Welcome!

What ELERTS EPICenter Console does

The ELERTS EPICenter Console (Console) is a website that enables trained operators to receive and reply to incoming Reports submitted from users via their mobile phone. Reports are typically submitted by passengers, employees, and the general public.

A Report can include a text description of a concern, a Report Type, photos or a video, along with a GPS location indicating where the Report was sent from. A Report may include the user’s contact information or be sent anonymously. There are multiple ways users can submit a Report including: an ELERTS mobile app, text-a-tip, a webform or by scanning a QR code.

Note: For a comparison of the features and benefits of each type of Report submittal, visit “User Report features” at the end of the Operator Guide.

When a Report is received on the Console, you’ll open the Report details and a conversation (chat) can take place with the user. The user will already have received an automatic reply, however ELERTS recommends responding personally to every incoming Report. This builds trust with end users who feel listened to, and this is what creates repeat users of the system. You can change the status of the Report, take action if required, and ultimately close the Report.

The goal is to respond appropriately and promptly to each incoming report.

Logging in

To log in to the Console, browse to your EPICenter login web page (starts with https://console.elerts.com/login/…) Some organizations have operators log into the Console with Single Sign On (SSO). For others, enter your username or password. Click the ACCEPT AND LOG IN button:

The Console operator screen

Once you are logged in, the Console screen presents the interface you’ll be working with:

The Console screen has several areas of interest:

	Description
A	The menu bar with command options you can select from include: Reports, Maps, Alerts, Admin, and Help. (Console Administrators will see other options displayed on the menu bar).
B	The current version number of the EPICenter Console
C	The Incoming panel shows Incoming reports, folders to hold reports that have been processed, Search feature, and split screen view options. There are also two symbols you can click to enable sound (for Incoming reports) and to view a quick help window.
D	The Incoming report window is where you will be spending most of your time.
E	The person symbol on the far right of the menu bar showing Operator info and a Sign Out option.
F	The bullhorn symbol shows the latest news–a notification marker appears above it if new information is available.

Note: We highly recommend that you always maximize the Console browser window to full screen:

Getting help

The Console provides considerable online help information:

To …	Do this …
View Quick Help	Click on the question mark icon in the folders panel to the left. This pop-up window summarizes what each folder is used for.
View extensive documentation and articles	Click the Help option in the menu bar (Help > Documentation)
Contact technical support	If you still need help from ELERTS support, initiate a support ticket. Click Help > Submit Support Ticket and fill out the form. Press the Submit button.
View product information	To view the latest product news (software releases, outages, and so on), click the News (bullhorn) option.

Signing Out

At the end of your shift, click on the profile option and select Sign Out:

Responding to Incoming Reports

Review an Incoming Report

The Console receives an Incoming Report submitted by a user in real-time. There are generally three steps to properly handle an Incoming Report. You’ll (1) view the detailed Report information, (2) communicate with the user, and (3) close out the Report as being handled:

Click on the Incoming inbox symbol above the folders panel. The Console screen will show a synopsis of the Incoming report in the report view window (to the right of the folders panel):

A blinking alert symbol and the number of Incoming reports will appear on top of the Incoming tray (A) above the folders panel. In this example, a single Incoming Report has been received.

If an Incoming Report remains in the Incoming tray, you’ll be reminded to take action in two ways (B):

A notification sound will play every couple of minutes.
A warning banner in red will be displayed just above the report.

The date, time. and the user’s contact information is displayed at the top (C). In the example above, the user chose to remain anonymous. A description of the reported issue, Report Type (Assault or Fighting), the location (Parking Lot), photo, and a location map are displayed (D). A Report may also have a video attached.

Note: It is always the user’s discretion to decide how much information to provide in the Report.

