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Integrating Nurse Call with Spok Go

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This contains details for integrating TAP with Spok Go.

 

Overview

This article describes the process for integrating a single Nurse Call connection with Spok Go to allow the receipt and subsequent routing of nurse calls and their contents to the appropriate users, roles, and workflows.

Before you Begin

Ensure you followed the specifications outlined in Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol (TAP) Interface Specifications.

Adding a Nurse Call Integration to a Gateway

Step 1: Build and Deploy the Gateway

Ensure the on-premises gateway is installed and configured. For more information see Installing and Configuring the On-Premises Gateway.

Step 2: Create the Nurse Call Integration

  1. In Spok Go, click Administration > Integrations and click the Connectors tab.

  2. Click +Connector to add the Nurse Call connector.

  3. In the Connector Details section, enter the following:

    Connector Name Enter a name for the Nurse Call connector.
    Description Enter a description for the Nurse Call connector.
    Type Select Nurse Call from the drop down.
  4. Select the Gateway where the integration will be created.
  5. Click Save to save the connector. The connector is automatically enabled.
  6. Click the connector in the list and click the Enabled Services tab.
  7. Enable the TAP Service by sliding the toggle.
  8. Enter the configuration info for the connector.  See Connection Fields below for more information about the fields in the pane and recommended configuration options for this integration.  
  9. After all changes are made, click Save.

Once the integration is created, a port number between 18101 and 18120 range is automatically assigned to the integration after the configuration is submitted.

 

Connection Fields

This section provides details about each field on the Nurse Call Connector. 

Field Name Description

Name

 (Required) Provide a name for the Nurse Call integration. This name must be unique.

Nurse Profile

(Required) Sets the profile that identifies which nurse call message format is used in messages sent to the port. This setting identifies and extracts nurse call entities from TAP messages.

 

See Nurse Call Profiles for more information.

Callback

Defines how callback strings are composed for nurse call events sent through the port. 

 

See Callback Strings for more information.

Use TLS

Enables TLS 1.2 encryption on the port. Clients will need to authenticate with TLS 1.2 to establish a connection when checked.

Enforce Checksum

(Recommended) Enforces checksum validation on all inbound message packets.

Use Detailed Response Codes

(Recommended) Enables Detailed Response Codes in all responses to clients.

Stay Connected

Sets the connector to remain connected to the client via IP after clients send a TAP protocol layer disconnect sequence. 

 

Typically enabled when placing a Serial to IP converter between the client and the TAP port.
Port

Assigns a port number to the integration. This port number must be between 18101 and 18120.

If this field is left blank, a port number is automatically assigned to the integration after the configuration is submitted.

Location

Assigns a location to the TAP port. This is a required field.

Used when the client system provides partial or ambiguous location information. For example, a nurse call system provides room and bed name, but no facility name.  

Location information provided by a client system will override any location attributes assigned by this TAP connector configuration.

See TAP Port Location Assignments for more information.

Disable the Connector

If you need to disable the connector perform the following.

  1. Click the connector in the list.
  2. Click the slider to disable the connector.

Delete the Connector

If you need to delete the connector perform the following.

  1. Click the connector in the list.
  2. Click Delete this connector permanently. This will permanently delete the connector so be sure only to select this if the connector is not needed.

TAP Port Location Assignments

In some situations, client systems send only part of the location context needed to match an event with a location in the directory. For example, a nurse call system may only provide a room and bed name with no unit or a unit, room and bed name with no facility. 

A specific location must be assigned to a connector to resolve the location ambiguity or to provide missing information needed to make a match. 

This assigned location combined with location data extracted from events is used to find matches with locations in the directory. The location attributes extracted from the event override any location attributes assigned to the connector. 

For example, the customer may have the same unit, room, and bed names used within two different facilities and data coming through the connector is supposed to be matched to only one of those facilities. Setting the connector’s location to the desired facility resolves the ambiguity and ensures the correct location is matched.

Nurse Call Profiles

Nurse call profiles support the extraction of nurse call entities from text messages sent through a TAP connector. 

They encapsulate how to interpret, validate, and transform nurse call events delivered in specific message formats. They are developed and tested for use with specific vendor systems and configurations.

Jeron Provider

This profile was developed for compatibility with Jeron Provider nurse call systems. It is based on an event structure defined in the Jeron Nurse Call Activity API.

Jeron Provider Format

<Type><SPACE><Room>[:<Bed>]<SPACE><Alarm>

  • The structure is whitespace delimited fields. Whitespace within the data is encoded as underscores.

  • <Type> identifies the operation which caused the message along with state. This profile supports ++ and T+ for activations. It supports – and T- for cancel. 

  • Bed name is delimited with a colon and is optional.

  • The profile will decode all whitespace data, replacing underscores with whitespaces.

  • Any messages that do not provide Type or Room are rejected. Cancel messages are not required to include the Alarm text.

Caveats

Services requests indicated by S+ and S- are not supported.

Rauland 5

The profile was developed for compatibility with Rauland Responder nurse call systems not using a “Legacy Dial Back” format. See Rauland Responder IV profile if using Rauland 5 with “Legacy Dial Back” format.

Rauland 5 Format

<Room>[<DELIMITER><Bed>]<SPACE><Alarm>

  • Room and bed fields are separated by a delimiter that can be one of these possible values: * - ; , . :
  • The profile will automatically detect which delimiter is being used.
  • The bed field is optional.

  • Alarms are assumed activated unless one of the following cancellation keywords is included in the Alarm text: 

    • Cancel

    • Canceled

    • Cancelled

    • Clear

    • Cleared

  • The cancellation keywords are case-insensitive. 

