COMMUNICATOR

You can download the Communicator App from the Google Play Store (for Android) here, iTunes (for iPhone) here or by searching for “CommandWear Communicator” in either store.

Once you’ve accepted the permissions required and downloaded the Communicator app, launch the app following the instructions below.

COMMUNICATOR: Launching and Login

The Communicator App will be found after downloading with the Name Communicator and the icon on the right. Click on the icon to launch the app.

You may see a ‘Configuring Communication’ message while the app downloads configuration files.

If this message appears for more than a couple minutes, there could be problems connecting with the server.  Please check your network connectivity or contact your CommandWear Administrator.

Once you open it for the first time, you will have to enter your userid and password. These are set by your administrator.  Remember the password is case sensitive.

After entering your userid and password, click on “Log In”.

COMMUNICATOR: Home Screen

Once you have logged in to Communicator, you will see a very simple screen. The default on the screen is the most recent message, if any, and your response to it at the bottom. If you haven’t received a message recently, the screen will be blank (as shown below).

The menu is accessible in the top left corner (described below)

The top right corner of the screen will indicate whether the app is communicating with the CommandWear server (green double arrows) and whether GPS tracking is active (green direction arrowhead) as shown below. If the communication arrows are a red color, the app is not connecting with the server.  If the arrowhead is red, there is no (or a very poor) GPS signal to your smartphone.

Instructions for troubleshooting these issues and sending the Communicator app configuration and status info to CommandWear technical support is described below.

COMMUNICATOR: Main Menu

Selecting the menu button (three dots) in the top left, or swiping the menu out from the left side of the screen (depending on your phone), opens the Communicator Main Menu.  This menu provides the full set of features for the Communicator app.

Map Settings. Here is where you enable:

• the display of callsign labels for all tracked personnel displayed on your map;
• the display of GPS accuracy circles around each tracked resource; and,
• the source of the base map (ESRI’s ArcGIS Online, OpenStreet Map, Google Road/Satellite/Hybrid).

Global Settings. Here is where you:

• enable/disable the GPS tracking on your smartphone (Note, if you don’t see this, your Administrator has disabled the option. Also, you must have GPS tracking permissions enabled in your phone settings);
• display the device information, connectivity and GPS status with a button at the bottom to ‘Email to support’ (used to assist CommandWear Technical Support to troubleshoot problems); and,
• Sign Off the app (Note, if you don’t see this, your Administrator has disabled the option).

COMMUNICATOR: Receiving a Message

When a responder receives a message, the phone will vibrate and generate a tone based on the sound settings of the phone. The message screen will pop-up and contain the message that was received, in our example below “Check In”, and three response buttons:

• Acknowledge: touch this to send an Acknowledge text message back to the Commander web app;
• Preset Responses: select this to see a set of preset responses that your Administrator has configured for your organization (as described further below); and,
• Reply: to type a response message (or use voice-to-text option if enabled on your phone).

COMMUNICATOR: Preset Responses

Selecting the Preset Responses button when a message is received presents a list of preset responses created by your CommandWear Administrator. A message Acknowledgement will immediately be sent to the Commander while the responder selects one of the preset responses.

Once a user has responded to a message, the message will appear in the message screen.  Responses sent other than Acknowledge, will appear with a symbol indicating a preset or custom message was sent, as shown in our example below. Any messages received but not responded to will be displayed in bold type with a solid fill dot next to them and the message tab symbol will display an alarm bell, as shown below.

COMMUNICATOR: Media

The Media symbol in the bottom right of the screen allows a responder to send photos or videos.

Selecting this symbol opens a Media Source menu from which to select photos/videos from the phone’s Library or to capture a new photo/video.

Selecting Capturing photo/video will open the phone’s camera, allow a picture/video to be taken, confirm the photo/video by selecting a “checkmark” (or cancel and re-take), and then open a message dialog to add descriptions, as shown below.  Select the send (paper airplane) button in the bottom right to send the media/message to Command.

COMMUNICATOR: Compose Message

The Communicator compose message symbol allows responders to compose and send a message.

Touch the “Create Message…” text and begin typing or use voice-to-text (is enabled on your phone) to compose a message.  Optionally, the camera symbol in the bottom left of the screen can be selected to attach a photo/video to the message.

COMMUNICATOR: Location (Mapping)

The Location tab opens a map view centered on your location.  Use your finger to pan, pinch-zoom, and double tap to zoom.  If you’ve panned to an area and wish to jump back to your position, click on the focus icon in the bottom right of the map.