Release Notes 10-04-18

BluPASS- The Non-Proprietary Visitor Credential That Works Everywhere 

• BluPASS lets visitorsuse their mobile device as a virtual credential for access through portals and to the loors. It is a built-in feature of the BluSKY Platform and does not require purchasing proprietary credentials or Bluetooth or NFC readers: in fact, it doesn’t require a reader at all – only an Internet connection at the access point.  It works at any controlled portal, conventional or destination dispatch elevator system to which the visitor has access, and it works across multiple sites, systems, and hardware. For destination dispatch elevators it also provides the elevator car assignment right on the visitor's mobile device. BluPASS can also be used as a remote control for reception areas, gates, parking garages, and visitors and is a more secure way of providing access because it logs every event for later audit.  BluPASS was designed for convenience. For a mor complete understanding of what BluPASS can do, please review the data sheet:

   

• Note that BluPASS gives access only to those portals and floors that are listed in the access level that was granted to the visitor.  

Reporting

• A new reporting infrastructure has been created in BluSKY.  Users can now create reports that span longer periods of time, and the reports are produced much faster. Individual reports need to be migrated one-by one to the new infrastructure.  The reports that have been migrated as of this release are:
  • The Person Activity Report
  • The Visitor Arrivals Report
  • The Expected Visitors Report may also be ready to be included in the release.

Single Sign On (SSO) Integration

• BluSKY now supports "Single Sign-On" (SSO).  With SSO, organizations provide their people with a single user name and password, and control which of the organization's apps (including BluSKY) can be accessed, and when.  SSO provides the following benefits:
  • Reduces the time spent correcting password entries and periodicallly changing passwords.
  • Reduces the "password fatigue" asociated with the mainenance of different user name and password combinations for each application (because a single set of credentials gives access everywhere).
  • Mitigates the risk associated with access to 3rd-party applications (because user passwords are not stored or managed externally).
  • Executes the organization's identity policy across all users, devices, cloud and on-premise applications.
• The Active Directory integration (see below) is a pre-requisite for the SSO integration, and Professional Services are required to assist with the implementation of SSO.

Active Directory Integration

• BluSKY now supports a customers's on-premise or Azure-based Active Directory (AD).  This eliminates the manual transcription of personnel data into BluSKY.  AD provides the following benefits:
  • Eliminates the manual addition (or importing via Excel) of newly-hired employee or long-term vendor information into the BluSKY databases.
  • Eliminates the need for manual updating of employee information that is being changed n the HR (Active Directory) database.
  • Automatically removes a person's access to BluSKY and to the premises immediately after the person was terminated in the HR database.  
  • Business Rules can be automatically applied to incoming records - for instance, the rules can specify the access level that is to be granted based upon attributes held in the AD such as the person's department or payroll level in the organization.
• Professional Services are required to assist with the implementation of AD.

iCal Addition to Vendor and Visitor Invitations

• Hosts can include an iCal event in the e-mailed invitation that is sent to visitors so the appointment is automatically added to the visitor's calendar.

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Support for Latest Mercury LP Controllers and V3.0 SIO Boards

• Up to now, all the controllers that were defined in BluSKY were EP controllers.  It is now possible to specify LP controllers instead. 
  • LP controllers are plug-compatible with EP controllers, but they have their own firmware versions.  LP controllers can actually be run as EP controllers, but it is better to specify the controllers correctly in BluSKY so they get the correct firmware when an update is recommended.

Updated Firmware for SIO boards

• BluSKY will now be able to upgrade the Mercury SIO boards (MR52, MR16IN, MR16OUT...). 
  • This is currently done via the Controller-Door-Floor Diagnostic tools command line.  In a future release we will update the user interface to simplify the process. 
  • A BluINFO article will be created soon on how to upgrade the SIO boards from the command line.

Visitor / Vendor 

The BluPASS effort provided the opportunity to revisit some visitor and vendor features.  As a result, some backend processes were steamlined so they would work faster. 

Some customer-reported issues were fixed.  The Support Ticket will be updated so those who reported the issue or submitted an improvement request will receive notifications.

Vendor Admissions

• The memo field can now be printed on a visitor/vendor badge: it can be populated with special instructions that will therefore be printed on the badges.  One use is to provide a list of floors than can be reached via the freight elevator when a guard is present, or to indicate a time limit.  

Group Import

• Group Import now supports BluPASS.  Requestor can disable BluREMOTE for their import.
• Key Behavior change: The requestor will now get an email when the group import is done.  Due to creating logins for BluPASS visitors it will take longer to generate a group import, so an email is being sent.