Task 3.1: Configure Master Computer Settings

Purpose: Configures basic settings per your agency’s preferences.

Requirements: Master computer.

1. Start TraCS.

2. Sign in with system administration account.

3. Select the Tools tab on the ribbon menu.

4. Click Configuration and Distribution.

5. Click Change Settings.

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6. Leave the unique machine ID blank and click OK in the Configuration Wizard dialog box.

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7. Click the Create button in the Case Information dialog.

8. Enter the configuration settings appropriate for your agency.

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   1. The Auto-update Settings at Log On setting automatically repairs any mis-configured settings each time anytime TraCS is logged into on the master computer.

      1. Enter Yes in the Auto-update Settings at Log On field if you want to automatically repair settings.

      2. Enter No in the Auto-update Settings at Log Off field if you want to disable repair settings. Skip to step e if you choose not to auto-update.

   2. Enter the TraCS Machine Number in the TraCS Machine # field. (This field is typically automatically populated.)

   3. Enter the Windows Computer Name in the Windows Computer Name field. (This field is optional and is intended to assist with recordkeeping.)

   4. Enter the Asset ID, if any, for the computer in the Asset ID field. (This field is optional and is intended to assist with recordkeeping. The asset id is an identifier that the local agency may have created to track equipment. You may also use this field to record the serial number of the computer.)

   5. Change the Prompt For New Folder setting If you want to turn off the appearance of the Case Information dialog box when a new form is started in TraCS.

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      1. Enter Yes in the Prompt for New Folder field if you want the above dialog box to appear each time a new case is started in TraCS.

      2. Enter No in the Prompt for New Folder field if you do not want the above dialog box to appear each time a new case is started in TraCS.

   6. If you are implementing desktop virtualization this will need to be yes. Otherwise, you may adjust this setting based on personal preference.

      1. Enter Yes in the Allow Multiple Instances of TraCS field if you plan to run TraCS 7.3 and the current version of TraCS on the same computer at the same time or want to allow multiple copies of TraCS to be open at the same time on the same computer.

      2. Enter No in the Allow Multiple Instances of TraCS field if you want to prevent multiple copies of TraCS being open at the same time.

   7. Enter Yes in the Use RMS field (required.)

   8. The non-traffic citation (NTC Form) has an optional section for entering Wisconsin Incident Based Reporting System (WIBRS) data.

      1. Enter Yes in the Enable WIBRS on the NTC Form if your agency plans on recording WIBRS data using the NTC form.

      2. Enter No in the Enable WIBRS on the NTC Form if your agency does not plan on recording WIBRS data using the NTC form.

   9. You may set up TraCS to automatically install traffic citation numbers for the ELCI form when the master computer runs low or you may leave citation number installation on the master as a manual step. Typically, very few citations are written on the master computer and so auto-installation is not enabled on the master computer.

      1. Enter No in the Auto-install ELCI Citation Numbers field if you do not want to automatically install citation numbers for the ELCI form when a computer runs out of them.

      2. Enter Yes in the Auto-install ELCI Citation Numbers in the Value field if you want to automatically install citation numbers for the ELCI form when a computer runs out of them.

      3. If you enabled auto-install, enter the quantity you want to automatically install in the Auto-install ELCI Citation Number Quantity field, which should be between 50 and 1000.

   10. With the exception of the ELCI form, the document numbers generated in TraCS are based partially on your TraCS agency number.

       1. If the TraCS Agency Number for Document Numbers field is blank, click the import button to the right of the data bar when you are in this field to import your TraCS agency number.

       2. If your agency was assigned a secondary TraCS Agency Number for document number, you may enter that instead of importing the primary number.

   11. You may configure TraCS to go into Enabled Amended Citations mode.

       1. Select Yes if your agency would like all users to use the Enable Amended Citations.

       2. Select No if your agency would like to limit the use of the Enable Amended Citations to users with specific access only. Note: this is the default value when installing the Fall Pack.

       3. NOTE: it is highly recommended that before enabling this feature you review the FAQ and discuss this with your municipal court. https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/dmv/shared/CitationAmendAccessLevel.pdf

   12. You may set TraCS to print out the officers full first name or just the first letter (Initial)

       1. Enter Yes in the Use Initial for Officer First name on Citations & Warnings to only use the first letter.

       2. Enter No in the Use Initial for Officer First name on Citations & Warnings to use the entire first name.

   13. Optional: Configure the Late Parking Fee field.

       1. Enter the amount your agency charges for late payments of parking fees.

   14. Optional: Configure the Late Parking Days field.

       1. Enter the amount of days your agency allows before late fees are charged.

   15. Optional: Configure the Parking Suspension Fee field.

       1. Enter the amount of your agency will be charged for suspending a vehicle.

       2. Enter $3.50 for electronic suspension

       3. Enter $5.00 for paper suspension

       4. Use the other feature only if the suspension fee has changed and your agency has not yet upgraded.

   16. If your Mobile Data Browser (MDB) supports data imports into TraCS, configure the message cache location for external search.

       1. Note: The default behavior of TraCS is to automatically delete records in the message cache after they have been imported into TraCS with the external search button. This ensures that sensitive data is not left in the message cache folder for any longer than necessary. Driver and vehicle data imported into TraCS will be available for the officer to use while they are working on the current case. They may also save this data to their defaults if they need to use the data in a later case.

       2. Enter Yes in the Manual Message Cache Management field if you want to make the officer responsible for deleting message cache data using the clear cache button in the form editor. Enter No if you want TraCS to be responsible for clearing the message cache.

       3. If you set the message cache to manual management in step 7fi above, you may also set a retention period for data in the message cache. TraCS will automatically delete items in the message cache older than the number of days entered into the Message Cache Retention Period field the next time an external search is done. The recommended value for this field is 1 day.

       4. Enter the location of the message cache folder in the External Search Message Cache Location field. Check the documentation from your vendor for the recommended location. If none is given and you have no preference, enter C:\MessageCache.

       5. Physically create the message cache folder on the computer if it does not already exist.

          • Note: the default message cache location, \MessageCache, corresponds to C:\ProgramData\TraCS\MessageCache. You may prefer a different location. In that case, enter the full path for the desired folder location, for example, C:\MessageCache.

          • Note: If you plan on deploying virtualized instances of TraCS, specify a mapped network drive for the messageCache location. The messagecache folder should be under the tracs folder on this drive letter, for example, V:\tracs\MessageCache. Each user will need their own message cache folder. Therefore, the assigned drive letter should map to a different physical path for each user.

          • Note: See the Badger TraCS Integration Package for additional information on integrating TraCS with your mobile data browser.

   17. Enter 16 in the Mapping Zone field. (This is the correct zone for Wisconsin.)

   18. If your agency reaches the Internet through a proxy server, you will need to configure TraCS to use it when rendering pin maps of incidents.

       1. Enter Yes in the Use Proxy Server for Open Street Maps if your agency uses a proxy server to reach the Internet.

       2. Enter No in the Use Proxy Server for Open Street Maps if your agency does not use a proxy server to reach the Internet.

   19. Configure the Enable TLT Override field.

       1. Select Yes if your agency would like all users to use the TLT override feature.

       2. Select No if your agency would like to limit the use of the TLT override feature to users with supervisor access only. Note: this is the default value when installing the Fall Pack.

   20. Configure the Auto TLT in Diagram field.

       1. Select Yes if your agency would like the TLT location to be added as the background to the Diagram automatically.

       2. Select No if your agency would not like the TLT location to be added automatically to the Diagram tool. Note: this is the default value when installing the Fall Pack. And, the TLT can still be added manually.

   21. Configure the GPS Source field.

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       1. Select MACH if your agency uses MACH. No further configuration of GPS settings is necessary. TraCS will use the GPS configuration settings from MACH.

       2. Select Serial Port if you have a GPS device connected through an R2-232 port (“com” port) or a USB port running as a virtual com port.

