the information into Nox. The standard Nox ID Data fields are below, additional custom fields can also be added to store any information that you would like to track on an item. ID: RFID value for the asset / item. If left blank Nox will create an RFID number based on the serialization settings. Name: Name of the asset / item. If left blank this will match the ID field. Description: Description of the item. If left blank this will match the name field. Image: File name of the image, this image must be placed in the C:\Nox\www\items directory. If left blank this will default to the No Photo image. Parent: RFID value for the parent or owner item. If left blank this will default to None. 36 P a g e

37 Add Item This page allows the user to add a new item into the Nox software. If you know the RFID number of the item that you are adding you can add either the last 8 digits (excluding any leading zeros) or the full 24 digit RFID number into the box. If you do not have an RFID tag for the item you can leave the field blank and Nox will generate one using the serialization settings. Select the class or classes of the item that you are adding and click save changes. The next screen will allow you to set the Name, Description, add an Image, and set any special columns for that class or add additional columns and information. Click Save Changes when you are done to save this item. The next screen will allow you to print an RFID tag, if needed, by clicking Print. 37 P a g e

38 Classes This screen will show you a list of all current classes that have been added to Nox. By default there are no built in classes. To add a class, click the Add Class button on the right hand side. This will take you to the Class Settings page, adding a class requires very limited information and is very quick. Enter a unique Name, this is how the class will be displayed on the Item Detail page and in reports, enter a Description if desired. You can also add additional columns of information that you want to track on all items of this class by clicking Add Column and fill in the Column Name and Data Type. When you are finished adding this information click Save Changes to return to the class list page, there is no limit on the number of classes that you can have in Nox. Triggers Please see the Configuring Triggers section of this manual for an in-depth walk through of the triggers feature. Print Queue This page will show you all Pending and Completed print jobs that fit into the filters set in the Filter Options box. The default filters are All Printers, All Users, and Today. You can change these filters by clicking the dropdown menus and then clicking Apply Filter. 38 P a g e

39 Configuring Triggers The Triggers section of the Nox software is where you will configure the Nox system to send s, set off alarms, check items in, etc. when certain events occur. You can get to this section by logging into the Nox software with a User or Administrator account, clicking Manage, and then clicking Triggers. You will be taken to the below page which will display all current triggers as well as give you the option to Add Trigger or edit a trigger by clicking on the name of the trigger. What is this trigger for? Once you click Add Trigger you will be taken to the below screen. First you must enter a unique Name for the trigger; this is what will appear in the list on the main trigger page. What type of trigger is this (select one): o RFID Number: This trigger will be based on ONE specific RFID Number RFID Number: Enter the 24 digit RFID number for the item o Class: This trigger will be based on ONE specific Class Class: Select the class from the drop down menu o IO Device: This trigger will be based on ONE specific IO Device IO Device: Select the IO Device from the drop down menu IO Port: Enter the specific port o Hardware Malfunction: This trigger will be based on a hardware down event from ONE specific piece of hardware Hardware: Select the piece of hardware from the drop down menu o Everything: This trigger will be based on ALL items in the Nox system (RFID Tags and Hardware Devices) 39 P a g e

40 Some of these selections may require additional fields to be selected. These fields are: Event Type: This is the current event type (as logged in History) that this trigger will be based on. o Any State: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening when ANY of the below event types occur. o Present: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening ONLY when the item is present in a later specified zone. o Absent: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening ONLY when the item is absent in a later specified zone. o Squelch: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening ONLY when the item is being squelched in a later specified zone. Squelching occurs when you have an item that is being read by two separate sticky zones. The zone that has a less powerful read will be squelched. o Check In: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening ONLY when the item is checked in at a later specified zone. o Check Out: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening ONLY when the item is checked out at a later specified zone. o Alarm: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening ONLY when the item is alarmed in a later specified zone. Current Inventory State: This is the current inventory state as set by another trigger, NoxVaultB, or Nox Border applications that this trigger will be based on. o Any Inventory State: This trigger will be based on the above selection happening when ANY of the below inventory states occur. o Checked In: This trigger will be based on the above two selections happening ONLY when the item has an inventory state of Checked In. o Checked Out: This trigger will be based on the above two selections happening ONLY when the item has an inventory state of Checked Out. EXAMPLE: The below image shows a trigger (Nox Trigger 1) that would be based on all items in Nox that are currently Checked In and Present. Click the Continue button when you are done to move on to the next steps. 40 P a g e

