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Updates include new dashboards, quality-of-life enhancements, and much more
Oct. 2, 2023 - As with Crestron's other software offerings, the Crestron XiO Cloud® Technology Operations Management Platform is constantly evolving. The XiO Cloud® platform — a service that allows a wide variety of Crestron and third-party devices across any enterprise to be configured and managed from a central, secure location — has seen several updates in the last few months. These updates include views of historical data via the addition of new dashboards, quality-of-life enhancements, Device Quick Links, new desk management features, and support for more devices.
More Historical Data
The concept behind the functionality of Historical Data features is simple: Info created during real-time monitoring and management is stored for later review. The data allows the end user to understand utilization, performance, and the ongoing health of the systems upon which an enterprise relies.
That review process is helped considerably with three new dashboards added to the XiO Cloud platform in update 1.51: Device Offline Incidents, Room Usage Over Time, and Room Utilization.
Device Offline Incidents – As the name suggests, this dashboard provides a quick look at what devices (or groups of devices) have gone offline — and when they were down.
Room Usage Over Time – Are all your spaces being used? And when are they most likely to be occupied?
Room Utilization – If a room's sitting unused for long periods of time, you'll know — and conversely, the dashboard will tell you what spaces are most popular across an enterprise.
"Providing this kind of historical data had long been a goal in the evolution of XiO Cloud," says Phil Pfisterer, Crestron's product manager of Cloud and SaaS solutions. "Recording this info and delivering it back to people in usable dashboards so they can have a clear picture of the analytics of their enterprise is key to the product's continued success." These three dashboards are just a start — expect to see more data-gathering functionality in future XiO Cloud platform updates.
Quality of Life Enhancements
A significant part of the 1.52 update included some changes that improved the user experience, also dubbed "Quality of Life" Enhancements. They include:
The 1.52 update also saw the addition of Device Quick Links functionality, allowing the user to create up to five custom URLs for any device in their XiO Cloud account. "There are several applications for this feature, and they all improve the user experience," notes Joel Mulpeter, a Crestron director of product marketing. "One could link to a variety of other solutions or devices that might be relevant to the installation. Perhaps there's a third-party platform in use at an enterprise — it's easy to link to their cloud services. And this is also a way to quickly access pertinent documents, from schematics to manuals to license agreements. These quick links put all those destinations at your fingertips."
Support for New Devices
What makes the XiO Cloud platform so effective is the sheer number of devices it supports — and the manner in which that support is provided. Update 1.52 added a Crestron device — the TST-1080 Wireless Touch Screen — to the package and a third-party driver from our partners at GUDE, too.
The TST-1080 is a tablet-style wireless touch screen controller perfect for corporate, government, and classroom applications. Support for the TST-1080 in this update gives you all the standard info you'd expect but adds docking status and battery level data to the mix, too.
This update of the XiO Cloud platform also sees the addition of a new driver type, namely, power controllers — and first up is a driver for GUDE power controllers. The GUDE Driver means that you'll have support for GUDE's line of switched and metered, German-made PDUs. GUDE has long been a provider of top-quality smart power distribution units (PDUs), LAN sensors, and time servers for the global market.
Desk Scheduling: The Crestron Desk Touch and Desk Q
The most recent update, 1.53, begins to add support for Crestron's new Desk Scheduling solutions, with more functionality to come in future updates. These products will integrate seamlessly with an ever-expanding list of partners that currently includes Microsoft O365 and Tango, with Calven, Appspace, and others to come.
The Crestron Desk Touch — The Crestron Desk Touch is a solution made for cubicles and semi-private offices, with a 3.5-inch active matrix LCD screen, a status light visible from 360°, Wi-Fi® communications and wired connectivity, and power via PoE or a 24v DC supply.
The Crestron Desk Q — The Crestron Desk Q allows for maximum scalability at minimum cost. This Wi-Fi connected device features a swappable placard with a desk name and QR code, an LED free/busy status indicator (viewable from 180°), and more. It's perfect for open workspaces, community workstations, and "in-and-out" and "quick-grab" workstations.
All of the improvements and updates to the Crestron XiO Cloud platform are driven by research — both internal and external. "We're updating the platform every four to six weeks, and there's no charge for these updates," says Pfisterer. "It's all part of our continued commitment to make the XiO Cloud platform the most robust, user-friendly monitoring and management solution on the mar