Terminology
This page describes some of the key terms and concepts you may come across.
The system supports a highly flexible and modular configuration while maintaining a consistent and user-friendly approach to data management.
It features a unified, end-to-end workflow that provides effective management of data throughout its entire lifecycle.
By learning some system basics, you will quickly gain the confidence to navigate and perform tasks in any module.
Events, Users, Positions and Duty
At the core of the system are Events. They provide a secure way to organise work around themes, topics and incidents. Create an event whenever a planned or unplanned activity needs the system. Events define required functions. They determine which positions and resources you use. They also control which Users can access the event through the user competency system.
Users are individuals who can log in to the system.
Positions define a user's permissions and determine what they can access.
To participate in an Event, a user must:
Be assigned a Position within that event
Go On Duty with that Position
The system allows users to be on or off-duty for multiple positions across multiple events simultaneously.
Being On Duty makes the user available to accept task assignments and receive notifications.
Registers, Assets and Resources
Each event includes a set of Registers. Registers are structured databases that store specific information types. The system calls each record an Item. Registers have defined structure and workflow rules and available Positions, Resources and Assets.
Resources include people, equipment, services or organisations that support an Event. They are assigned to items and tracked across the event.
Assets are typically locations or properties related to the Event, such as homes, businesses or community facilities.
To manage register items (eg. requests, inspections, cases), users must go on duty with a Position that has access to that register.
Modules
Modules group registers, positions and resources. They appear in the main navigation menus.
Core modules include:
Dashboard
Reports
System Administration
Other modules are configured for specific tasks like Operations, Recovery, Assessments and Inspections.
Contacts, Organisations and Workspaces
Contacts are records of individuals. You can link them to Organisations. Contacts may receive communications through the system in accordance with their communication preference. Users are specific types of Contacts with login access to the system.
Organisations (eg agencies, companies) are groups of related contacts. Contacts and Users can only be associated with a single Organisation.
You can also associate organisations with positions. Positions associated with Organisations provide special access to collaborate in their private Workspaces. This secures information and functions. It lets users go on duty and collaborate as a group. For example, they can access shared documents or accept assigned tasks.
Workflow and Communications
Depending on the configuration of each module, registers are used in combination to perform various actions. Items may be assigned to users and positions, and can utilise resources and relate to assets.
Additionally, registers implement workflows using combinations of status, priority, assignment, counters, escalations, notifications and communications, which help users and teams to effectively manage an event.
At every step of the way each change is audited, and data within each register item must conform to its workflow rules and schema constraints, meaning nothing is lost or forgotten.
Administrators can import data, including data from other systems for management in bulk. Data sharing is automated via the Application Programming Interface (API).
Built-in reports provide analysis, summarisation and data sharing with others.
Sites and Regions
Your organisation may have multiple instances of the system called Sites. These Sites usually share the same modules, registers and functionality but with a separate sets of events.
Sites are created set by Datalink, not your administrator. To add sites to your system, contact the Help Desk.
There are a couple of advanced configurations where information is shared across a single Site or multiple sites:
Multi-Site - a deployment which features multiple Sites used simultaneously that users with sufficient privileges can navigate between. This is sometimes set up before the launch of the main Site during testing and training. Rarely it is used in enterprise deployments where there are multiple separate departments or organisations using the same configuration but independently of each other.
Cluster-Site - a deployment where a single Site is used by multiple organisations with shared information each organisation is defined by a Region.
Neither of these configurations are common and beyond the initial testing and training, most are deployed with a single Site and Region.
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