41 Configuring Trigger Settings The remaining trigger settings are all based from the below configuration hub, use the action buttons on the right hand side to add settings. Each one of the sections is explained in further detail below. How should this trigger occur? One trigger can have multiple actions, to add an action click the Add Action button. You will be taken to a new page that will list different Action Types. Select your action type and any additional information if needed, click Continue when you are finished to return to the configuration hub. Action Types o This will send an message to a defined address. You can also use this option to send text messages by using the proper format for your cellular service provider. A list of these can be found in the FAQ s. Remember text messaging or data fees may apply and are not the responsibility of SimplyRFiD. Address: The full address without spaces o Alarm: This will cause an audible or visual alarm to occur. IO Device: Select the device that you would like the alarm to happen on from the drop down menu o Log History: This will cause the selected event to create an event in the History Log. This will make tracking the chronological history of an item possible. Include Notification: Check this box to have a notification sent for each history event. These notifications will show up in the top right corner of the screen. In the above image the link is surrounded by a red box. o Change Inventory State: This is used for automated Check In or Check Out within the Nox system. This will change every item that appears in the later selected zone and meets the set criteria to the below selected Inventory State. Inventory State: This is the Inventory State that the item will be changed to. o Checked In: The item is currently Checked In to the zone Checked Out: This item is currently Checked Out from the zone HTTP: This is used to communicate with an external website or API server. URL: Address of the website or device that information is to be sent to. 41 P a g e

42 o Twitter: This is used to post a message, or tweet, to twitter. Twitter ID: This is the user-id that this message, or tweet, should be posted by. Where should this trigger occur? One trigger can have multiple locations that it can occur in, to add a location click the Add Location button. You will be taken to a new page that will give you the option to select the location for the trigger. Select your location from the drop down menu or select All. All will make this trigger happen in any and all zones that are part of your system, click Continue when you are finished to return to the configuration hub. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary to add all of your locations. What can override this trigger? One trigger can have multiple override options. An override is an RFID tag that will cause the trigger to be ignored if it is present in the same location as the trigger. You can set the override to be a specific RFID tag number or to be the parent tag of the item. To add an override click the Add Override button, you will be taken to a new page that will give you the option to set an override. Select the override option you desire, fill in the required information, and then click Continue when you are finished to return to the configuration hub. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary to add all of your overrides. Override this trigger by: o RFID Number RFID Number: Enter the 24 digit RFID number of the tag. o Parent Tag When should this trigger occur? A trigger can only have one day / time setting; if multiple custom day / time settings are required multiple triggers will need to be configured. To add a time frame click the Add Time button, you will be taken to a new page that will give you the option to set a time frame. Select the Start Time, End Time, and Days of the Week. Your options for days are: Every Day, Weekdays, Weekends, or Specific Days. If you select Specific Days you will be able to check which days of the week you want the trigger to occur on. 42 P a g e

43 Example of a Configured Trigger After you have gone through all the above steps to configure your trigger you will want to review everything before actually saving the trigger. Triggers are easily changed or modified if something needs to be changed in the future. Click Save Changes to save the trigger, remember that you must restart NoxService to have your changes take effect. The below screen shot is of a newly configured trigger. This trigger answers the following questions: What is this trigger for? o Anything that is Checked In and Present How should this trigger occur? o Log History o security@simplyrfid.com Where should this trigger occur? o Front Entrance o Secure Room What can override this trigger? o Parent Tag 43 P a g e