More Historical Data

The concept behind the functionality of Historical Data features is simple: Info created during real-time monitoring and management is stored for later review. The data allows the end user to understand utilization, performance, and the ongoing health of the systems upon which an enterprise relies.

That review process is helped considerably with three new dashboards added to the XiO Cloud platform in update 1.51: Device Offline Incidents, Room Usage Over Time, and Room Utilization.

• Device Offline Incidents – As the name suggests, this dashboard provides a quick look at what devices (or groups of devices) have gone offline — and when they were down.
• Room Usage Over Time – Are all your spaces being used? And when are they most likely to be occupied?
• Room Utilization – If a room’s sitting unused for long periods of time, you’ll know — and conversely, the dashboard will tell you what spaces are most popular across an enterprise.

“Providing this kind of historical data had long been a goal in the evolution of XiO Cloud,” says Phil Pfisterer, Crestron’s product manager of Cloud and SaaS solutions. “Recording this info and delivering it back to people in usable dashboards so they can have a clear picture of the analytics of their enterprise is key to the product’s continued success.” These three dashboards are just a start — expect to see more data-gathering functionality in future XiO Cloud platform updates.

Quality of Life Enhancements

A significant part of the 1.52 update included some changes that improved the user experience, also dubbed “Quality of Life” Enhancements. They include:

• A new Device Uptime Dashboard, giving the user a quick view of the uptime of devices across a fleet.
• A UC Engine Connected Devices List, providing deeper insight into the critical devices working together in a Crestron Flex room.
• A repositioned Search Bar, moved to the top for a more intuitive UX.

The 1.52 update also saw the addition of Device Quick Links functionality, allowing the user to create up to five custom URLs for any device in their XiO Cloud account. “There are several applications for this feature, and they all improve the user experience,” notes Joel Mulpeter, a Crestron director of product marketing. “One could link to a variety of other solutions or devices that might be relevant to the installation. Perhaps there’s a third-party platform in use at an enterprise — it’s easy to link to their cloud services. And this is also a way to quickly access pertinent documents, from schematics to manuals to license agreements. These quick links put all those destinations at your fingertips.”

Support for New Devices

What makes the XiO Cloud platform so effective is the sheer number of devices it supports — and the manner in which that support is provided. Update 1.52 added a Crestron device — the TST-1080 Wireless Touch Screen — to the package and a third-party driver from our partners at GUDE, too.

The TST-1080 is a tablet-style wireless touch screen controller perfect for corporate, government, and classroom applications. Support for the TST-1080 in this update gives you all the standard info you’d expect but adds docking status and battery level data to the mix, too.

This update of the XiO Cloud platform also sees the addition of a new driver type, namely, power controllers — and first up is a driver for GUDE power controllers. The GUDE Driver means that you’ll have support for GUDE’s line of switched and metered, German-made PDUs. GUDE has long been a provider of top-quality smart power distribution units (PDUs), LAN sensors, and time servers for the global market.