Hi all -
I¹ve spent my holidays incubating an idea I¹ve had for ages, about
developing an iPhone Client that provides a more-native UI for InterMapper.
Given there had been a little discussion on the IM-Talk list about it last
year, I wanted to share my thoughts and solicit some feedback on what people
may be after from the application.
The real catalyst for doing this is the new API in InterMapper 5.2
(currently in Beta), which provides a way to acknowledge a device via the
API (Finally!).
I¹ve spent quite a bit of time over the past week or two reviewing the Apple
WWDC iPhone sessions; and mapping out what I THINK users may want from an
iPhone client -- extrapolated from my employer¹s use of InterMapper.
To make sure it¹s at all possible, I¹ve prototyped a few things and have a
basic client running on my iPhone, which pulls down a list of the current
devices in trouble, etc. It¹s much quicker and easier to use, when compared
to the current InterMapper web interface, but the code is definitely not
releasable (sorry!).
But if I¹m going to spend the time developing the application properly and
getting it published on the App Store, I¹d be keen to see what people think
of this and build something that people will actually use. I¹m also based in
New Zealand; so I suspect our network sizes are a little smaller than some
of yours; and so want to ensure _my_ idea of a useful app marries up with
broader needs.
MY THOUGHTS SO FAR:
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APPLICATION DEFINITION STATEMENT:
A thumb-optimised client to InterMapper, that provides smart
notification and quick access to ³What¹s wrong?² for Network Admins
on-the-go.
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KEY FEATURES
* Map and Device List: Focus would be on showing what¹s wrong, but with
option to view all¹ and search.
* Outages List
* Ability to acknowledge a device (Would require InterMapper 5.2):
* Thumb Optimised ³Ack² screen; which acknowledges with a text string
built up from a few user interface elements
* Time Estimate
* Text Preset customisable by each user (e.g. ³Bypassed², ³En-route
to site², ...) or a freeform string
* Who (based on who¹s iPhone it is/etc)
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NOTIFICATIONS using Apple Push Notifications
This is one of the key things I¹m personally after a way to avoid
analysing Up/Down/Warn SMS messages to figure out the current status; and a
host of other benefits:
* List of recently received notifications, with link to device (within the
Application) for acknowledging/etc
* Incoming message sounds based on alert severity
* Fallback to SMS if (the Application¹s) Gateway Server not available
* Badge count: # of Notifications you haven¹t yet viewed (by opening up the
application)
A Trust Question:
I am thinking of providing a central server that acts as the ³Push Message
Aggregator² and maintains an unread count¹ which can be used to manage the
badge icon; and potentially a few other team-coordination features. Data
retention would be minimal, only that needed for displaying useful state in
the application.
This however would mean you¹d need to trust¹ me and allow these messages to
pass via my server and maintain state. The alternate would be to provide
some server-code you could run at your end to maintain this state; but I
feel this would be prohibitive for initial testing and complicate
application/server updates/etc. Programs like IM+ (an chat client for the
iPhone) already do this, so I don¹t feel this would be unacceptable,
provided the privacy policy is clear.
With this, I can see options to get Push up and running a lot easier --
you¹d simply need to install a Notifier script (e.g. Perl program) which was
executed for every Notification.
I¹d love to get feedback on whether anyone had concerns about this.
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OUT-OF-SCOPE
In thinking about what would ³work² on the iPhone; I¹ve put the following as
being ³not useful²:
* Graphical maps: Most maps would have to be heavily scaled down, so would
be hard to read; and would be large/slow downloads.
* Edits / Map management / etc: While probably possible¹ via the HTTP API;
I can¹t see any need to do this on the on-the-road.
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UNCERTAIN
Feedback welcome.
* Charts: Do you want to see any charts you¹ve created, on the phone? Or
should it say focussed on ³Up / Down² and Acknowledgement of notifications.
* Badge Count: Representing # outages/etc. This is probably not possible
without adding interfaces to IMDC and server daemons at the each user¹s
InterMapper Server.
* Web Bookmarks: I wondered whether it would be useful to pull up certain
web pages while within the application e.g. A Vendor Contact list, or
another monitoring system/etc. Obviously Mobile Safari can do this too but
then you have to switch context.
* Ability to message or maybe assign notifications to other team members
(with the iPhone client)
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WHAT ELSE?
I want to avoid Feature Bloat and make sure the application stays true to
purpose; but there are bound to be some features worth considering.
A few questions:
* What is the FIRST thing (or things) you want to look at when you open up
the application?
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BETA PROGRAM
Assuming this idea passes the ³peer feedback² stage and there¹s demand for
the application; then I¹d like to:
* Refine the plan by communicating directly to a few of you
* Develop and test an alpha internally with my employer
* and then do a Beta Programme.
So if anyone¹s keen to work a little more one-on-one with shaping this, and
providing more in-depth feedback as I progress through test versions, please
drop me an email:
[email protected]
Obviously you¹d need an iPhone, and I¹d love to find a few Beta sites with
2-3 iPhone-enabled staff who would be prepared to use this together as I
see a major benefit may be to reduce the ³multiple people being notified
when not needed² aspect (that at least happens at our site)
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WHERE TO FROM HERE
This isn¹t my day-job, so I won¹t promise the community that there¹ll be an
iPhone application out next week; that said I¹ve done a lot of the leg
work so far with my proof-of-concept application; so I would like to see
this in Beta in around 2 months, and in the App Store a month or so after
that. Assuming it¹s allowed on this list, I¹ll keep people informed of
progress screenshots to tease you :)
All feedback welcome, either to the list or me personally at the email
address above.
Sorry for the long first post.
Regards,
Mark Mackay.
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I apologise if this is not the correct forum for this the community
website seemed
to encourage sharing thoughts and product application ideas; but if this is
not the correct
forum can one of the moderators let me know, and I¹ll cease immediately.
>From the list and reactions from my employer, I think a lot of people would
be
interested in this App, so am keen to everyone¹s understand needs and make
it great!
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