Spok Mobile Release Notes 3.5.x
Spok Mobile 3.5.0 Release Notes (Release Date: September 19, 2013)
New Features and Enhancements
Updated Application Name
The Mobile Connect application now has a new name—Mobile Connect, Powered by Amcom Software. This is the full name that is now used with the product. The shortened version of the product name, mConnec+, is used in the application stores when users are downloading the application. The mConnec+ name also displays under the application’s logo on devices’ home screens.
Updated Application Logo
The Mobile Connect application now has an updated logo. The new logo displays in the application stores, on the home screen of devices, and in the application.
Picture and Video Sharing
- Mobile Connect users now have the ability to capture and attach pictures and videos to Mobile Connect messages. Having the ability to send pictures and videos from the Mobile Connect application allows users to send this type of information securely and safely.
- The ability to send pictures and videos to multiple recipients is supported, allowing users to send files to more than just one recipient at one time.
- A Preference setting was added to the iPhone and Android clients, allowing users to configure if they would like the application to automatically download attached pictures and videos that are received on their device.
- Because the addition of picture and video sharing results in additional file uploads from the clients, users have the ability to choose the desired location for file uploads during the installation of Mobile Connect in their environment. The default location is: C:\Program Files\Amcom Software\Amcom Mobile Connect Services\Upload. When users are installing Mobile Connect Services, they can set the file path to where they would like the files to be uploaded. When this location is configured, the pictures and videos are then stored in that location.
- This feature can be enabled or disabled on devices as well as in the Mobile Connect Administration page.
- Please note that this feature is not available on BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, or Cisco devices.
- The support for keeping attachments for the duration of active messages but also clearing out the files that exceed the maximum time defined was added during this release. Now, when uploads are older than 30 days and are not in use by another message, the files are deleted.
- Please note that video sharing is not supported on Android devices that have an operating system of 2.3 or earlier.
Active-Active Notification Service Support
Mobile Connect now supports load balanced, active/active configurations. When an active/active configuration is set up, two installations of Mobile Connect are installed on two separate servers. Then, an additional server is set up (load balancer) which directs traffic to the server that is currently managing the smaller of the two loads.
Default Group Addition to the Mobile Connect Administration Page
A default group was added in the Device Groups screen of the Mobile Connect Administration page. Newly registered users are automatically added into this group when they are registered in the system. At that time, the newly registered devices are assigned the default preferences that are configured in the default device group. This setting allows sites to dictate default preference settings for the devices that are newly registered to their site. Devices can be removed from the default device group and added to newly created or existing device groups in the system. When the devices are reassigned to a new device group, the configured preferences of the new group are then applied to that device.
Web Package Incorporated into Mobile Connect
A new web package was incorporated in the Mobile Connect administration page. This allows for consistency across solutions.
Resend Activation Email
The Mobile Connect application now has the ability to resend activation emails to clients. This feature can be used when users forget their passwords and would like the password to be resent to the configured email. Please note that this feature is available on BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android devices; the feature is not supported for Cisco clients.
iOS7 Support
The 3.5 release of Mobile Connect has the ability to run on Apple’s iOS7. Additional improvements to the Mobile Connect application will be made in the future to more effectively utilize new features in iOS7, but the clients will experience full functionality of their application when running it in iOS7.
Improved Scrolling Performance on Android Client
The ThreadList adapter was improved to use date grouping to handle date headers without manually copying all elements in external array. These changes allow users to scroll faster through the message list. In addition, a pop-up displays when users are quickly scrolling through a large number of messages to display the various dates.
Memory Optimization on Cisco Client
The memory usage when retrieving many messages from the server and the memory of the message stored on the clients was optimized for Cisco devices.
SQL Server Support
SQL Server 2012 support was added to the Mobile Connect product during the 3.5 release. The product can now be used with SQL Server 2012.
SQL Server 2005 Deprecation
SQL Server 2005 can no longer be used with Mobile Connect.
