Information Systems:Digital signage players (formerly uniTV)

Overview

This is the main page for uniTV, and will cover, amongst other things, administration and history/background of the project.

firmCHANNEL is the platform used for digital signage at uniPHARM, while uniTV referred more generally to the program as a whole. As of 2015, the term 'uniTV' was discontinued. Players are now referred to as merely digital signage players, while firmCHANNEL refers to the signage platform used.

History

uniTV was a program with a controversial history. Someone else can elaborate on this section if they feel it to be necessary.

Administration

Web Management Interface

• URL: http://mctv.firmchannel.com/index.php
• Top-level administrator account is Rob Hoyer, contact for account/permissions changes.
• At uniPHARM, donnak, darrenf, and norwinu have Operator accounts.

Hotline: Documenting and tracking uniTV issues

A new protocol was put into place in November 2015 for the documentation/logging/tracking of uniTV-related issues that are brought to the attention of the I.T. department. This protocol simply utilizes the existing ASW hotline system, with the creation of three new Problem Codes and one Resolution Code related to uniTV:

Problem Codes

• DSADMN - Administration issues
• DSCONT - Content issues
• DSTECH - Technical (i.e. player) issues

Resolution Codes

• DSRSLV - Issue resolved

Creating a hotline

Hotlines for uniTV are created the same way as a product return from a store, or a customer service inquiry. I prefer to work with hotlines on a green screen, but it does look quite nice on the ASW GUI as well. These instructions are for generating hotlines on the GUI:

1. In ASW GUI, select Sales --> Incident Handling --> Work with Incidents.
2. Hit F6 to add, or click the 'Add and with cust/po/inv' on the left menu panel.
3. Enter the customer number; F4 to search by name.
4. Enter the problem code and resolution code. Use one of the Digital Signage codes listed above. F4 to search. The resolution code has to be entered even.
5. If the problem has already been solved and this hotline is just for logging purposes, change the status to CMP (completed). Otherwise, press the green check mark to save. This sets the status of the hotline to 'NEW'. An incident number (RA number) will also be assigned at this point.
6. Once the problem is resolved, go into the incident and change the status to CMP. This removes it from the default view (so you know it's been clear). You can check to see past hotlines with the CMP status by changing 'Lvl' to '0'. Default is '1' for active hotlines.
7. Notify Allison and CC: Donna of the new hotline so that they may go in on Infonet or ASW to see it.

• Note: You can view hotlines in Infonet (a nicer search and nicer display). However, you can only edit/modify them on ASW.

Store notes

09:38, 23 February 2016 (PST) Delta Prescription uniTV had been offline since May, 2015. Store underwent rewiring by their own IT person (Paul Diamond), and ethernet cable from the uniTV to the switch was left unplugged. Replugging the cable brought back the connection.

Changelog

09:36, 23 February 2016 (PST) Purchased HDMI-over-Cat5 extender to replace VGA-over-Cat5 extender that was non-HD compatible. This connects to Donna's display (Viewsonic 1080p monitor).