Now is the time to start planning your migration to Version 2 of Visual Alert. Version 1 is not compatible with Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows 8 is expected to be released late 2011 or early 2012. Why get caught in an emergency situation when a PC or two crashes and needs to be replaced?    

The key to a smooth migration is budgetary planning. Whether you budget the migration over a two-year period or one, knowing the costs and the migration procedures can greatly reduce any anxiety you may have about committing to Version 2.

Another year is quickly coming to a close and there never seems to be enough time to get things done - so let us help you. Give Metro Technology Services' Steve Sharon a call at 800-658-5716, ext. 108. Steve can address any issues you may have and provide you a quote for moving forward.

The My Calls Menu is designed to show officers all calls or reports assigned to their badge numbers.

Once logged into Visual Alert 2, select the My Calls Menu and your My Calls window will appear. The My Calls menu will display two windows for the officer: My Calls That Require Attention and All Calls. The user can display calls from Most Recent, Past 7 Days, Past 14 Days, Past 21 Days, Past 30 Days or All Calls by selecting the appropriate radio dial at the bottom of the screen.

The My Calls That Require Attention window displays all reports the officer started but have been marked as Unapproved upon review by a Supervisor because information may be missing or incorrect, such as No Narrative or No Persons. To view any report, simply double click on it.

The All Calls window displays all reports that an officer has ever entered into Visual Alert 2. To view any report, simply double click on it.

The latest update to Visual Alert Version 2 contains an enhancement to the LEJIS interface that allows you to display the results of your searches in the department order you desire. Using the following menu path - Utilities > LEJIS & Alert Server Setup > Data Sharing Filters - enter the ORIs of jurisdictions contiguous to yours. This enables you to leverage the power of the LEJIS Core. Results from these departments will display first followed by the unfiltered list.

Accident/Crash Report

• Crash Report time has been corrected.
• AA45 Report-modified the BAC level to print the correct number of decimals.
• Accident Report-Insurance Yes/No/Unknown field will now print the value in the field.
• Fixed issue with Print Preview for the Accident Reports.

• Alarm Search - ensured that Clear button resets all values on screen.
• Corrected disappearing address information issue when adding an account.

• When entering charge information, allows the Count of offenses to exceed 99.
• Juvenile Petition - corrected issue of not being able to view if the Incident case condition is set to FINAL.
• Corrected possible issue when importing main narrative to the Probable Cause section.

• Quick Forms - Citation Traffic and Warning - Able to flag the owner of a vehicle as a business.
• Intersecting Street fields have been added to Quick Forms - Warning & Non-Traffic Citations.

• Corrected issue with the printing of Owner and Found in Possession of information.
• Corrected misspelling on PSP Lab Sheet.

• Control Area - Corrected issues with the Explorer Tree and folders.
• Inserted the missing the menu item for "System Setup."
• Corrected issue of not being able to open an incident after printing incident in Control Area.
• Enabled the ability to browse through the network for the server drive.
• Corrected issue between user's session pointing between MAIN and CONTROL views, not being properly set.

• Hides the Approval Text section on an incident report if the report doesn't belong to that officer and the officer doesn't have access to the "Calls Awaiting Approval" form.
• Corrected erroneous Juvenile message when entering a Business Name on the Person form.
• Lengthen Middle Name field when printing.

My Calls/Calls Awaiting Approval

• Ensures that all permissible UCR codes appear.
• Returned Unapproved reports go to the top of the list in Calls Awaiting Approval and are not inserted by original incident date.

• Corrected issues when entering permit information.  
• Fixed issues when adding new accounts and permits. 
• Can now search on a partial permit number.

•  DMV Import & Export ensure that DMV sent field is updated.  
• Fixed the printing of Model Year on Payment Receipt along with Comment.  
• Parking tickets Issued time does not allow for 00:00. 
• Citation payments will now update the ticket payment report.  
• Parking Ticket Invoice now contains Department phone number.

• Copy Incident - removes the ability to copy an incident with no UCR code.
• Corrected the Create a Related Incident routine.
• Security Access Log once again keeps track of who prints out the incident report.
• Remove the ability to create User IDs containing periods.

• Fixed issue with multi-jurisdictional UCR Reporting.
• Corrected problems with reporting Homicides.
• Case Disposition of Juvenile\No Custody now counts as an exceptional clearance on Return A.

Version 1.16.727 is available for download. (Note: This update was first announced in the January 2011 issue of UPDATE, so if you downloaded it then, there is no need to do so again.) To download the update and the instructions for performing the update, click here. Below are highlights of the modifications made in the release:

Incidents

• Corrected display of Incident screen when using 800 X 600 resolution.
• Corrected the source of the occasional message "Option is currently under development" or "A serious internal error has occurred which has caused your Visual Alert session to become unstable."
• Confidential Information button now appears on the Persons screen when a business is entered.

Parking Tickets

• Corrected the printing of Offense Time and Issued Time when printing Citations.

UCR Reporting

• Reporting of Homicide information has been corrected.
• Modified the month and year range to be unlimited.

Vehicles

• Corrected the occasional open file dialog box when opening the Vehicle screen.