Sending http to Cisco and https to Other Devices Now Supported
Site administrators are now able to set up systems with http for Cisco devices and https for other device types.
Consolidated and Cleaned Java Client Infrastructure and Shared Library
Changes were made that simplified various aspects of the Java client’s infrastructure and shared library.
Health Check Preference Setting Configuration
Devices now have the ability to enable or disable the Health Check feature on the clients. For example, if the end user does not want the Health Check feature to run while the device is in use, the feature can be disabled.
Automatically Download Attachment Preference Setting Configuration
Devices now have a preference setting that allows them to configure if they automatically download attachments that are received in Mobile Connect messages.
Access Code Minimum Length Added
The Mobile Connect Administration page now has the ability to set a minimum length for the access codes that are set on devices. When a minimum number of characters for access codes is set in the Mobile Connect Administration page, the device user is required to set an access code that has at least the minimum number of characters when he/she access the Mobile Connect client on his/her device.
Incorporate New Security Changes from Mobile Connect’s Adapter to Care Connect’s Message Broker
The new security package was incorporated into the Mobile Connect Adapter for increased consistency and security.
Registration Email Updates
The registration email that users receive from Mobile Connect was updated to always include the password that is used to register the client. In addition, when the user requests the resending of activation emails because of a forgotten password, the message no longer lists the email address in the message. This allows for increased security.
Ability to Order Results in Smart Suite
An “ORDER BY last_name” was added to the SQL query so results from Smart Suite DRS implementations are returned by last name.
Registration Issue Fixed
An issue was found that involved a device confirmation not syncing between the Mobile Connect Hosted and Mobile Connect Services databases, which was fixed.
Product Diagrams
During the 3.5 release, product diagrams were created to better describe the Mobile Connect product. The following topics are covered:
- Multi-Site Configurations
- Beta Production Configurations
- Cisco Message Flow
- General Case Local Message Delivery Message Flow
- Hosted Message Delivery Message flow
- Message Types Sent to Devices
- Base and Premium Registrations
- Active-Active Server with Active-Passive Hosted Configuration
New Filtering Implementation for Device Group Column in Devices Grid
A new filtering implementation was added to the device group column in the devices grid. Filtering and sorting of device groups continues to function as expected.
Implement Authentication Changes
The latest security package that is included in the Platform architecture includes changes to authentication. During this release of Mobile Connect, it was confirmed that the Mobile Connect Adapter can authenticate to Care Connect.
Send Emails Using Message Broker
The Mobile Connect application now has the ability to send emails via the Message Broker service.
Static Certificate Name
In the past, the Certificate field in the Mobile Connect Administration page allowed users to manually enter certificate names. Now the Mobile Connect Administration page only allows users to choose a certificate name from a drop down menu.
Removal of Plain Password in Application Log Files
The application log files no longer include passwords in plain text. Instead, they were deleted from the files.
New Script
A new script was created that removes multiple registrations for one device.
General Improvements and Fixes
Spok Mobile 3.5.1 Release Notes (Release Date: December 30, 2013)
New Features and Enhancements
Further Stabilization of the Active/Active Environment
Further modifications were made to stabilize the Hosted Active/Active production environment. There were pre-existing issues with the check that is performed to see if a configuration exists as well as with the repeat notification for iPhone messages in the Message Manager. These issues were resolved to improve the overall stability of the environment.
Push Notification Expiration Edited
The expiration timeout in Mobile Connect was edited for Android and iOS devices. Now when Mobile Connect messages are sent to devices that are turned off, the messages are received on the device the next time the device is turned on, if the device is turned on within 72 hours of the message being received. In addition, when devices are in sleep mode, Mobile Connect messages are received. This means that when devices are not currently being used but have an internet connection, Mobile Connect messages can still be received on devices.
Port 2001 Investigated
A tool was built that replicates connections between Mobile Connect Services to Mobile Connect Hosted. When completed, the tool detected an issue on port 2001 which showed that port 2001 was rejecting connections. This issue was further researched and was resolved.