You have a couple of options: Click on the Report to bring up the Report Details window or file the Incoming Report into one of the following folders (E):

Folder	Description
Active	The Report is parked by the operator for later attention or further action.. The current number of Active Reports are shown in the folders panel.
Closed	The Report has been responded to and the Report is closed. You can view the closed Reports by clicking on Closed in the folders panel.
Trash	The issue has been closed and moved to Trash because it is considered not credible, fake, or a prank. These are the only kind of Reports that should be moved to Trash. You can view Trash reports by clicking on Trash in the folders panel.
Tests	New users can become familiar with how to submit a Report by choosing the Report Type: TEST - THIS IS ONLY A TEST. Such Test Reports are automatically routed to this folder. You can view test reports by clicking on Tests in the folders panel.

Responding to a Report

Whenever an Incoming Report arrives, you’ll want to handle the incident promptly . To process an Incoming Report simply click on the Report to bring up the Report Details window:

In the Report Details window you can examine more information and communicate with the user:

	Description
A	Select a Report Category. Operators may assign a Report Category to clarify or annotate the nature of a Report. EG. If the Report Type selected by the user seems not accurate.
B	Reply or chat with the user by entering some text. If it is a common issue being reported, select a predefined response in the Reply Template list. To send a reply, click REPLY TO SENDER (Replies may be sent even if the user has chosen to be anonymous).
C	Click to zoom in on a photo (if a photo is attached).
D	Mark this user as a Spammer (which will automatically suspend further reports from this user and file the report in the Trash folder). We recommend that you always warn people first before doing so. EG. “This is an inappropriate use of this system. If you continue to send such messages you will be blocked from the system.”
E	Share this Report with someone else, such as a manager or local law enforcement, by forwarding it as an email.
F	Change the status of this Report by moving it to one of the folders (usually Closed).
G	Click and pan around the map (if GPS location information is included with the Report).

A word about maps

If the Report includes GPS information, a map is shown in the lower right corner of Report Details. The map indicates where the Report was sent from. The Map tab above the GPS is shown if available. Like most mapping services, you can zoom in, zoom out, maximize, or pan the area:

Attention Engine.

Attention Engine is the ability for the Console to display any defined Resources that are nearby the reported incident. Knowing what Resources are nearby can sometimes help to respond more effectively. For example, if the situation sounds serious in nature and there is a CCTV camera nearby, you may want to take a look at that camera in your VMS to see what is going on in real-time. If your organization has Resources such as cameras, PA Speaker Horns, Defibrillators, etc. that should be added to the Attention Engine database, please contact ELERTS at support@elerts.com

If available, the Console shows nearby resources as markers on the map including:

CCTV cameras
Public address speakers
DOT traffic cameras (double-click the hyperlink for a live view as shown above)
AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) to show the name of a nearby vehicle such as a bus or van. If your organization uses AVL or GTFS to track its vehicles and would like to enable this feature, please contact ELERTS at support@elerts.com

Operators may continue communicating with the user by sending a Reply to them at any time. Once the Report has been handled, change the status to Closed:

When you’re done with Report Details, close the window (the X in the upper-right corner of the window) to return to the main Console screen.

Parking a Report in the Active folder

If you need to spend additional time to evaluate or respond to an Incoming report, move it to the Active folder in the Report Details window:

Location-based mapping

When Reports are submitted, the best available location information from the sender’s mobile device, if any, is transmitted with the Report. Normally, submitted Reports with GPS information are reasonably accurate, many within 10 meters (about 30 feet!). Sometimes if environmental conditions are poor where the sender sent the Report from, the accuracy range displayed may be large. The GPS position contains a semi-transparent circle that shows the accuracy . The reporter's position could be anywhere in that circle.

Each Resource shown in the previous map has an outer border that defines the geographic area where this Resource will be shown to an Operator as a nearby resource.

AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location)

If your organization uses AVL or GTFS-realtime, so vehicles continuously transmit their location, you can see nearby vehicles on the map. If you wish to activate AVL/GTFS on the maps please contact ELERTS at support@elerts.com

If AVL/GTFS is active on your maps, you can click on a marker to bring up details of the AVL resource:

Closing a Report

When an issue has been resolved, you’ll want to move it to the Closed folder. Bring up the Report Details window and select Closed. The report will now reside in the Closed folder and will no longer be shown as Incoming or Active.

Note: Whenever a user submits additional information it appears as an Incoming report. It is always a good idea to close out each Incoming report promptly.

