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From the
General
Manager's
Desk
I'm
very
pleased
to
announce
the release
of
InfoServer™
and
MobileCop®
7.0,
the
most
recent
update
to
our
mobile
data
server
and
laptop
client
software.
You'll
learn
more
in
the
first
three
articles
in
this
newsletter
edition
about
the
many
7.0
improvements
that
make
our
products
even
more
useful
in
the
field
and
easier
to
manage
from
any
location.
Special
thanks
go
to
our
Customer
Advisory
Board,
which
helped
us
prioritize
and
spec
all
the
new
features
and
test
the
software.
Although
each
of
the
CAB
members
has
a
"day
job"
(or
two!),
they're
always
willing
to
dedicate
the
time
-
including
a
3-day
onsite
meeting
with
our
engineering
team
earlier
this
year
- to
make
our
products
better
for
all
our
customers.
One
of
the
new
7.0
features,
appropriately
called
Message
Center,
centralizes
all
of
the
existing
talk,
announcement
and
email
messaging
functions
within
a
single
window
accessible
through
a
single
icon.
In
addition
to
making
communicating
faster
and
easier
for
officers
using
MobileCop
today, we
think
-
and
the
CAB
agrees
-
that
this
is
an
ideal
way
for
customers
to
extend
their
secure
communications
to
non-MobileCop
users.
Within
a
department,
that
could
include
dispatchers,
records
personnel
and
command
staff
who
don't
need
the
full
query
functionality
of
MobileCop.
Outside
the
department,
it
can
link
mobile
or
office-based
personnel
in
other
responder
agencies,
such
as
emergency
management
and
public
works,
and
support
organizations,
including
hospitals.
We'll
be
offering
this
as a
cost-effective
add-on,
and
BIO-key
customers
will
receive
more
information
in a
few
weeks.
InfoServer
and
MobileCop Release
7.0
is
available
at
no
charge
to
all
maintenance
customers.
Together
with
the
ongoing
enhancements
we
make
to
the
individual
state
interfaces,
such
as
DMV
photos
and
additional
response
detail,
we're
delivering
a
solid
return
on
the
investment our
customers
make
in
BIO-key.
Ken
Souza |
|
 InfoServer
7.0 Streamlines
Administration
Key
enhancements
to help
manage
the
mobile
data
system
and
users
include:
Role-Based
Security
(RBS):
With RBS,
the
System
Administrator
can
extend
defined
administrative
privileges
to end
users or
other
managers,
while
maintaining
full and
secure
control
over
what
those
privileges
are and
who has
access
to them.
Adding a
new role
is as
simple
as
giving
it a
name and
selecting
one or
more of
the 28
privileges
that you
can
associate
with
that
role.
"RBS
will
allow us
to more
effectively
accomplish
regional
hosting,"
according
to CAB
member
Sergeant
Todd
Beam of
the
Lincoln,
NE
Police
Department.
With
release
7.0, the
System
Administrator
can
assign a
designated
individual
in each
hosted
agency
the
responsibility
for
password
maintenance
and
other
end-user
management
tasks
for just
that
agency,
while
restricting
overall
system
management
to
designated
System
Administrators
at the
host
site.
RollCall:
Using
"wiki"
technology,
designated
administrators
and
command
staff
can
broadcast
up-to-date
inter-agency
information
and
directives,
such as
patrol
assignments,
"house
watch"
requests,
or "be
on the
lookout"
(BOLOs)
to all
users,
as well
as
provide
links to
intranet
and
internet
resources.
With
RollCall,
officers
are not
required
to come
into the
station
at the
beginning
of the
shift or
other
specific
time, so
command
staff
can
better
manage
the
department's
manpower
resources,
as well
as
reduce
fuel
expenses.
DBSweeper:
Old,
unneeded
data can
be
automatically
and
safely
removed
from
active
files
(and
archived,
if
required),
without
deleting
information
that is
still
valuable
or must
otherwise
be
actively
maintained.
With
DBSweeper,
the
retention
period
for each
type of
activity
captured
in the
Activity
Log or
AVL Log
can be
specified
and a
periodic,
automatic
sweep of
the
files
scheduled.
DBSweeper
prevents
the
inadvertent
deletion
of data
(or
retention
of data
that
should
be
removed),
while
reducing
storage
costs.