Corrected Issues
- DE14012: BES messages are failing
- US28485: Optimize throttling and fix Cisco throttle issue
- DE13857: Syncing features logs an exception in Mobile Connect Services
- DE13832: Cisco 792x phone directory lookup truncated
- DE12928: SQL Server issue causes Mobile Connect Services to disconnect
- DE13907: Fix Cisco crash
- US28460: Fix and investigate iOS issues on the client regarding uploading prerecorded videos in IOS 7
- US28461: Sometimes an error is displayed in the iOS clients when file is downloaded
- US28246: Cisco application startup behavior issue
- DE14060: Setup mirroring from the Admin page does not save changes in the database for the Asset service
- US29826: Registration errors when multiple sites involved prevent all sites from registering new devices
Spok Mobile 3.5.2 Release Notes (Release Date: March 10, 2014)
Corrected Issues
- US29631: Cisco 792x application does not follow phone device audio settings. The MIDP client overrides any silent or vibrate-only settings. The ability for the application to follow the device audio settings was added. This option needs to be controlled at the device level so it applies only to those devices used at the Sleep Unit.
- US28851: Core2Core alarm on MC Hosted
Spok Mobile 3.5.3 Release Notes (Release Date: March 17, 2014)
Corrected Issues
- US29889 (Client): Directory Authentication username and password fields should be configurable to numeric values for customers who only have numeric user IDs.
- US29737: Pre-populate device phone number upon restart of the application. On application start, the application tries to read the device. It is a setting called "phoneDN", read from local service on the device. The phone number field can be edited if the phone number is not the expected user ID. No attempt is made to read this number until restart of the application.
There are two new settings that appear in the .jad file:
- PrePopulateRegistrationPhoneNumber: False
- COMMENTRegistrationPhonePrependDigits: 1
Additionally, there are three possible scenarios and configurations:
- The customer does not want the 'Phone Number' field pre-populated (previous version client behavior).
In this case, there is no need for the new settings to be edited in the .jad file. The default value which is in the .jad file is “False”, so if not edited, the application continues to behave as before (no number is pre-populated).
- The customer wants the phone number pre-populated but without prefix (just the number).
Example: If device phone number is “5858” exactly “5858” is prepopulated in the registration screen.
Here the user needs to set the 'PrePopulateRegistrationPhoneNumber' value to 'True'
(PrePopulateRegistrationPhoneNumber: True), and not to change the other option from the .jad file ('COMMENTRegistrationPhonePrependDigits). Please note that 'RegistrationPhonePrependDigits' cannot be left blank.
- The user wants the phone number all together with a prefix pre-populated:
The user needs to set the 'PrePopulateRegistrationPhoneNumber' value to 'True' (PrePopulateRegistrationPhoneNumber: True) and remove the 'COMMENT' part from 'COMMENTRegistrationPhonePrependDigits' setting and set the desired value.
Example:
PrePopulateRegistrationPhoneNumber = True
RegistrationPhonePrependDigits = 103433
In this situation, if the device phone number is '7822' when the user opens the application, it is prepopulated with '1034337822'.
NOTE: The .jad file is sensitive to spaces. When you edit a value, there should only be one space after the sign and no spaces after the value.
- US29631: (Server) Cisco 792x application does not follow phone device audio settings.
Please note that when the server version is older, the administrator is unable to set this setting from the Mobile Connect Administration site because the old server version does not know about it.
Spok Mobile 3.5.4 Release Notes (Release Date: March 17, 2014)
Corrected Issues
- US30124: The Registration Password field should be numeric on 792x MIDP clients.
When you open the .jad file pre-installation, there is one setting that defaults to “False”
(AuthenticateNumericMode: False). If left unchanged, the client behavior remains the same as in previous versions. If it is changed to “True” (AuthenticateNumericMode: True), when the users install the application, they are able to type only with numeric values. Please note that in the .jad file, empty spaces before or after the value can corrupt the file.
