ARTS - Agent

Overview

https://apex.cct.rpi.edu/apex/r/simon_apex/arts-agent/home

The ARTS Agent application is a front end for the ARTS system - it will typically have a "Tapper" (RFId Reader) attached and allow for people to "Tap In" to events.  The application is operated by an "Agent", who will need to be set up as an "Agent" for desired Event, and will sign in using their RCS credentials.  There are also options to use a "Device Account" for some Kiosk applications.  This document is intended for ARTS administrators who will be configuring ARTS events.  The ARTS system is highly configurable, so outside for basic controls, it is challenging to document the Agent app in detail.   You may want to "install" ARTS - Agent on your system - see the section at the end of the article.  This document should provide guidance for ARTS administrators as to how and where they can configure some of the features.

Details

There are some helpful things you should be aware of in the appl

[ARTS Agent screen highlighting App Menu, Feedback and Page Help features]

1. App Menu - can help you get to the Home Screen and possibly other ARTS and Related tools.
2. Feedback - A place to leave questions and comments on the tool.  This is a new option, so no promises as to how quickly we will respond, but suggestions are welcome.
3. Page Help - will provide an overview of the page

Simple Agent Case

At the simplest case, ARTS simply records who attends an event.  This will result in a screen like the following:

[ARTS Agent Check In screen highlighting the following features: Tapper Focus, Manual Search, Text Stanza, Splash Text Stanza and Event Selection]

1. Tapper Focus - the cursor needs to be focused in this box when someone taps a card.  The tapper looks like a keyboard to the web page, and the badge ID needs to go into this field to be processed.
2. Manual Search - if you need to do a manual search (say someone forgot their ID card), you can click this box, and the "Manual Entry" box to the right will appear.  You then click the 3 lines at the right end of that box and a search box will open - this will start searching after a few characters are entered.  Fast typers often overrun the search and end up NOT finding the person they want.  It is best to close Manual Search once done (See item 1)
3. Accepted Text Stanza - this is displayed when some has tapped in.  When you first start the application, this will not be displayed.  At present, this will remain displayed until the next person taps in and replaces this.  The contents of this box are set by the ARTS administrators for this event in the Text Stanza section for the "Accepted" stanza.
4. Splash Text Stanza - This text is written whenever this page is displayed - to help identify the event and provide brief instructions.  Like the Accepted text stanza, this is also set by ARTS administrators in the Text Stanzas section for the "Splash" stanza.
5. Event Selection - This button will return to the event selection page.  It is possible that this button will NOT be available if we are running in Kiosk mode.

Additional Data Requested

Sometimes we want more.  We can set up the event to request a reason for the visit, a free text comment and who they want to visit.  Since these additional questions don't fit well on the original page, a new page pops up.  

[Process Entry screen highlighting features: Accepted Text Stanza, Reason, Free Text Comment, Save/Close and Contact Cards]

This page has the following items:

1. Accepted Text Stanza.  In the simple case, this appeared directly on the tap in page, but since we are overlaying that page, we display it on the Process Entry (pop up) page instead.
2. Reason.  This can be either a Radio Button (as shown) or a Select List.  These values are preset by the event administrator and are available in the attendance log.  Being fixed aids in post processing.  This can be a "Terminal" reason, when selected, the change is stored and the window closes.
3. Free Text Comment. A free text comment field, type away.  The heading for this box is set by the event administrator, so it can be a more directed question.
4. Save and Close - a consistent way to close this window.  This is handy if there are no "terminal" options.
5. Contact Cards - Some events are used to direct people to see other people, such as at reception desks.  Each event can define a list of "Contacts" (in the "Agents" tab).  Typically, selecting a contact will close the window (a terminal choice) and notify the contact via another application.  The format of the contact card can be customized, see the section below.

Edit Contact Card

We are using "Cards" in some parts of the ARTS world - these are blocks of text and images.  But because they in fact have several text areas, we need a way for ARTS administrators to be able to customize them.  In the ARTS configuration app, in the "Desktop Configuration" tab, if you enable contacts, an "Edit Contact Card" button appears.  Press it, and something like the following comes up:

[Edit Card page highlighting areas: Card Text fields and Card icon showing a persons picture, title and email address]

The "Edit Card" page, is split into three sections, the text and image values that can be assigned, a sample card with the provided values applied, and a list of all the available string tokens that can be used.

