SPC Connect News Nov 2018

SPC Connect News

19/11/2018

Overview

On 31 October 2018, Vanderbilt changed the hosting provider for SPC Connect to Microsoft Azure and updated SPC Connect to Version 2.7. The transfer has been successful, and we are seeing that the systems are connecting quicker and the response time of the server has increased. We are now in the final stages of SPC Connect 2.8 which will again enhance the performance of the servers. This will be part of a series of updates that Vanderbilt are planning as part of continuous improvement and enhancement of the service.

System user notification

As part of the enhanced system we have now released the ability to transmit zone opens and closes via push notifications. Two new filters will be added to the system which will allow system users to receive events every time a zone opens/closes or only when an alarm is active. This is a great feature which will enhance the safety for the user by informing them if an intruder is still on premises. This now completely removes the need for email notifications, On 21 November we will be disabling the event filters on Email notifications (System User accounts only) for all System user and re-enabling the Email Notification feature on System User accounts. Should a system user still require email notification, they can enable the email event filters, however we feel that the push notification is a far superior solution.

Lessons learned

Throughout the update, we used www.spcsupportinfo.com to try to keep you informed, and we noticed this worked well. If you have any feedback on this, please let us know by clicking here. We are happy to see that many customers made use of the customer notifications service within SPC Connect to inform customers of the outage. Again, any feedback on how we can improve this, or your customer’s reaction would be welcome. Learn how to use customer notifications here.

Planned Shutdown of Original SPC Connect Server

The original SPC Connect server is still accessible, and we can see that the number of legacy connections continues to decrease. We would encourage all SPC Connect users to ensure these connections are migrated to the new Azure SPC Connect server. SPC panels connected to this server can be remotely accessed and reconfigured to the new server. When this server is switched off, these systems will no longer be accessible. We will continue to monitor the situation, and should you require support please let us know as soon as possible.

Panel groups

We see that a number of customers are not making use of the panel groups functionality. This means you will not be able to access some of the advanced functionality of SPC Connect. We would ask these customers to please review this as by using panel groups you can significantly enhance your SPC Connect system.

SPC 3.8.5

With SPC 3.8.5 now the default firmware for SPC, you will see that these new systems have the added ability to manage users through the cloud, allowing you to create SPC Connect accounts for your customers quickly and safely. This includes features that aid the user in setting up their accounts and instructs them on setting up the SPC Connect app. Learn more here.

New Payment model

Online payments for SPC Connect will commence in 2019 and to aid with this we will be setting up accounts on the system in December. Nothing will be billed at this time. It is intended to allow you the time to set up your payment details and ensure that all the details we have are accurate. You will also receive an overview of your SPC Connect system so that you have a clear overview. More information on this will be communicated in December.

Connections support

If you cannot connect to the server, check the ATP status under Status / FlexC / ATP LOG (visible via web interface) If the ATP Status = fault then check the ATP Log.
If you find the error message “Blocked by other side”, that means that the IT firewall is blocking the connection (IP address blocked in the route)

You need then to check the outbound firewall rules for port 52000 / add a rule for the new Azure server IP address For more information.

Summary

We want to thank you for using the SPC Connect service. With great new features coming in 2019, we will be growing SPC Connect so that it remains a vital tool for the management of your SPC systems.

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