Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol (TAP) Interface Specifications

Introduction

This article describes Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol (TAP) specifications for Spok Go. The interface enables client systems to send messages electronically.

The on-premise gateway supports TAP version 1.9, and clients must support TAP version 1.5 or newer.

Connectivity

The Spok Go Gateway supports TCP and TLS 1.2 connections from TAP clients. Most client systems will only provide a TAP output over an RS-232 serial connection. The serial data must be converted to IP to establish a connection with the gateway. The client system can connect directly to the gateway if it supports TAP over IP natively. The gateway receives TAP connections over IP ports 18101 through 18120 with each port being assigned in sequential order when configuring new connections.

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Guidance for Configuring Serial to IP Converters

The serial port connection and configuration in the converter needs to match the client system. The IP output side should be configured using the following guidance:

Use TCP or TLS 1.2 to connect to the gateway (required)
Automatically and immediately connect (best practice)
Stay connected (best practice)

The exact capabilities and configurations that are available will vary by make and model of the converter.

Protocol Compliance

The table below lists the sections of the protocol that are implemented and supported by the gateway. All mandatory functions required by a server for protocol compliance are supported.

Action Name / Function	Supported	Notes
TAP Server Ready (ID=)	Yes	Three-character response requesting a login from the client.
Detailed Response	Yes	Three-digit code followed by a space and detailed response text. A carriage return signifies the end of the detailed response.
Request Accepted Response (ACK)	Yes	Indicates the previous client command has been accepted. The client should proceed to the next command or block.
Request Not Accepted Response (NAK)	Yes	Indicates the previous client command was rejected. The client should attempt to resend the previous command or block.
Abandon current transaction and go to next response (RS)	Yes	Indicates there is something wrong with the previous command or block. The client should abandon the transaction and go to the next.
Automated TAP Session Start	Yes	Indicates the server is ready to start receiving message blocks from the client.
TAP Server disconnect sequence response	Yes	Server is disconnecting from the client.

Additional Features

The table below lists additional protocol features and their gateway support status.

Feature	Supported	Notes
Automatic TAP Mode	Yes
Manual TAP Mode	No	Only automated entry is supported.
Single Block, Single Message	Yes
Multi-Block, Large Message	No	Multi-block, chunked messages are not supported. The server does not enforce a 256-character message limit. Messages larger than 256 characters can be sent as a single message.
Multi-Block, Multi-Message	Yes	Multiple messages can be sent in a single session, one block per each message.
Login Password	No	The optional login password is not implemented.
Transparency Insertion	Yes	Any protocol control characters contained in the body of a message must be escaped using transparency insertion.
Multi-Field Support	Yes	PG1 service type is supported. Pager ID is the first field, and the message payload is the second field. In addition, more than 2 fields can be sent by the client system. The first field is considered the Pager ID, and the last field is the message payload. This behavior can change based on the integration profile used.
Detailed Responses	Yes	Specific code supported are detailed below.

Detailed Responses

Detailed responses are used by the gateway to provide additional information about system responses. Each detailed response contains a three-digit code and informational text. These are used to aid in troubleshooting any failing sessions.

The table below lists TAP Response Codes and their gateway support status.

Response Code	Supported	Notes
110 Server TAP Specification	Yes	Always contains the text indicating the version of TAP specification supported.
111 Server is processing the previous input	No	The response is not used.
112 Maximum pages entered for session	No	There are no limits on the number of messages that can be sent in a session.
113 Maximum time reached for session	No	There are no time limits for sessions.
114 Welcome banners	Yes	Provided at the start of a session.
115 Exit message(s)	Yes	Provided during the disconnect sequence.
211 Page(s) sent successfully	Yes	Indicates the message has been accepted for guaranteed delivery. An Event Id that identifies the message in our system is also returned in the text.
212 Long message truncated and sent	No	Messages are not truncated.
213 Message accepted – held for deferred delivery	No	Messages are immediately processed when accepted by the system.
214 Character maximum, message truncated and set	No	Messages are not truncated.
501 Timeout occurred waiting for input	Yes	See Timeouts section.
502 Unexpected characters received before start of a transaction	No	Unexpected characters are ignored.
503 Excessive attempts to send a transaction with checksum errors	Yes	See Retries section.
504 Invalid message content - message characters not allowed	Yes	This response is used by some integrations (i.e., nurse call) to indicate the message payload does not meet the expected format.
505 Invalid message content - alphabetic characters not allowed	No	Alphanumeric characters are accepted.
506 Excessive invalid pages received	No	The response is not used.
507 Invalid Logon attempt - incorrectly formed logon sequence	Yes	Sent in response to clients that request a manual TAP session or that attempt to use service types other than PG1.
509 Invalid Logon attempt - Invalid password supplied	No	Passwords are not supported.
510 Illegal Pager ID	Yes	Sent if a Pager ID is not provided.
511 Invalid Pager ID	No	There are no restrictions on what the value of a Pager ID can be.
512 Temporarily cannot deliver to Pager ID - Try Later	Yes	Indicates that the system is unable to accept the message at this time. Clients should retry later.
513 Long message rejected	No	There is no limitation on message size.
514 Checksum error	Yes	Sent if the checksum provided for a message block does not match checksum calculation in the gateway.
515 Message format error	Yes	Sent in response to multi-block, large message commands.
516 Message quota temporarily exceeded	No	There are no limits to the number of messages a client may send.
517 Character maximum, message rejected	No	There are no message character limits.

Timing

The table below lists the timeout parameter values implemented for the TAP server within the gateway.

Timeout	Value	Notes
t4	4 seconds	Time to wait for next message block during a session.
t5	8 seconds	Time to wait for response to Server Ready (ID=)

Retries

The table below defines the retry parameter values implemented for the TAP server within the gateway.

Retry	Value	Notes
n3	3	The number of times Server Ready will be sent to the client before it is disconnected.
n4	Not supported	Clients are disconnected if they do not send the next message block or command within t4 time.
n5	3	The number of consecutive bad checksums before the client is disconnected.
n6	Not supported	Multi-block, large messages are not supported.