This feature allows you to separate your organisation where Little Green Button is used into groups, set who should receive panic alerts from those groups and configure an escalation level for each if appropriate.
Some examples of situations where groups can be helpful:
- An organisation where the Little Green Button licence is in use across multiple sites, it may not be possible for users to respond to alerts generated from sites that are not close by. In this situation groups could be used to ensure users only receive alerts from groups that they are nearby to.
- An organisation that is spread across multiple floors, it may not be practical for users to respond to alerts generated by users on another floor unless absolutely necessary. In this situation escalation levels can be used to alert users on the same floor first but if they do not respond after a given period of time the alerts could be sent to users on the next floor and so on until a response is received.
- An organisation where a security desk is responsible for monitoring requests for assistance. In this situation the buttons could be configured so that an alert generated by any group should be received by members of the security desk group in the first instance and escalated to others if necessary.
In order to use the new groups feature you must be running version 3.4 or higher on all PCs
You can create your groups, locations or hosts in any order, however it is simplest to create them in that order if possible. You will need a list of hosts (PC names) where the Little Green Button is installed/to be installed.
| Definition | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | What is a location? | A short description of where a button is situated. This is the location that would appear on the panic alerts should a user request assistance so it should be easily understood by all who receive the alerts. | - Reception Desk - Manager's Office - Consulting Room 1 |
 | What is a group? | This could be a group of locations that share the same job role or a group of users who share the same area. | - Security staff who monitor alerts - Users on ground floor of premises |
 | What is a host? | This is the unique name of the device where Little Green Button has been installed, how it is identified on the network. | - PC name e.g. PC0001 or BOB__LAPTOP |
How do I find host/device name?
Add Group
Click on the Add Group button:
You will be asked to enter the name and location of your group into the fields provided:
Click the save and continue button when done. Please note that this will save the changes you have made, but these changes will not go live until you click the publish button.
You will then be taken to the below screen where you can set escalation levels for the group. Click on the level you would like to make changes to (it will highlight in blue) and use the boxes on the right hand side to make your changes. You can also add additional levels by clicking "Add level"
Once you have made the changes required, click Save in the top right corner. You will now be taken back to the main group screen to add more groups, if necessary.
Please note that not every location must be assigned to a group. The default escalation pattern would apply in such case, and can be
Add Location
Click on the Add Location button:
A window opens with a form to complete, you should begin by typing the location of the button into the box provided, remember this should be something easily recognised by all staff e.g. Reception Desk:
Select the group that this location belongs to from the drop down menu below e.g. Ground Floor. If you want a telephone number to be displayed on any panic alerts generated from this location enter this into the Telephone Number field, this field can include text too so you can enter e.g. ext 100.
Click the Save button when complete.
Your location is added to the location list on the main locations screen.
Continue to add all of your locations, assigning them to the appropriate group:
Now add the devices.
Add Device
Click on the Devices button on the left hand side;
Click "Add Device". A window will open with a form to complete, you should begin by typing the Name of your device (PC name) into the box provided. Please note that what you enter here must match with the host exactly for the groups system to work:
Next click onto the field Used at these locations;
You will see each of your location names listed. Click the location where this device is situated.
If this device is to be used in multiple locations, click again to select further locations.
Prompt for location?
With one location selected the Don’t prompt for location on this computer box will be ticked and you will not be able to change this. There is no reason to prompt a user for their location if they are not able to select an alternative.
If a user is not prompted for their location a discreet balloon will appear from the System Tray shortly after startup to remind them of the location currently set for their Little Green Button.
Should you add more than one location for this host the option Don’t prompt for location on this computer will become editable. If you do not want the user to be prompted for their location at startup please remove the tick from this box. They will still be able to right click on the button and select Alter Location… should they need to select one of the alternative locations set above, they will not be able to add their own.
Click the Save button when complete.
Your device is now added to the devices list.
Continue to add all of your hosts, assigning them to the appropriate locations:
By default, a request for assistance will be received only by members of the same group. However, you can set it up in a variety of ways to alert an alternative group or groups. Alerts can also be escalated to other groups after a given number of seconds.
So unless you wish to use the default setting of alerting members of the same group only, you should now set the response group/s and escalation level to be used by each group.
Response Groups & Escalation Levels
If you are happy with all the locations you have set, you can start grouping these together and tell the system where alerts from this group needs to be sent.
Start by clicking the Add Group button. You will be asked to name your group. In this example we'll name our group New Group.
The default escalation is to alert the same group only. You can add one or more groups to this escalation level.
If you would like to alert all groups, or locations not added to a group, you can tick the appropriate boxes on the right hand side of this screen.
To be able to alert all groups, you will have to remove any groups from the escalation path.
If you would like to add another level of escalation, set the desired delay for this and click Add level.
In this example, the alert is sent to the same group only at first. Then if there is no response within 30 seconds, the alert will be forwarded on to all other groups.
There is no limit to the number of groups you can make, but a location may only be assigned to one group at a time.
Publishing Your Changes
As you configure your groups, locations and hosts the changes you make are automatically saved but they are not in use until you Publish them.
A little warning icon will display next to the Configuration menu item, to indicate there are unpublished changes
If there are no validation warnings, you will be able to publish your changes here.
If you have made any mistakes in your configuration, the system will warn you of these and ask to correct before publishing.
Any warnings will be displayed on this page. Clicking these entries will bring you to the item that needs your attention.
Once you are happy with your configuration, you can click Publish now.
A notification appears that your settings have been updated, and the last published date is changed.
Your Little Green Button installations will automatically pick up the configuration within 24 hours. You can speed up this process by Forcing a configuration update. The new settings will then spread across the subnet. Repeat this step on a device for each subnet.
Once the new settings have been picked up, your Little Green Button will restart within the next 10 minutes to implement these settings. Once they have restarted you can confirm the correct location and response group has been picked up by checking the About window.