- US29889 (Server): Directory Authentication username and password fields should be configurable to numeric values for customers who only have numeric user IDs.
Spok Mobile 3.5.5 Release Notes
Corrected Issues
*The changes for the 3.5.5 release were merged into the 3.5.7 release. For more information, please refer to the 3.5.7 information.
Spok Mobile 3.5.6 Release Notes
Corrected Issues
*The changes for the 3.5.6 release were merged into the 3.5.7 release. For more information, please refer to the 3.5.7 information.
Spok Mobile 3.5.7 Release Notes (Release Date: November 19, 2014)
Corrected Issues
- US30124: 792x MIDP Registration Password field should be numeric. Remove the AuthenticateNumericMode Cisco setting.
- US32373: Cisco 7925 handsets running AMC version 3.5.1.x do not work after long period of not being used
- US30700: Mobile Connect fails to send messages when TimeZone = "Jerusalem Standard Time". Change how time zone is retrieved.
- DE14807: Outgoing messages do not support new lines or line breaks. Replace \r\n with \n instead of an empty string
- US25973: Push BlackBerry 10 (MC 3.5) app to BlackBerry World. Update client configuration for push notifications.
- DE15058: Push BlackBerry B10 (MC 3.5) app to BlackBerry World. BlackBerry 10 does not receive message status updates.
- US25310: Deploying to B2B store requires ASPNS certificate. Updated the AppStore production and B2B APNS certificates.
- US31436: Troubleshoot Apple Notification problem on Hosted. Set the APNS stream write timeout to one minute. Add logging.
Spok Mobile 3.5.8 Release Notes (Release Date: February 16, 2015)
New Features and Enhancements
Updating Local Device ID
The Spok Mobile application now gives sites the ability to change their Local Device ID value. When this value is updated, the changes sync between the Hosted and Premise environment so there are no records for the same registration with different LocalDeviceID’s. This change is a “behind the scenes” change; the registration and messaging functionality of the product work as before.
Corrected Issues
- DE16544: Change in LocalDevice should also expire current 4.0 authentication on the device to ensure accurate SENDER (When LDI is changed, authentication does not expire)
- DE16621: Changing LocalDeviceID from Smart Suite should be handled correctly when projections are enabled (When LDI is changed, push is not sent to the device
- DE16652: Unregistered users can still send messages in environments where a version 3.5.x Spok Mobile Server is used
Spok Mobile 3.5.9 Release Notes (Release Date: April 30, 2015)
Corrected Issues
- DE18022: Made passwords in the AuthenticationParameter table unreadable for improved security
- DE17143: Fixed an issue where the app.xml in Program Files\Amcom Software\Amcom Mobile Connect Services\Config was not being updated when the message delivery type was updated
Known Issues
- The Registration form displays the incorrect build number
Spok Mobile 3.5.10 Release Notes (Release Date: October 29, 2015)
Corrected Issues
- DE18538: Fixed an issue where the delivery notification was not forwarded to the host system if the client’s delivery notification was not received before a read notification or reply message. In 4.0.7, this behavior is turned on/off with the ClientMessaging.GenerateStatusUpdateOnMessageReply setting in the database and is off by default. In this 3.5.10 release, it is always on unconditionally. It will be made unconditional in the next 4.0.x release.
- US35636: Fixed an issue where the host system did not receive acknowledgement responses when users replied to messages. This behavior is off by default and is enabled by setting the ClientMessaging.GenerateStatusUpdateOnMessageReply setting in the database to True.
Spok Mobile 3.5.11 Release Notes (Release Date: January 12, 2016)
Corrected Issues
- DE20053: The installer was updated to refrain from attempting to install the databases if the "Database" option is not enabled in the installer. In past versions of the software, the installer would attempt to install the databases when the "Database" option was disabled during the installation process, which caused issues with the software.
Spok Mobile 3.5.12 Release Notes (Release Date: December 14, 2016)
Corrected Issues
- US38901: Secured access to a message storage table.
Current System Requirements
Please see the following for system requirements: