Current Usage Tab
This page / section pertains to BrightSign Network (often abbreviated BSN), our legacy cloud platform. Our latest cloud platform is BSN.Cloud. Development of BSN has largely ceased and the platform will eventually be deprecated and replaced with BSN.Cloud.
The Current Usage page allows you to monitor the health of devices and download log reports. This page lists all devices connected to your network.
View Device Info
General Managers, Network Managers, Viewers
The Total Devices Count is displayed in the left portion of the screen. You can filter the list with the Results per page dropdown list in the right portion of the screen. The list displays the following information for each device:
- Health: The status of the player, as indicated below:
- Healthy: A green checkmark icon indicates that the player has an active subscription and has successfully communicated with BSN within the configured time period.
- Connection Lost: A yellow triangle icon indicates that the player has a subscription and reported its status to BSN recently, but experienced one of the following issues:
- Its subscription is about to be suspended. See Device Properties > Device Overview > Subscription Status in the General tab.
- It reported an Error but continue to retrieve settings and schedule from BSN. See Device Properties > Errors in the Advanced tab.
- It missed one or two synchronization or heartbeat requests at the expected time. You can review and edit the configured synchronization and heartbeat frequency in Device Properties > Unit Configuration in the General tab.
- It is assigned to the Disabled Players group.
- Inactive: A red line icon indicates that the player has a subscription, but experienced one of the following issues:
- Its subscription is suspended. See Device Properties > Device Overview > Subscription Status in the General tab.
- It reported an Error and cannot retrieve settings and schedule from BSN. See Device Properties > Errors in the Advanced tab.
- It missed more than two synchronization and heartbeat requests. You can review and edit the configured synchronization and heartbeat frequency in Device Properties > Unit Configuration in the General tab.
- Disconnected: A grey question mark icon indicates that the player does not have a subscription.
- Device Label: The serial number of the player.
- Device Name: The name given to the player during setup.
- Target Group: The group to which the player was mostly recently assigned.
- Device Model: The model number of the player
- Active Presentation: The presentation that is currently scheduled for the player.
- Last Connection: The most recent date that the player successfully connected to the BrightSign Network.
- Traffic: The amount of data the device has downloaded from the BrightSign Network during the current active subscription. When the subscription is renewed, this number returns to zero.
- Actions: Click the purple note button to add Tags or a note to a player: The note and tags will be displayed beneath the other player data. You can also click the Properties button to open the Device PropertiesDevice Properties window.
You can organize the list alphabetically by any of the above criteria. Click a criteria type in the top row to list the players in descending order. Click it again to list the players in ascending order. You can also search for specific devices using the Search field in the upper-left portion of the screen. Check the boxes to customize your search by Group, Name, and/or Device Label. Type a portion or the entirety of these terms and click Search. The list will refresh and compile all relevant results.
Check the Show Deleted Devices box in the bottom right to view devices that have been deleted from your account. You can then restore deleted devices if needed by clicking the purple revert action button.
Tag Players
Administrators, General Managers, Network Managers
Player tagging gives you advanced tools for organizing and searching players in the Current Usage tab. While BSN groups give you the ability to organize players by a single criteria (e.g. location or use), player tags allow you to sort players using an unlimited number of values and attributes.
You can use the Search function to search for players using their tag name or value. Ensure the Tags box is checked when searching.
Follow these steps to add tags to a player:
- Click the purple note button next to the player you wish to tag.
- Click the Tags field to open the Add Tags window.
- Use the System and Users buttons to switch between system tags and user tags:
- System tags have values that are defined by the hardware and configuration data on the player (such as the device name and model number); you cannot edit title or value of these tags.
- User tags have customizable titles and text values.
- If creating user tags, enter the Tag Name and optional Tag Value for the tag(s) you wish to add to the player.
- Click Save to add the tags to your player. If you leave the page without clicking Save, the tag changes will be discarded.
Note the following when adding player tags:
- Adding new tags: A new tag is added to your BSN account if the specified tag Name is currently not in use by any other player on the account. The Add Tags window will state when you are adding new tag(s) to your account.
- Matching tag names and values: If a similar Name or Value is already in use with another player tag, a type-ahead dialog will appear listing names/values that match what you've typed so far.
- Tagging capitalization: You cannot use similar tag names with variant capitalization (for example, if "City" is already in use as a tag name, a new tag named "city" will default to "City" instead). On the other hand, tag values with variant capitalization are allowed.
Export Device Data
General Managers, Network Managers, Viewers
The Export Device List icon can be found directly above the list of devices. Click this icon to download an .xml data table for all devices (or a subset of searched devices). The data table displays device names and labels, target groups, active presentations, last connect times, traffic, firmware versions, and any descriptions included during setup. It can be opened using Excel or a similar spreadsheet program.
View Subscriptions
General Managers, Viewers
The Subscriptions Information section provides the following information:
- Available Subscriptions: The current number of BrightSign Network subscriptions available to be assigned to players.
- Activated Subscriptions: The total number of BrightSign Network subscriptions currently assigned to players. These subscriptions have a defined activation and expiration date.
- Queued Subscriptions: The total number of BrightSign Network subscriptions that have been assigned to players but have not been activated yet.
- Suspended Subscriptions: The total number of BrightSign Network subscriptions that have been manually suspended
A subscription with an “Available” or “Queued” status will only have a defined activation and expiration date if it was previously assigned to a player that has been deleted from the BrightSign Network.
Click the arrow to the left of a player’s Health status to view subscription information and options.
- Invoice Number: The invoice number of the subscription purchase
- Creation Date: The date that the subscription was purchased
- Activation Date: The date that the subscription was added to the player
- Expiration Date: The date that the subscription expires
- Subscription Type: The length of the subscription (Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly)
- Status: The status of the subscription (Active or Suspended)
- Actions: Choose to Activate a suspended subscription or Suspend an active subscription.
Automatic Subscriptions Management
Check the Enable Automatic Subscriptions Management box if you want the system to automatically assign available subscriptions to players with expiring subscriptions. Available subscriptions that are queued for a player with the Add Subscription button will be assigned to that player first. If you check this box, you will not be able to mix subscription types.
Add Subscriptions
General Managers, Network Managers
Follow these steps to activate an available subscription on a player or queue multiple subscriptions for a player:
- Click the arrow to the left of a player’s Health Status to view subscription information and options.
- Click the Add Subscription button. The Available Subscriptions list will appear.
- Search the available subscriptions by entering the I.N. (invoice number) or the subscription Type and clicking Search.
- Select the desired subscription and click Add.
If you want to transfer an active subscription from one player to another, you will need to temporarily delete the player that is currently using the subscription. See this FAQ for more details.
Create Device Logs
General Managers, Network Managers, Viewers
You can download different log reports for your devices. The reports are generated as XML files.
- Under Device Logs, use the first dropdown list to select a specific device.
- Choose among Events, States, Playback, User Variables, or Diagnostics reports.
- Use the second dropdown list to specify a time frame for the report.
- Click the Generate Report button.
- Click the Download Report button once the report is generated.
The following is a short description of the different logs you can generate:
- Events Log: Records timestamps, state names, zone names, event types, and event data.
- States Log: Records current and last state names, timestamps, and media types.
- Playback Log: Records start and end times, zone names, media types, and file names.
- Diagnostics Log: Records timestamps, firmware and script versions, and the current presentation.
- User Variables Log: Records the names and values of User Variables.