ZEBRA Visibility IQ Data Services User Guide

: June 15, 2024
: ZEBRA

Table of Contents

ZEBRA Visibility IQ Data Services
Product Information
Product Usage Instructions
FAQ
OVERVIEW
ZDS RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
PREREQUISITE
VERIFY ZDS IS ENABLED ON DEVICES
MODIFY ZDS CONFIGURATION
HOW TO CHANGE THE CONFIGURATION
CONFIGURATION FILES
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

ZEBRA Visibility IQ Data Services

ZEBRA-Visibility-IQ-Data-Services-product

Product Information

Specifications

Product Name: VisibilityIQTM
Software: Zebra Data Services (ZDS) Agent
Version: Oct 2023
Data Upload Frequency: Default every 24 hours, recommended increase to at least 4 times every 24 hours
Data Transport: Secured with HTTPS

Product Usage Instructions

How to Change Configuration

Access the ZDS agent software on your Zebra device.
Navigate to the configuration settings within the software.
Make the necessary changes to the configuration as required.
Save the changes and exit the configuration menu.

Configuration Files

The ZDS agent uses configuration files to store settings and preferences. These files can be accessed and modified to customize the behavior of the agent according to your needs. Be cautious while modifying configuration files to avoid any disruptions in data collection and transmission.

FAQ

What is Zebra Data Service (ZDS) agent software?

ZDS agent software is a background service running on supported Zebra devices that collects and uploads analytics data from ZDS plug-ins and authorized third-party apps.

How often is data uploaded by default?

Data is uploaded to the Zebra analytics database every 24 hours by default, with the option to increase the frequency for improved data availability and accuracy.

Which reports are available through VIQF and PBR?

VIQF and PBR reports include information such as Predictive states, Battery Critical Events, Utilization Metrics, Device Disruptions, and more, sourced from ZDS, SOTI, 42 Gears, AirWatch, and MobileIron.

OVERVIEW

Zebra Data Service (ZDS) agent software is a continuous background service running on all supported Zebra devices and is responsible for collecting and uploading analytics data coming from ZDS plug-ins and Zebra-authorized third-party apps. ZDS starts collecting and transmitting data from the first time the device is turned on and updates itself and the ZDS Plug-ins automatically. Data is uploaded to the Zebra analytics database every 24 hours by default with transport secured with HTTPS.
Zebra’s VisibilityIQ (VIQ) service leverages the data from ZDS agent to provide actionable insight for Zebra Android mobile computers for customers. It’s recommended customer should increase the ZDS data upload frequency to at least 4 times every 24 hours to improve data availability and accuracy in analytics insight provided by VIQF and Proactive Battery Replacement (PBR).
ZDS data is required in all VIQF and PBR offerings to ensure users will have the same level of visibility insight no matter whether customer has an MDM in place or not. The table below demonstrates the availability of the VIQF and PBR reports based on different data sources with VIQ offers:
Note:| |

VIQ

OneCare Data Sources

|

VIQ Foresight and PBR Data Sources

---|---|---|---
1. An “x” in a cell indicates the data source in that column can be used to build the report in that row.
2. Color coding:
– Green: indicates the report is available
– white: indicates the report is not available
3. A cell in green color but w/o an “x” means the report can be available by combining other data source.|

Zebra backend systems

|

ZDS

|

42 Gears or SOTI

|

AirWatch or Mobile Iron

VIQ OneCare Reports|
| Contracts| x| | |
Repair| x| | |
| Repair Lifecycle| x| | |
Ontime Delivery| x| | |
Repair Repeat Rate| x| | |
Repair Return Rate| x| | |
Top Repair Metrics| x| | |
| Case Lifecycle| x| | |
LifeGuard Analytics| | x| |
PBR Reports
| PBR Battery Replacement| | x| |
VIQ Operational Reports
| Devices
| Total Devices| | x| x| x
Devices in Operation*| | x| x| x
Newly Activated Devices| | x| x| x
Out of Contact Devices| | x| x| x
| Predictive states| | x| x| x
---|---|---|---|---|---
| Battery
| Critical Battery Events| | x| x|
Battery Swap Activity| | x| |
Smart Battery Health| | x| |
Battery Level| | x| x|
Battery Discharge Rate| | x| x|
| Utilization
| Applications Analytics| | x| |
Device Disruptions| | x| |
Utilization Rightsizing| | x| x|
WLAN Signal Strength| | x| x|
Physical Memory| | x| x|
Storage Memory| | x| x|
Scan Metrics| | x| |
| Geo Locations| x| x|

Note: Devices in Operation requires ZDS for full utilization options. SOTI and 42 Gears can provide information only for battery related utilization. AirWatch and MobileIron require ZDS to compute utilization.
Note: Reports highlighted in yellow require ZDS.
Note: VIQF with MDM uses MDM to provide site information. VIQF using IOT gets site information passed through ZDS. PRB gets site information either via MDM or via ZDS depending on deployment.

