When devices are misbehaving, you may discover that user activities are not being reported properly, tours are not showing up as being submitted, or the dispatch activity feed may not even show a security officer logged in, even though you know they logged in. When this happens, while you may be frustrated, it is usually caused from known reasons, and fortunately, is easy to fix. Please try the steps below if you find that an officer is not getting credit for activities completed.

Reason 1: No network connection. This is the most common reason we find when troubleshooting this issue for clients who do not have a data plan connected to their devices, and are relying on WiFi to connect through the business network to transmit data from the mobile device to the SOVA servers. Usually, we get a call from a client who may notice that the WiFi icon is illuminated in their mobile device, so they assume they are connected, but are finding that activities are not recording. In these cases, the first thing we recommend is simply turning off WiFi, waiting 60 seconds, then turning WiFi back on. Allow the device some seconds to connect. When the device reconnects, take note of the network the device is connecting to. Is it your preferred network? Sometimes, a user may connect to a non-preferred WiFi (perhaps managed by a business that is different from yours) if the preferred company WiFi is having issues. Maybe this other WiFi has a stronger connection when users are conducting tours outside your building. The issue here is that some of these networks require a user to launch a web browser and accept their terms and conditions before the connection is established. Think about your favorite coffee shop or restaurant. Do you have to accept their terms before they allow the connection? More then likely, the answer is yes. Without doing this step, the WiFi icon will appear in the device, so at first glance you may falsely assume the device is connected. But without completing this authentication step by accepting the terms for the business managing the WiFi network, you will not be able to transmit data through the SOVA app.

Obviously you should restrict your users to using only your preferred WiFi network. Since they are sending data all the while during their shift, some of which is sensitive data, it's best to keep this data on your network. You can rest assured that all communication is encrypted in the mobile app so it would be very difficult to sniff data as it passes through somebody's network, but still...

Another thing to keep in mind. WiFi networks are 'remembered' in a device after the initial successful connection. By default, devices scan for the strongest WiFi connection and can perform automatic switching to any 'remembered' network with the strongest signal without the user even knowing about it. A strong signal may require the authentication step mentioned above. So it's a best practice to 'forget' these remembered WiFi networks, and encourage your users to not connect to these non-preferred networks. The specific steps required to forget remembered WiFi networks can be easily obtained through a web search. 

Reason 2: Users logged into multiple devices at the same time. This can happen by accident. Take this simple example of how things can get out of whack very easily. Steve, an on-call security officer who works at various sites downtown using SOVA, arrives to work at a busy hotel and grabs device named 'SOVA-1' and logs in. Steve worked the swing shift the day before at the same hotel but forgot to logout of the device marked 'SOVA-2'. Sometime during their current shift, 'SOVA-2' cancels Steve's login. This occurs automatically after 12 hours of inactivity. Steve is moving along doing tours on 'SOVA-1' and all things seem to be working fine. At the end of Steve's shift, he logs into SOVA Web and finds that some tours and other activities did not get reported.

The fix is easy for this one. Using SOVA Web, open the Users menu and choose 'List Users'. Find the user you are interested in and from the action icon, choose 'View'. From the View screen, click the button labeled 'Activity Log'. In the popup that opens, click the button at the top left labeled 'Logout User'. If a message appears that this was unsuccessful, click the button quickly a few times. Then close the popup. This will usually log the user out even if their account has been inactive for some time, or if the user is logged into multiple mobile devices at the same time.

Reason 3: Mobile app version out of date in the device. The mobile app is updated at least several times each year. If you have not checked in a while, it could be that your mobile app is out of date. This can cause a whole host of issues, from certain features not working in the app to out-and-out app crashes where everything locks up, preventing your officers from being able to work. You can find the latest app version by logging into SOVA Mobile and going to the 'About' menu. The most recent SOVA mobile app version as of the date of this article is 2.3.6.

Updating your app is easy, and generally does not require removing the app first. So the first step in updating your SOVA app is to head over to the Google Play Store app in your device, and search for SOVA Guard Tracker. When you load the app screen in the Play Store, you will see the version number so you can compare it to yours. You may also see an "Update" button in the SOVA app screen.

Reason 4: The stars are misaligned. If you believe this could be the cause, or at least you looked over the list above and it appears to be caused from something else, open a ticket and we'll get you sorted out.