This integration was added in v1.4, check out the full release notes for this version here v1.4, v1.4HF1 - July 2019.
Prerequisites
In order to connect ResourceXpress to your EMS scheduling software, the following will be required:
EMS Platform Services API version 44.1.19000.180 or higher. To check your version navigate to your Platform Services status URL e.g. http(s)://<servername>/EmsPlatform/status
An EMS Platform Services Integration Account, see the below Integration Account Configuration section for the account requirements
Access to the EMS Desktop Client and EMS SQL database
An integration account is required to enable authentication and two-way communication between ResourceXpress and EMS Platform Services. To create the integration account:
Log in to the Platform Services admin page e.g. http(s)://<servername>/EmsPlatform/admin
Click Integrations from the left pane.
Click New Integration Client
Populate the required fields per the below
Name | <Enter a suitable name> |
Type | Partner |
Role | All Routes |
Audience | Client Audience |
Active | Yes |
Enable Logging | No |
Allow this client to book without Everyday User Templates and Ignore Booking Rules | Yes |
Everyday User Authentication Required | No |
User Authentication is Persistent | No |
Everyday User Authentication Method | EMS Native |
Click Save Changes
A client secret will now be generated and shown at the top of the page. Copy the newly created Client ID and Client Secret for later use.
Once you close this page the client secret will not be viewable and cannot be retrieved.
Each resource profile in ResourceXpress is linked to a resource profile in EMS. Before configuring ResourceXpress you should have the EMS profiles already created.
For each profile in EMS, you will need the individual ID number assigned during creation, to retrieve this ID number
Open the EMS Desktop Client
Navigate to Configuration - Facilities - Rooms
Open the properties of the profile you are adding to ResourceXpress and navigate to the Audit tab, make a note of the ID number shown at the bottom of this view
In ResourceXpress navigate to Administration Settings - Resource List and click +Create
Populate to below fields in the Resource Info tab
Resource Name | Enter the EMS ID number from the Desktop Client |
Resource Name - Display | Enter the name you want to appear on the room panel/desk device |
Ensure the Booking System type is set to EMS in the Connection Properties tab
To configure the remaining Resource profile settings please refer to https://resourcexpress.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=RSG&title=Create+and+Edit+Resource+Display+Profiles&linkCreation=true&fromPageId=126222341
When a booking is initiated using ResourceXpress via a Room Screen, Qubi, Kiosk or Map the booking is created based on specific parameters defined in EMS. To enable RX to use the correct options various SQL IDs need to be retrieved and defined in the application.
Currently the only way to define these values is in the backend configuration of ResourceXpress, please contact helpdesk@qedas.com for assistance setting these up.
SQL IDs for the following options in EMS will be required to complete the configuration:
EMS Option | Description | EMS Database Table |
|---|---|---|
Setup Type | This defines the booking setup type as specified in the EMS Desktop Client Configuration - Facilities - Setup Types | dbo.tblSetupType |
Event Type | The defines the booking event type as specified in the EMS Desktop Client Configuration - Other - Event Types | dbo.tblEventType |
Status | The defines the booking event type as specified in the EMS Desktop Client Configuration - Administration - Statuses | dbo.tblStatus |
Group | This defines the EMS Group account to use for non authenticated device bookings and will be shown as the booking organiser. | dbo.tblGroup |
Example
Running the below query in SQL Server Management Studio against the EMS database
select ID, Description, Active, AllowWebRequest from dbo.tblsetuptype
yields the following results
To enable ResourceXpress to create bookings using the Conference setup type the ID 1 would be defined in the application.
The ID specified must be Active (1) and must be set to AllowWebRequest (1)
SQL IDs for the remaining 3 options can be obtained the same way by querying the relevant table in the EMS database
ResourceXpress can utilise existing EMS user (group) accounts for device-level authentication via the Platform Services API.
To enable this feature navigate to Administration Settings - System Settings - User Authentication in the ResourceXpress admin console and select one of the below two options for the Authentication Protocol
Use Resource Profile Settings - This option will utilize the Platform Services API settings specified in the Global Resource Credentials section under System Settings - Resource Server
Use EMS Settings defined below - This option allows you to specify a different Platform Services URL and client credentials if required for example if the EMS user accounts are hosted in a different EMS instance than the resource profiles
Once you have configured the User Authentication settings you can enable device-level authentication. For further information please see Interactive Tab
There are two values in the EMS group record used for User Authentication at the devices. By default, the field used for Access (PIN) Code is Personnel Number and the field used for RFID is Badge Number.
Network ID and Other ID can be used instead if required, please contact helpdesk@qedas.com if you need to substitute the default values.
When adding users as Attendees be aware of users with multiple mail accounts of similar names e.g John Smith and John J Smith. For attendee authentication to work the correct attendee booked must be the same account as the attendee checking in.
In version 1.6 an enhancement was added to the way ResourceXpress retrieves EMS user accounts when using RFID and Access Code as in previous versions it was noticed EMS was returning partial results when presented with a specific value.
For example: A user swipes a badge with an output value of 123456, this value was subsequently sent to EMS with a request to match and return the correct user with that value stored as their Badge Number, EMS however returned all users that partially matched that number. In this scenario multiple users were returned with Badge Number values of 2345, 1234, 3456 etc and the user listed first alphabetically was used as the organiser of the booking.
In version 1.6 the same multiple, partial results are returned however ResourceXpress performs additional back end processing to filter these results and only processes the user with the exact Badge Number value.