Emergency Board for Clear Touch panels: setup guide

Step 1. Make a board link

1. Open the ConciergePad Admin app and go to Emergency Management.

2. Tap Emergency Panels, then tap Add key.

3. Give it a name like "All panels" and tap Save.

4. The app shows a link. Copy it and keep it somewhere safe, like a note. It is shown only once. If you lose it, make a new key and delete the old one.

The link looks like this:

https://api.conciergepadedu.com/api/EmergencyDisplay/board?key=LONGKEY&room=Room%20101

The part after room= is the room name. Change it for each panel (Room 101, Library, Gym). Use %20 instead of a space, or just type the room name and the browser will fix it.

Step 2. Open the link on each panel

Option A, one panel at a time:

1. On the panel, open the Chrome or Firefox browser (from the Clear Touch App Library).

2. Type the link with that room's name and press Go.

3. You will see the school name and a clock. That is the board waiting.

4. Tap the screen once. This lets the panel play the alert sound.

5. Set this page as the browser's home page so it opens every time.

Option B, all panels at once (needs the Command admin):

1. In Clear Touch Command, use the "push a web page" command.

2. Paste the board link (with a general room name like "Classroom").

3. Choose all panels or a group and send. The board opens on every panel.

Ask your Command admin to also schedule the page to open when the panels turn on in the morning.

Step 3. Test it

1. In the ConciergePad Admin app, go to Emergency Panels and tap Test panels.

2. Every panel shows a red TEST screen for one minute, then goes back to the clock.

3. In the app, the Panels list shows which panels are online and which room each one is in. A panel that is not on the list did not open the link.

Step 4. Check the instructions (optional)

The board shows instructions for each kind of event, for example "Lock the door. Lights off. Stay silent." ConciergePad has good default text for fire drills, lockdowns, lockouts, shelter in place, evacuation, intruder, severe weather, earthquake, emergency dismissal and reunification. To use your own words, go to Emergency Panels, tap Instructions, pick the event type, and edit the drill text and the real event text. Tap Reset to go back to the default.

That is it for Part 1. From now on, any drill or emergency opened in ConciergePad shows on every panel that has the board open.

Why do this: with Part 1, the board shows only when the browser is on screen. If a teacher is showing a laptop or a video, the panel will not switch on its own. Part 2 fixes that. Clear Touch Command can push an alert that wakes the panel, covers whatever is on screen, plays a sound, and cannot be closed until the all clear.

Step 1. Ask your Command admin to build the alerts

1. Sign in to Clear Touch Command (the same website used to manage your panels).

2. Open the API Generator (Clear Touch also calls it the Command API Export Utility). If you cannot find it, email it@getcleartouch.com and ask for "the API export for third-party emergency alerts." Their help article is called "Command API and Integration with Singlewire InformaCast."

3. Build one alert for each of these, choosing the panels or group, a sound, an image if you like, and a duration of 10 minutes:

- Lockdown

- Evacuate (fire)

- Shelter in place

- Medical

- Drill (used for any drill that is not one of the above)

- Emergency (used for any real event that is not one of the above)

- All clear (choose a calm sound, 5 minutes)

4. Export each one. Command gives you a block of text called JSON, plus two codes: an app key and a token. Send all of it to the ConciergePad admin. Keep the app key and token private, they are like a password for your panels.

Step 2. Enter them in ConciergePad

1. In the ConciergePad Admin app, go to Emergency Panels, then Clear Touch.

2. Type the app key and the token and tap Save.

3. For each alert type, paste the JSON that Command exported into the box for that type and tap Save.

4. Where the JSON has a text line, you can put these magic words and ConciergePad fills them in when the alert goes out:

{{EVENT_TYPE}} = the event name, like Lockdown

{{DRILL_TEXT}} = says DRILL or THIS IS NOT A DRILL

{{TIME_LOCAL}} = the time it started

{{INSTRUCTIONS}} = the instruction text for that event

{{BOARD_URL}} = the board link

Example text line: "{{EVENT_TYPE}} {{DRILL_TEXT}} at {{TIME_LOCAL}}. {{INSTRUCTIONS}}"

5. Tap Send test. Every panel in the group should show the Lockdown alert for 30 seconds and then clear. The log at the bottom shows what Clear Touch answered.

6. When the test works, turn on Enabled and Save.

Step 3. You are done

From now on:

- Opening an event in ConciergePad sends the alert to the panels within a few seconds and the board shows the details.

- While the event stays open, ConciergePad re-sends the alert every 5 minutes so a panel that was asleep or just turned on still gets it.

- Closing the event cancels the alert and shows ALL CLEAR.

If something does not work

Need help? Email support@conciergepad.com with your school name and, for Part 2, the answer you see in the Clear Touch log.