Changing the status of a Report

Once a Report is placed into a folder, you can later reclassify its status. For example, you can move an Active report to the Closed folder. Conversely, if a Report that has been Closed and needs to be re-examined, select it and change it to Active:

Advanced Topics

Searching Reports

The Console lets you select specific criteria to search for specific Reports. This powerful search feature can be very helpful in finding specific keywords (such as “homeless” or “safety”) or Report Types.

Click SEARCH in the folders panel or click Reports > Search Reports in the menu bar to bring up the search window.

Working with search couldn’t be easier:

Select a date range.
Select search criteria. You can select as many search items as you like from the list.
Click SEARCH. The results are displayed on the right, with the most recent record on top.

The search window offers powerful capabilities. Even though the search criteria panel may appear complex, all you have to do is select those items you want to search for:

	Description
A	The SEARCH button that uses search criteria (C) and displays the results in the search results window (F).
B	The date range to search Reports. (The system defaults to the last 90 days.)
C	Search for the following information:
	Text Query: Enter specific text or keyword such as “homeless” or “safety” that is in the Report. Text is searched as not being sensitive to case. (Ex: Entering the text unattended bag will get the same results as Unattended Bag.)
	Saved Searches (KPI): These are saved (H) search criteria that you can reuse as often as you like. KPI lets you standardize search results for specific things you want to monitor or measure over time.
	User Info: Enter details that describe the user: name, phone number, or email address.
	Report Id: To find a specific report, enter in the ID (found in the Report Details window to the right of the date and time).
	*Report Type:** The type of report submitted. E.G. “Disruptive Person”
	*Report location:** You can select from a list of locations where the incident has taken place (ex: bus stop, parking lot, and so on).
	*Report Categories:** What you, as the operator, have identified for the Reports to further annotate or clarify the nature of a Report.
	*Report Source:** This represents how the user submitted the Report (ex: mobile app, text-a-tip, webform, and so on).
	*Report Status:** The latest status field for the Report (ex: incoming, active, and so on).
	Only Reports with GPS: If the checkbox is selected, only search for Reports that have GPS mapping attached.
	Only Reports with Photos: If selected, only search for Reports that include photos.
D	Reset search criteria parameters to perform a new search.
E	After clicking SEARCH, the records satisfying search criteria are displayed in the search results window.
F	Save the search results as a comma-separated value (CSV) format to the Downloads folder on your computer. This file can be imported into a database or opened in a spreadsheet.
G	Save the search results as a portable document format (PDF) to the Downloads folder. You can optionally enter a report title and if the report exceeds 500 Reports, images will be replaced with URLs. This file can be viewed by a PDF viewer app (like Adobe Acrobat Reader).
H	Save the search criteria settings that will show up in the Saved Searches (KPI). You’ll be prompted for a search name to use and whether or not to include the date range in a search.
I	The number of records displayed after the search. If there are more results than can fit in the search results window, click on either the page number (or previous or next):

* You can hold ctrl/cmd or shift to select multiple locations from the list.

Using maps to pinpoint locations and trends

Using the same search criteria you just learned about in “Searching reports,” you can also view the results visually by clicking on Maps in the menu bar:

Select the time period and select as many fields as you like in the search criteria. The map will usually start off with a map of the United States, which can be zoomed in to a specific city or area.

Click Hybrid to view a topology view, Heat Map to show accumulated trends, and Show Resources highlighting the location of defined Resources such as CCTV cameras. This is what a hybrid view looks like:

To start off, choose a date range and press SEARCH. The map will be displayed with pins indicating the location for submitted incident Reports.

Note: Reports that do not have location information will not be displayed on map.

A circle surrounding the number of reports will be displayed for clusters of markers. The circle background color indicates the relative magnitude of reports (ex: a yellow cluster circle indicates much less overall count than red clusters):

Notice that the total number of records found is displayed at the top (251, in this example). The search criteria you used can be saved for later by clicking SAVE SEARCH.

Click on the cluster number to view individual markers, zoom in, and then click on individual markers to view the Report details:

To look at trends, experiment by reselecting dates and search criteria. Heat maps are also helpful to show the magnitude of records that match your search.

Creating a Report from within the console

There may be times when you’ll need to create a Report based on what you have observed or on behalf of a user. Click Reports > Create a Report to bring up this form:

These are the same fields discussed in the “Responding to a Report” section. You can select the Report source, Report Type, location, date/time, and latitude/longitude. Optionally, add a photo or video.

Include any Report details and identify the user by either searching through the users or by entering the reporter’s contact information. Select the status as either incoming, active, or closed. Once you have completed the form, click SUBMIT.

Sharing a Report with others

To share the currently select Report with others, click the SHARE button:

To send the current information to another operator or dispatcher, click SEND. Otherwise, to send the information to others, click SEND AS EMAIL. An email web form is displayed with the From, and Message Details information already filled out. Enter the email address in the To text field and, optionally, enter your feedback in the Message text field.

Press the SEND button. Any responses from the email recipient will be received in your email.

Connectivity problems

Users/reporters create and submit a report with an ELERTS mobile app, even if they are in an area with limited cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity. The Report will be transmitted automatically when connectivity returns.

Enabling sound notifications

Console depends on playing a sound pattern for Incoming report notifications. If at any time, sound becomes disabled, you’ll be asked to re-enable audio sound. Click ENABLE SOUND and the sound symbol with a line through it will change to a solid symbol:

Viewing Reports in split view

The Operator can view Report details as a split screen. By default, the Split Screen button is in the off position at the bottom of the folders panel:

Note: If the Split Screen button isn’t visible on your screen, click on View as Split Screen at the top of the Console screen (below the menu bar):

Click the Split Screen button to the on position. The Report list is compressed, leaving room to the right. Small symbols (circled below) identify if a GPS location or photo is included in the Report. Click on a Report, and its details are displayed to the right:

Use the up or down arrow keys to view other Reports. When another Report is highlighted, its details are updated on the right. If your screen doesn’t show enough detail, drag the split screen handle to the left or maximize the Console to the entire size of the computer display:

By maximizing the Console screen, you’ll have access to more features: communicate with the user, change Report status, add notes, attach Report Categories, zoom in on photos and map, mark the sender as a Spammer, or share the Report by email.

To return to the regular Console view, click Split Screen to the off position.

Sending and reviewing Alerts

Most operators have access to the Alerts option in the menu bar. There may be certain situations when you may wish to broadcast a message to app users. Click Alerts > Create Alert:

The one field you must enter is Details. In the example above, Details is filled in by selecting a predefined entry from the Details Template. Other fields are optional, but you are encouraged to enter a title and upload a photo. If you don’t want users to reply, uncheck Allow User Replies.

You can also click the Expires date value to bring up a calendar picker to change the message’s expiration. The default expiration period is seven days in the future. Once the Alert has expired, it is removed from the mobile app.

Press NEXT and select who will receive the alert before clicking the Send Alert button. In this example, the operator will broadcast the alert to the group named ELERTS STAFF.

To review alerts that have been sent in list form, click Alerts > Review Alerts Sent.

Comparing User Report Features

There are three primary ways for users to submit Reports: from a mobile app, Text-A-Tip, or a webform. (A QR code can be scanned to open the webform) Each user method of submitting a report has its benefits:

	Mobile App	Text-A-Tip	Webform
Source	iPhone or Android smartphone*	Any mobile phone	Browser from any device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop), QA code
Entry of problem	Description text field	Free form text	(same as app)
Report type	Selection field	No	(same as app)
Report location	Yes	No	(same as app)
GPS	GPS	No	Yes
Auto-reply sent to reporter	Yes	Yes	Yes
Anonymous	Optional	Phone number sent	Optional (phone number)
Attach photo(s)	1 or more (flash disabled)	1	1
Attach video	Yes	No	No
Alert notifications	Yes	No	No
Chat (two-way)	Yes	Yes	Yes (sent by texting if phone number entered on webform)

* Apps are downloaded from Apple Store or Google Play

(Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC. Apple and the Apple logo, are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.)

EPICenter Console Operator Guide