Click
here
for a
complete
description
of these
and
other
7.0
features. |
|
MobileCop
7.0 Improves
Officer
Productivity
 Some
of
the
key enhancements
for
officers
in
the
field
include:
Message
Center:
All
messaging-related
functions
are
now
combined
in a
single
window
accessible
through
a
single
icon,
making
it
easier
and
faster
to:
Send
and
receive
group
announcements
and
individual
talk
messages
Send
and
receive
dispatch
messages
Initiate
and
participate
in
ad
hoc
multi-user
conferences
(new
feature)
Send
email
messages delivered
as
soon
as
the
other
user
logs
in
Receive
RSS
"web
feeds"
from
external
information
sources
(new
feature).
MRI
Recall
Messages:
Using
the
Matching
Recent
Inquiry
(MRI)
feature
(already
available
to
MobileCop
and
PocketCop®
users),
the
officer
can
easily
identify
a
similar
prior
circumstance
that
might
be
important
to
the
field
interview
or
disposition
of
the
current
incident.
Now
with
a
simple
click,
he
can
send
an
automated
message
to
the
other
officer
requesting
information
on
why
the
query
was
made.
With
MRI
Data
Sharing
participating
MobileCop
user
agencies
can
also
make
MRI
results
available
across
jurisdictions,
promoting
regional
information
sharing.
State/NCIC
Response
Store
and
Forward:
A
MobileCop
user
can
log
off
the
system
after
initiating
a
State/NCIC
query,
should
he
need
to
do
so,
and
obtain
query
results
via
email
whenever
he
logs
back
on.
Exit
Confirmation:
Sometimes
the
smallest
enhancements
are
the
ones
that
get
the
most
positive
feedback.
According
to
Todd
Beam,
officers
in
Lincoln,
NE
really
like
the
new
pop-up
that
prevents
a
user
from
inadvertently
shutting
down
MobileCop.
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InfoServer
and
MobileCop
7.0
Available
for
Download
We
encourage
all
Agencies,
especially
those
on
versions
prior
to
version
5.1,
to
upgrade
to
InfoServer
7.0
as
soon
as
possible.
(Note:
Several
of
the
7.0
enhancements,
including
Message
Center
and
RollCall,
are
optional;
customers
may
choose
to
retain
the
existing
messaging
and
announcements
functionality
and
user
interfaces
while
installing
other
7.0
features.)
Release
7.0
and
associated
documentation
is
available
at
no
cost
to
maintenance
customers
in
the
"Downloads
Area"
on
the Customer
Forums
website.
To
register
for
Forum
access,
please
click
here.
Once
your
registration
is
verified,
your
access
will
be
authorized
and
you
may
then
log
in
to
download.
InfoServer
7.0
also
requires
an
additional
entry
in
your
IDENT
file
in
order
to
run.
You
must
have
this
updated
IDENT
file
on
hand
when
you
install
this
upgrade
or
InfoServer
will
not
run.
Please
email
your
IDENT
file
to
IDENT@bio-key.com
to
get
it
updated.
For
more
information
or
assistance,
call
BIO-key
Customer
Support
at
(800)
355-1313.
 |
 BIO-key Customer
in
the
News
The Essex/Union Counties (NJ) Auto Theft Task Force is featured in the current season of Jacked on the A&E television network. The Task Force has been using MobileCop since 2000 and MobileCop appears in a "supporting actor" role.
"The MobileCop Quick Run feature really helps us do our job," reported Detective Tony Del Duca of the Union County Prosecutor's Office, Commander of the Task Force. "As my partner drives down a street or through a parking lot, I can quickly and easily run multiple license plates without interruption, and I'm immediately notified of any stolen vehicle hit." Click here to meet the Task Force members and download videos of recent episodes.
|
 Federal
Grant Update
This Summer, appropriations committees in both the House and the Senate approved FY 2009 funding levels for all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) programs that support state and local activities, including IT. The committees provide a steady funding level in DHS (about $3 billion in block grants) and increase DOJ funding by at least $250M The major change in DOJ funding is restoring cuts in the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, moving from $170 million in FY 2008 to over $550 million in FY 2009. Both committees, however, decrease funding in the COPS Technology grant program.
The full House and Senate must still approve the budgets, which may be deferred until the next Congress and next President (probably resulting in a delay in getting grant information and awards out). It's possible that the federal government will operate under a Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY 2009 meaning that it will operate at FY 2008 funding levels. The big loser in that scenario is the JAG program because funding would remain at the FY 2008 $170M level.
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 Upcoming
Events
Join us at any of these conferences in the next few months, including the FBI Academy Vendor Fair and COPSWest in October and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in November.
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