       3. Select UDP Port if you have GPS served over a UDP port, for example, Cradlepoint or another modem.

       4. Select Disabled if there is no GPS available and your agency does not use MACH.

   22. Enter the Com Port Number the GPS Receiver is broadcasting over in the GPS Port # field. This setting used both for serial and UDP devices. Port # is dependent on device configuration. Consult peripheral hardware documentation for information on configuring your GPS device.

   23. If your device is a serial device:

       1. Enter the Baud Rate, Parity, Data Bits, Stop Bits into the Comm Port Setting field. This setting is ignored for UDP.

       2. Select your choice(s) for auto-detect of USB GPS devices in the GPS AutoDetect field. Select never if your GPS device always uses the same port.

       3. Note: See also task 3.22 for instructions on enabling the GPS interface in TraCS

   24. Enter the location to store large attachment files in the Linked Attachment Location. Click the import button to the right of the data bar to import the standard location of: YourTraCSNetworkFolder\Attachments. This will store attachment files in your TraCS network folder under the Attachments folder. If you prefer another location for storing attachments, enter the UNC file path to use for saving attachments.

   25. Configure the File Link Mode field.

       1. Select Copy if your agency is not using the attachment upload feature, this is for a regular mobile client. This is for an office machine that will copy the attachment files to the directory. Note: this is the default value when installing the Fall Pack.

       2. Select Upload if your agency is using the upload attachment feature for web services client. NOTE: If this is an Office machine you will need to set up batch processing on the machine to enable uploading from the office.

   26. Configure the Attachment Download Retention field.

       1. Enter the number of days your agency would like attachments downloaded through the attachment upload feature. NOTE: the default is 90 days upon install, and this setting only works when file link mode is upload.

   27. The Client Update URL field is prefilled with the update server address. If is not, Click the import button to the right of the data bar to import the standard URL: https://trust.dot.state.wi.us/tracsupdate.

   28. The Client Update Location field is prefilled with \TraCSClientUpdate\. If is not, Click the import button to the right of the data bar to import the standard location.

   29. Enter the number of days to hold back up copies of forms on the field units in the Resend Retention Period field. Recommended value for this field 90.

   30. Transmission Backup Retention field is the number of days transmitted data is backed up. Recommended value for this field is 1 for fasted transmission to courts and state.

       1. Note: Do not change the Login Type now, even if you are planning to use Active Directory. Doing so could lock you of TraCS. Active Directory is covered in later tasks.

   31. If the Default Palette List for Diagram Tool field is blank, press the import button to the right of the data bar to import the standard palettes.

   32. Other diagram tool settings generally do not need to be changed. If you need help with these settings, please contact Badger TraCS.

   33. If your court uses a web service to schedule appointments, enter the Court Scheduler URL and complete the remaining court scheduler fields. This is not common.

   34. If you are running TraCS as a web application,

       1. Leave the Web Services Client field unchecked. (Your master computer is a web server, not a web client.)

       2. Enter the URL for your TraCS Server in the Web Services URL field. For example, http://mytracsserver.com/ TraCSWebServices.

       3. Enter the web transaction timeout period in seconds. This is the amount of time to wait before switching to offline mode if the server cannot complete the transaction. Recommended value is 30 seconds but can be adjusted up or down depending on network infrastructure and connectivity preferences at your agency.

   35. If you are deploying virtualized instances of TraCS, configure the Machine ID file location and the auto-number file location to specify a mapped network drive, for example, V:\tracs\settings\MachinID.ini and V:\tracs\settings\autonumber.ini. Each user will need their own INI files. Therefore, the assigned drive letter should map to a different physical path for each user.

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   36. It is recommended that you turn on the Back Up Document Numbers setting. This will allow back up of document numbers (contents of the autonumber.ini file) to the database when logging off of TraCS on the master computer. (Later in the instructions we’ll explain how to implement this feature for mobile field units and additional workstations.)

       1. Enter Yes in the Back Up Document Numbers field if you want to back up document numbers (recommended.)

       2. Enter No in the Back Up Document Numbers field if you want to disable back up of document numbers.

9. Click the validate button to validate the form and apply the changes to the settings.