EECO Troubleshooting Guide

Implementation

The EECO PMS integration within NuPoint Voice polls the Property Management System once a minute in order to find out which rooms have been checked-in/checked-out since the last poll. This information is used to perform user configurable check-in/check-out procedures to mailboxes on the NuPoint Voice system. For more information on the NuPoint Voice Check-in/Check-out procedures, contact your distributor.

Protocol

1. After 60 seconds of no activity NuPoint Voice sends an ASCII "C" followed by an ETN ($03).

2. The PMS replies with the character "C" within two seconds.

3. If no reply is received within the two second window up to two additional attempts will be made by the server. If there is still no response from the PMS, NuPoint Voice will return to sleep for 60 seconds and start over at 1.

4. Once the PMS replies it then has 6 seconds to start sending room info packets to NuPoint Voice for processing. These packets are as follows:

   • Start of record character * ($2A).

   • Room status character: A = newly checked-in; V = newly checked-out.

   • Room number followed by the delimiter character semicolon ($3B). Room numbers are in ASCII readable. Only numeric room numbers are supported at this time. Note, at this time the Room number is assumed to be the mailbox number and as such needs to conform to the dial plan. Eventually the ability to translate alphanumeric room numbers to mailbox numbers will be added.

   • End of record character % ($25).

   These packets can be no longer than 80 characters including the start and end of record characters. When there is no more data to send to NuPoint Voice, the interface sends the single ASCII character "@" ($40).

5. Upon receiving the packet from the PMS, NuPoint Voice will then process the information. If the packet is good, all check-in/check-out procedures are carried out and NuPoint Voice requests the next packet (if any) by sending an "M" followed by an ETN ($03). If the packet is bad, NuPoint Voice re-requests it by sending an "L" followed by an ETX ($03). If the PMS sent the empty reply ("@"), NuPoint Voice will go back to sleep for 60 seconds without responding to the PMS.

   Note: The PMS must first echo the "L" or "M" before sending any other information to NuPoint Voice.

6. When the PMS receives either the "L" ETX or "M" ETN requests from NuPoint Voice, it has six seconds to respond. NuPoint Voice will try either of these requests up to three times before giving up and sleeping for 60 seconds before starting at 1) again.

Physical Characteristics

• RS-232 compatible signal.

• 1200 baud.

• 1 start bit, 1 stop bit, 8 bit data, and no parity.

• NuPoint Voice is configured to be a DCE device.

• No flow control is supported.

• Data signals required are transmit data, receive data, logic ground (pin 7), data terminal ready (should always be high).

• No control signals are used.

Diagnostic Information

See the Appendix for detailed diagnostic information available through the error log file, the CDR file and the system console.