New Metadata Features Available in Portal

As the number of devices in the Internet of Things expands, so do the roles and responsibilities of collaboration technology managers. In order to support the devices, different teams need different information. Consider the (non-exhaustive) list below:

Collaboration technology managers need to know:

• Installation dates
• End of life estimates
• Warranty expiration dates
• Contractual contacts
• Account numbers
• Service dates

The Information Technology Team needs to know:

• IP addresses
• Port assignments
• MAC addresses
• Serial numbers
• Device hardening protocols
• Security scanning details

The Communications Team needs to know:

• Address books
• Phone and/or SIP numbers
• Bridge numbers
• Meeting access keys
• PIN numbers
• Passwords for device settings

The Technology Support Team needs to know:

• Contact information for programmers and manufacturers
• Software compile dates
• Firmware versions
• RMA procedures
• Communication protocols
• Networking parameters

Not only is there a dizzying array of metadata, but some of that data regularly changes, making it even more challenging to ensure that people can find it quickly, and rely on it’s accuracy. In our years of supporting the AV industry, we have seen enterprises use everything from custom databases, online note-taking applications, or help desk ticketing solutions, to spreadsheets, emails, and sticky notes. To date, every solution suffered from being too burdensome to be practicable, or too limited to be useful.

That’s why we added advanced metadata support to Portal. Now, not only can you use Portal to track whether or not systems are online, you can also use it to store and communicate information to the teams that need it. Because Portal talks natively to the online devices, you can rest assured that live data is not subject to human error. This makes the information not only more reliable, but simultaneously less burdensome to obtain. Furthermore, because Portal allows you to control which users are able to see and edit which types of data, you are able to grant and revoke access to that information as needed.

With Portal, you no longer have to bend over an AV Rack to take upside down photos of device labels so you can read serial numbers to tech support on the phone, then run down the hall to find out when the firmware was last updated. You can log in to Portal and get everything you need. Or, better yet, you can grant tech support access to the information so you can do your real work while they do theirs.

Metadata – it’s not sexy, we know. But honestly, we believe this is one solution that can truly revolutionize the way the industry works as a whole. It’s just one more way we are trying to partner with industry leaders to make collaboration technology better for everyone.