  • Cancellation keywords present in the Alarm text are removed before publishing nurse call events, to prevent them from appearing in any titles.

Caveats

Room aliasing is recommended to ensure that locations are properly matched because the Unit name cannot be parsed from the Room name due to lack of a structured delimiter. 

Room and bed names cannot contain whitespace characters due to a limitation of the Rauland TAP format. Rauland does not properly encode/escape whitespace in these fields before transmitting them over TAP. This makes it impossible for the profile to determine where a location name ends and where the alarm type begins.

The Rauland 5 profile should not be used to trigger workflows with manual messages sent through the Rauland system. "Manual" and "Pass through" messages may be accepted by the profile because it cannot reject them by format alone. The profile format can be simplified to <Room><SPACE><Alarm>. Messages sent and accepted by the profile will likely cause an error downstream in the Spok Go platform when attempting to trigger a workflow.

Rauland IV

The profile was developed for compatibility with Rauland nurse call systems configured to send TAP messages in a "Legacy Dial Back". This should also be compatible when using a WaveWare SIP to TAP gateway in "Legacy Dial Back" configuration.

Rauland IV Format

<Unit><DELIMITER><Room>[<DELIMITER><Bed>]<SPACE><Alarm>

  • Unit, room and bed fields are separated by a delimiter that can be one of these possible values: * - ; , . :

  • The profile automatically detects the delimiter being used.

  • The bed field is optional.

  • Alarms are assumed activated unless one of the following cancellation keywords is included in the Alarm text: 

    • Cancel

    • Canceled

    • Cancelled

    • Clear

    • Cleared

  • The cancellation keywords are case-insensitive. 

  • Cancellation keywords present in the Alarm text are removed before publishing nurse call events, to prevent them from appearing in any titles.

  • The connector uses the appropriate communications protocol response to reject any "pass-through" or "manual" messages sent to this profile that are not system-generated nurse call messages.

Caveats

Unit, room, and bed names cannot contain whitespace characters at this time due to a limitation of the Rauland TAP format. Rauland does not properly encode and escape whitespace in these fields before transmitting them over TAP. This makes it impossible for the profile to determine where a location name ends and where the alarm type begins.

Ascom Telligence

The profile was developed for compatibility with Ascom Telligence nurse call systems  that have been configured to send multi-field TAP messages.

Ascom Telligence Format

<DeviceId><CR><DeviceGuid><CR><CallbackRoom><CR><Location>-<Alarm>[-<Unit>][-Clear]

TAP Multiple Fields

Field Number

Name

Description

Field 1

Pager ID/PIN

This field is ignored.

Field 2

Wireless device GUID

(Optional) Used to provide a component of the call back string.

 

This field is a dynamic callback component.

Field 3

Callback room

Included in the callback string in cases where wireless phones are used.

 

This field is a dynamic callback component.

Field 4

Message text

Used to include bed number, nurse call event, and the nursing unit named in the Telligence configuration
Message Format

<Location>-<Alarm>[-<Unit>][-Clear]

  • The message text is dash-delimited and cannot be configured.

  • The first dash-delimited field in the message text is always the Location. This field can be the name of a Room or a Bed.

  • The second dash-delimited field in the message text is always the Alarm text.  ("Priority" in Ascom). 

  • The third dash-delimited field in the message text is optional and always the location Unit.

  • The fourth dash-delimited field in the message text is optional and always the cancellation keyword.

  • Alarms are assumed activated unless one of the following cancellation keywords is included in the [-clear] optional dash-delimited field:

    • Cancel

    • Canceled

    • Cancelled

    • Clear

    • Cleared

  • The cancellation keywords are case-insensitive. 

  • Cancellation keywords present in the [-clear] optional dash-delimited field are removed before publishing nurse call events to prevent them from appearing in any titles.

  • The connector uses the appropriate communications protocol response to reject any pass-through or manual messages sent to this profile that are not system-generated nurse call messages.

Callback String

The callback string is composed of Field 3 (Callback Room) and Field 2 (Wireless device GUID) or only Field 3 when a Device GUID is not defined. 

Callback components are delimited by an asterisk. For example:

  • CallbackRoom*DeviceGuid

  • CallbackRoom

Caveats

  • Use of dash characters in unit, room and bed names, or custom priorities in Ascom Telligence is not supported.

  • Use of location indicators in Room names or dialing plans in Ascom is not supported.  For example, A-E, N, S, E, W. 

  • Location aliasing is recommended as the Field 4 <location> component may be either a bed or room.

Callback Strings

The callback string is a value that expresses how to dial a telephony endpoint associated with the origin of a nurse call message. In addition to static values, this string can contain dynamic values extracted from incoming nurse call messages by a nurse call profile.

The following values can be used to express dynamic elements extracted from nurse call messages.

Value Description

{extraction.callback}

Plugs all or part of the callback into the final callback string.

 

Requires supported by the sending system and nurse call profile

{extraction.unit}

Plugs in the unit name that was extracted from the nurse call message.

{extraction.room}

Plugs in the room number extracted from the nurse call message.

{extraction.bed}

Plugs in the bed number extracted from the nurse call message.

These dynamic extractions are case-insensitive. If a dynamic value is not available or is not provided within an input message, it is removed from the callback string at runtime.

Summary

Now that you've enabled your Nurse Call integration you will be able to send TAP messages to your gateway using the IP address of your load balancer, the port that was assigned to TAP profile, via either TCP or TLS based on the configuration TAP profile.