Hi Mark,
I have to say, you're not the first with this tought, but it Very Welcome!
It sounds great to me, and I think your are straight on with regards to the
feature set.
The possibilities sounds like great options for the next versions if people
think it's needed, and you like to develop it.
I think your Definition Statement is right on.
The thing I might like to see, is the data from the devices 'Status Window', in
particular error reasons, last seen date/time etc.
PUSH.
I'm spending time with iPhone development myself, but is not that close to an
app (and first few projects is not IM related), but tthe debate regarding Push
Notification, is that the server app that communicate with Apple needs YOUR
developer certificate (or Dartwares?) in order to work. So have that in mind.
Maybe the central Push server needs to be provided/hosted by Dartware? I'm sure
the nice people at Dartware will step in and be helpful here.. :-)
I have a team of 3-4 NOC team members ready to betatest, covering a 20+
location setup in the Nordic area.
Best,
--
Jakob Peterhänsel
"Be a part of the Love Generation - carry a smile, not a gun."
- JP, May 2006
AIM: Marook
Phone: +45 30787715
On 04/01/2010, at 06.14, Mark Mackay wrote:
> Hi all -
>
> I’ve spent my holidays incubating an idea I’ve had for ages, about
> developing an iPhone Client that provides a more-native UI for InterMapper.
> Given there had been a little discussion on the IM-Talk list about it last
> year, I wanted to share my thoughts and solicit some feedback on what people
> may be after from the application.
>
> The real catalyst for doing this is the new API in InterMapper 5.2
> (currently in Beta), which provides a way to acknowledge a device via the
> API (Finally!).
>
> I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past week or two reviewing the Apple
> WWDC iPhone sessions; and mapping out what I THINK users may want from an
> iPhone client -- extrapolated from my employer’s use of InterMapper.
>
> To make sure it’s at all possible, I’ve prototyped a few things and have a
> basic client running on my iPhone, which pulls down a list of the current
> devices in trouble, etc. It’s much quicker and easier to use, when compared
> to the current InterMapper web interface, but the code is definitely not
> releasable (sorry!).
>
> But if I’m going to spend the time developing the application properly and
> getting it published on the App Store, I’d be keen to see what people think
> of this and build something that people will actually use. I’m also based in
> New Zealand; so I suspect our network sizes are a little smaller than some
> of yours; and so want to ensure _my_ idea of a useful app marries up with
> broader needs.
>
>
> MY THOUGHTS SO FAR:
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------
>
> APPLICATION DEFINITION STATEMENT:
> A thumb-optimised client to InterMapper, that provides smart
> notification and quick access to “What’s wrong?” for Network Admins
> on-the-go.
>
> ---------
> KEY FEATURES
> * Map and Device List: Focus would be on showing what’s wrong, but with
> option to ‘view all’ and search.
>
> * Outages List
>
> * Ability to acknowledge a device (Would require InterMapper 5.2):
> * Thumb Optimised “Ack” screen; which acknowledges with a text string
> built up from a few user interface elements
> * Time Estimate
> * Text Preset customisable by each user (e.g. “Bypassed”, “En-route
> to site”, ...) or a freeform string
> * Who (based on who’s iPhone it is/etc)
>
> ---------
> NOTIFICATIONS – using Apple Push Notifications
> This is one of the key things I’m personally after – a way to avoid
> analysing Up/Down/Warn SMS messages to figure out the current status; and a
> host of other benefits:
>
> * List of recently received notifications, with link to device (within the
> Application) for acknowledging/etc
> * Incoming message sounds based on alert severity
> * Fallback to SMS if (the Application’s) Gateway Server not available
> * Badge count: # of Notifications you haven’t yet viewed (by opening up the
> application)
>
> A Trust Question:
> I am thinking of providing a central server that acts as the “Push Message
> Aggregator” and maintains an ‘unread count’ which can be used to manage the
> badge icon; and potentially a few other team-coordination features. Data
> retention would be minimal, only that needed for displaying useful state in
> the application.
>
> This however would mean you’d need to ‘trust’ me and allow these messages to
> pass via my server and maintain state. The alternate would be to provide
> some server-code you could run at your end to maintain this state; but I
> feel this would be prohibitive for initial testing and complicate
> application/server updates/etc. Programs like IM+ (an chat client for the
> iPhone) already do this, so I don’t feel this would be unacceptable,
> provided the privacy policy is clear.
>
> With this, I can see options to get Push up and running a lot easier --
> you’d simply need to install a Notifier script (e.g. Perl program) which was
> executed for every Notification.
>
> I’d love to get feedback on whether anyone had concerns about this.
>
> ---------
> OUT-OF-SCOPE
> In thinking about what would “work” on the iPhone; I’ve put the following as
> being “not useful”:
>
> * Graphical maps: Most maps would have to be heavily scaled down, so would
> be hard to read; and would be large/slow downloads.
> * Edits / Map management / etc: While ‘probably possible’ via the HTTP API;
> I can’t see any need to do this on the on-the-road.
>
> ---------
> UNCERTAIN
> Feedback welcome.
>
> * Charts: Do you want to see any charts you’ve created, on the phone? Or
> should it say focussed on “Up / Down” and Acknowledgement of notifications.
> * Badge Count: Representing # outages/etc. This is probably not possible
> without adding interfaces to IMDC and server daemons at the each user’s
> InterMapper Server.
> * Web Bookmarks: I wondered whether it would be useful to pull up certain
> web pages while within the application — e.g. A Vendor Contact list, or
> another monitoring system/etc. Obviously Mobile Safari can do this too – but
> then you have to switch context.
> * Ability to message or maybe assign notifications to other team members
> (with the iPhone client)
>
> ---------
> WHAT ELSE?
> I want to avoid Feature Bloat – and make sure the application stays true to
> purpose; but there are bound to be some features worth considering.
>
> A few questions:
> * What is the FIRST thing (or things) you want to look at when you open up
> the application?
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------
>
> BETA PROGRAM
> Assuming this idea passes the “peer feedback” stage and there’s demand for
> the application; then I’d like to:
>
> * Refine the plan by communicating directly to a few of you
> * Develop and test an alpha internally with my employer
> * and then do a Beta Programme.
>
> So if anyone’s keen to work a little more one-on-one with shaping this, and
> providing more in-depth feedback as I progress through test versions, please
> drop me an email:
>
> [email protected]
>
> Obviously you’d need an iPhone, and I’d love to find a few Beta sites with
> 2-3 iPhone-enabled staff who would be prepared to use this together — as I
> see a major benefit may be to reduce the “multiple people being notified
> when not needed” aspect (that at least happens at our site)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------
>
> WHERE TO FROM HERE
> This isn’t my day-job, so I won’t promise the community that there’ll be an
> iPhone application out next week; that said — I’ve done a lot of the leg
> work so far with my proof-of-concept application; so I would like to see
> this in Beta in around 2 months, and in the App Store a month or so after
> that. Assuming it’s allowed on this list, I’ll keep people informed of
> progress — screenshots to tease you :)
>
> All feedback welcome, either to the list – or me personally at the email
> address above.
>
> Sorry for the long first post.
>
> Regards,
> Mark Mackay.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
> I apologise if this is not the correct forum for this — the community
> website seemed
> to encourage sharing thoughts and product application ideas; but if this is
> not the correct
> forum – can one of the moderators let me know, and I’ll cease immediately.
>
>> From the list and reactions from my employer, I think a lot of people would
> be
> interested in this App, so am keen to everyone’s understand needs and make
> it great!
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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