Card Text Fields

The card has 4 text fields available.  Title, Subtitle, Body and Secondary Body.  You can see roughly how they are displayed on the card in the Sample card.  Like with the Text Stanzas, you can have multiple tokens (in braces {token} ) in a field, as well as normal text.  

When a person is set up as a contact, you can provide alternate titles, emails and phone numbers for use within the ARTS event.  If not set, the normal values will be obtained from the directory.  It may be useful to provide a person's job function or specialty, rather than their title.

Card Icon

This allows you to include the contact's photo on the card, or not.  We don't have other options available t the moment.

You can also include Comments on this entry - these comments will not be displayed outside of this page.

At the bottom of the window, are the available tokens you can use.  In some cases, they may need to be enabled.  These are the same tokens as are used for text stanzas.

Deli Mode - Simple

The ARTS Agent tool can also be used for tap in for "Deli" events (Daily Queue Enabled). In this case, the system with the tapper is basically unattended. This is often used for reception desks - where this system is located near the entrance, and one or more agents (using the ARTS - Deli tool) are waiting for people to tap in.  This looks a lot like Simple setup, with the addition of the "pending" queue (waiting for agents to "claim" or "dismiss" the entries.

[ARTS Agent Check In screen highlighting Check In windows, Queue Controls and Pending Card list]

Check In Windows

This is the same as the Simple case above, but using just the left half of the window. You have the tapper focus box, and the Splash text.  You can enable manual entry, but that seems to be risky for most applications.  You can also prompt for more information, although that would require that the keyboard, and maybe the mouse be available.  Might not want this to be too far away from folks who can supervise it.

By default, extra information (Reason, Contact and Comments) are NOT offered when running in Deli mode, but in the Desk Control page, there is a "Prompt in Deli Mode" switch.  We have very little operational experience at this time.

Queue Controls

The right side of the window contains the queue of people waiting to be processed (Claimed or Dismissed) by the agents.  In order for the web page to be able to display changes, we need to refresh the screen.  This can be done by pressing the refresh button, or you can turn Auto Refresh on, and the page will refresh periodically

Pending Card List

As people tap in, they are added to the queue, and a card is displayed. Once the person is claimed or dismissed, the card will go away when the page is refreshed.  A case could be made to provide some feedback on this page when a person/card is claimed or dismissed.  Like the Contact cards, this card can be edited - it may be desirable to limit the amount of information displayed publicly. See the "Edit Tapper Card" below.

Edit Tapper Card

In order to edit what is displayed in the card queue on the Tapper screen, the ARTS administrator should open the "Queue Cards" menu item, and then press the "Tapper Card" button, and the following window will appear:

[Edit Card showing fields: Title, Subtitle, Body, Secondary Body and Icon URL]

This page is virtually identical to Edit Contact Page above, with the card fields to be filled in, a sample card, and a list of string tokens that are available.  NB - You should have at least on card in the active queue for this to display well. Some tokens of interest for Deli mode cards:

1. QUEUE_ENTRY - like any good deli, numbers are assigned sequentially as people tap in. This number is reset each day.
2. SINCE - this is how long, in a friendly format, since this entry was tapped.
3. TIME_NOW - this is the time when the cards were last refreshed.  Might be handy to display if automatic refresh is NOT on.
4. REASON - If the page is prompting for a reason, it can be displayed this way.  This may be very important for the back office folks in determining who should claim that person.
5. TAG_COMMENTS - if the page is prompting for a comment, this will be displayed here.
6. We don't actually offer the CONTACT, as that entry is considered to be claimed and is now in the queue for the Contact to process.

Application Installation

Although ARTS - Agent is website, it may be useful to "install" it as an application on your system.  This has the advantage of  presenting the page more as an application - without a lot of the web browser controls and tags, making for a simpler and cleaner appearance.  This may be especially useful when running in a Kiosk mode.  To do this, start by going to web at https://apex.cct.rpi.edu/apex/r/simon_apex/arts-agent/home 

[ARTS Agents Select Event screen showing various headings]

This happens to be with Safari, your browser may be different.  If you click on the "Install App", you will get instructions as to how to to "install" the application.  In my case (Apple), the app now shows up in the Application Launcher.  When I click the app, I get the following:

[ARTS Agent Select Events screen showing Event Name, Department, Event Role and Event Type]

If you compare this to the "web" version, you will note that the "Install" option is gone, as well as web browser control bar.  Depending on your system settings, this may open quicker than starting your browser and searching for bookmarks.

Last Reviewed: 04-May-2025