Room Alert Manager: Changes To The First Feature Release Of 2021

owards the end of 2020, we published an article discussing the initial launch of Room Alert Manager which included a roadmap of future feature releases to come. We prepared this article in response to Adobe’s announcement back in 2017, where they announced that Flash was going to be EOL (end of life) at the end of 2020. However, our plans shifted slightly when we discovered new information earlier this week. Even though we knew Adobe Flash was going to be EOL in 2020, we anticipated that our Room Alert customers who needed Device ManageR could get to its web interface even though support for Flash had been ended by Adobe. With this new information we recently learned that there’s a “kill switch” built into Adobe Flash. This makes it so that Adobe will start blocking Flash content from running, even in old browsers, as of January 12, 2021. This comes as an unpleasant surprise for any organization using applications with Adobe Flash, including Device ManageR.

To practice what we preach in terms of effective Business Continuity Planning, we’re taking a multi-layered approach to addressing this recent change. We want to ensure our customers experience the same advanced & secure environment monitoring they’ve come to expect from Room Alert.

The First Layer: Technical Information

To address the technical impacts of the situation with Adobe Flash, we have a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) providing a detailed explanation of what to expect within Device ManageR. Adobe Flash only affects Device ManageR’s web interface, not the underlying service. Device ManageR will continue to monitor data from devices and perform configured actions in response to alert conditions and schedules. Our FAQ shows Room Alert customers how to check that Device ManageR is running as well as check that their alert configurations are correct.

The Second Layer: What To Expect In The First Feature Release

In the first major Room Alert Manager feature release of 2021, planned for the week of January 18th, we’re improving reporting capabilities as well as addressing Light Tower & Relays, Pings & Website Monitoring and support for the Room Alert 3 Wi-Fi. Our intent is to focus on high impact features that the majority of our Room Alert users will benefit most from having immediately. These are also features that have received high numbers of requests from customers transitioning to Room Alert Manager since its launch in late 2020.

As we projected in our original Room Alert Manager roadmap, full reporting capabilities are coming! This substantial feature release will also soon include External DB Support for services such as MySQL, SQL Server and PostgreSQL.

For our customers who are asking, “How can I toggle Light Towers & Relays?” they can be assured that we will have support for that in this month’s feature release.

Many customers are also using Device ManageR for network device monitoring via pings & website or domain name monitoring. We have adjusted our development schedule to include support for these features in Room Alert Manager in this month’s release. This means that users can see individual pings as if they were sensors. For example, one website monitor will have within that all of the sites or domains that they are monitoring. Users will be able to configure alerts for overall website monitors as well as individual sites they are monitoring.

The final feature we have prioritized in this first feature release of Room Alert Manager is support for discovering and monitoring the Room Alert 3 Wi-Fi. As of this month, Room Alert Manager will support the Room Alert 3 Wi-Fi in the same way that users have come to expect from Device ManageR.

The Third Layer: A Revised Room Alert Manager Roadmap

In our initial launch of Room Alert Manager, we provided a roadmap explaining the details of feature releases to come throughout 2021. Here is an updated version of that roadmap.

1. January / February – Reporting & Prioritized Device ManageR Features The first feature release of 2021 will include reporting capabilities and External DB Support as well as address Light Tower & Relays, Pings & Website Monitoring and support for the Room Alert 3 Wi-Fi.
2. March / April – Advanced Alerting & Customizable Dashboards The second feature release will provide advanced alerting capabilities and support for external GSM modems for alert notifications. Additionally, customizable dashboards will be available to our Room Alert users. Room Alert Manager will offer a dashboard view similar to what you’ve come to expect in Room Alert Account. At a quick glance, users will have an organized overview of triggered alerts, reports, and alarm history. Users will be able to favorite reports to pin in their dashboard.
3. May / June – Authentication & Security The third feature release will bring authentication & security improvements. Our advanced authentication and security support will include security measures such as SAML 2.0, SSO, MFA/2FA. Here we’re also simplifying the process for Room Alert 3 Wi-Fi firmware updates directly within Room Alert Manager and will be able to provide advanced & secure custom credential support for the Room Alert 3 Wi-Fi.
4. July / August – Advanced Automatic Actions The fourth Room Alert Manager feature release will offer advanced automatic actions such as Server Shutdowns (SSL), Remote Server Command (SSL) and external pings. This will allow Room Alert users the ability to automatically reboot or shut down servers.

We’re proud of our team for being able to provide Room Alert customers with a timely and detailed response on how we plan to tackle this unexpected and recent Adobe Flash information to best support our users.

Thank you to our new and existing customers for trusting Room Alert to help prevent costly downtime to your organization, and we hope you enjoy proactive environment monitoring – Room Alert Manager from AVTECH!