ZDS RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS

The following are estimated resource requirements for ZDS:

ZDS requires approximately 35 MB RAM memory – 30 MB for code execution and up to 5 MB for data collection buffer.
The impact of ZDS on battery discharge is normally less than 2% over 24 hour period, i.e., is less than .08% discharge rate per hour.
ZDS transmission/uploads are compressed, and the amount of data transmitted/uploaded per device is on average approximately 70KB or less per day for 24 hour transmission rates, increasing to normally around 80KB per day for 6 hour transmission rates. Measurements have been made for some customers with 4, hours, 2 hours, 1 hour and 30 minute transmission/uploads rates to have averages of around 85 KB, 225 KB, 250 KB and 400 KB respectively.

PREREQUISITE

For ZDS agent to be able to transmit data to VisibilityIQ, the following prerequisites need to be met:

ZDS agent is enabled on all devices
Enable network connectivity on devices (WWAN or WLAN based)
Ensure the device can reach the Internet
If devices are behind corporate firewall, ensure the ZDS cloud server can be reached from the devices. The server info and port used by ZDS are listed as below:
Server 1 address: https://analytics.zebra.com; using IP address 104.198.59.61 on Port: 443
Server 2 address: https://device-https.savannacore.zebra.com; using IP address: 34.68.84.87 on Port: 443
Zebra recommends using ping or a similar network tool to confirm communication between the device network and the ZDS server(s). Once such a connection is verified, all devices on that network should be able to connect to and send collected data to the server(s).
The Zebra Data Service itself uses connectivitycheck.gstatic.com, which also must be visible on the network for ZDS operation.
Note: Zebra recommends using DNS server names (instead of IP addresses) when whitelisting (aka “allowlisting”) to avoid service interruptions and required router changes if IP addresses change in the future.

VERIFY ZDS IS ENABLED ON DEVICES

There are two ways that customer can check if ZDS is running on their devices.

If Customer has an MDM with the devices enrolled, they can check if the following package names show up for their devices on MDM console: • com.symbol.dataanalytics.apk | Main analytics engine for ZDS • com.symbol.dataanalytics.dca.apk | Data collection plug-in for ZDS
Customer can also check ZDS status on device if they have access to their devices.
For detailed procedure to verify ZDS is running on device, please refer to the ZDS Verification Guide via the link below:
https://www.zebra.com/content/dam/zebra_new_ia/en-us/support-and- downloads/visibilityiq/visibilityiq-foresight/VIQ-ZDS-Agent-Verification- Guide.pdf

MODIFY ZDS CONFIGURATION

TYPES OF CONFIGURATION

The following configurations for ZDS agent can be modified by loading a configuration file (Barcode or XML file) to devices:

Enable ZDS applications if disabled
Some customers may disable the ZDS agent during device staging. These customers will need to enable the ZDS agent after they purchase VisibilityIQ Foresight service, so they can view the insight based on ZDS data on VisibilityIQ portal
Change ZDS data upload frequency
ZDS uploads data every 24 hours by default. If the 24-hour upload default setting is used rather than a more frequent upload setting, it is more likely that a device will miss the data upload window if the device is in “sleep” mode or internet access is not available, hence the analytics insight from VisibilityIQ will be impacted due to lack of data.
ZDS agent can accept configuration changes such as to the upload interval and data-collection events when needed. It is recommended customer should increase the ZDS data upload frequency to at least 4 times every 24 hours.
Enable WLAN and/or GPS data collection
Certain ZDS data used by VIQF/IOT reports are not collected by default. This data includes GPS and WLAN data collection which are not collected by default to protect customer privacy. If a customer has GPS enabled devices and wishes to view data within the GPS Location report, then GPS data collection must be enabled. Similarly, if the customer wishes to see last known BSSID in Out of Contact Report and/or have fully functional WLAN Signal Strength report, WLAN data collection must be enabled.
Also customer needs to make sure Wi-Fi and/or GPS functionality shall be enabled on devices for related data to be collected.

HOW TO CHANGE THE CONFIGURATION

There are 2 options that customer can change the configuration of ZDS agent:

Option 1- Using configuration barcodes
Customer can use the barcode file obtained from Zebra team to change the configuration. This option requires access to the devices and manual procedures. Therefore, it’s suitable for scenarios with small number of devices to be configured.

Procedure:

Open StageNow on device, and scan in the appropriate barcodes
Verify success message in StageNow
The device should now be collecting and sending data per the new configuration.

Option 2 – Using XML file
To configure ZDS agent on large number of devices, a configuration XML file can be deployed via a tool authorized with Zebra MX framework. Typically, these tools are MDMs, test tools, or StageNow.
Customer can deploy the XML file via MDM or other tools per their existing procedure.