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ScreenETA Diagnostic Tool
ScreenETA Diagnostic Tool
ScreenETA Diagnostic Tool
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of NICE Systems Ltd. The systems described in this document are furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. All information included in this document, such as text, graphics, photos, logos and images, is the exclusive property of NICE Systems Ltd. and protected by United States and international copyright laws. Permission is granted to view and photocopy (or print) materials from this document for personal, non-commercial use only. Any other copying, distribution, retransmission or modification of the information in this document, whether in electronic or hard copy form, without the express prior written permission of NICE Systems Ltd., is strictly prohibited. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in, or deletion of, author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. All contents of this document are: Copyright 2009 NICE Systems Ltd. All rights reserved.
This product is covered by one or more of the following US patents:
5,185,780 5,446,603 6,122,665 6,542,602 6,856,343 6,970,829 7,305,082 5,216,744 5,457,782 6,192,346 6,564,368 6,865,604 7,010,106 7,333,445 5,274,738 5,819,005 6,246,752 6,694,374 6,871,229 7,010,109 7,346,186 5,289,368 5,911,134 6,249,570 6,728,345 6,880,004 7,058,589 7,383,199 5,325,292 5,937,029 6,252,946 6,775,372 6,937,706 7,085,728 7,386,105 5,339,203 6,044,355 6,252,947 6,785,369 6,959,079 7,203,655 7,436,887 5,396,371 6,115,746 6,330,025 6,785,370 6,965,886 7,240,328 7,474,633
360o View, ACTIMIZE, Actimize logo, Alpha, Customer Feedback, Dispatcher Assessment, Encorder, eNiceLink, Executive Connect, Executive Insight, FAST, FAST alpha Blue, FAST alpha Silver, FAST Video Security, Freedom, Freedom Connect, IEX, Interaction Capture Unit, Insight from Interactions, Investigator, Last Message Replay, Mirra, My Universe, NICE, NICE logo, NICE Analyzer, NiceCall, NiceCall Focus, NiceCLS, NICE Inform, NICE Learning, NiceLog, NICE Perform, NiceScreen, NICE SmartCenter, NICE Storage Center, NiceTrack, NiceUniverse, NiceUniverse Compact, NiceVision, NiceVision Alto, NiceVision Analytics, NiceVision ControlCenter, NiceVision Digital, NiceVision Harmony, NiceVision Mobile, NiceVision Net, NiceVision NVSAT, NiceVision Pro, Performix, Playback Organizer, Renaissance, Scenario Replay, ScreenSense, Tienna, TotalNet, TotalView, Universe, Wordnet are trademarks and registered trademarks of NICE Systems Ltd. All other registered and unregistered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Applications to register certain of these marks have been filed in certain countries, including Australia, Brazil, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Argentina and the United States. Some of such registrations have matured to registrations.
385A0698-01 Rev. A0
For assistance, contact your local supplier or nearest NICE Systems Customer Service Center:
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NICE invites you to join the NICE User Group (NUG). Visit the NUG Website at www.niceusergroup.org, and follow the online instructions.
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Revision History
NICE ScreenETA (Enhanced Test Agent) Guide Revision A0 Modification Date June 2009 Description
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................... 8 NICE ScreenETA Objectives........................................................................................ 8 Installation Requirements............................................................................................. 9 General Workflow for Using NICE ScreenETA ............................................................ 10 Installing NICE ScreenETA ............................................................................................ 11 Uninstalling NICE ScreenETA........................................................................................ 15 Using NICE ScreenETA .................................................................................................. 16 Viewing NICE ScreenETA Report Results .................................................................... 22 NICE ScreenETA Reports Viewer .............................................................................. 22 Report Details ............................................................................................................ 24 Report Analysis .......................................................................................................... 28 Citrix/Terminal Server Users.......................................................................................... 30
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Introduction
Introduction
NICE ScreenETA is designed to assess of potential hurdles in a NICE ScreenAgent installation, such as hardware or software conflicts and workstation performance degradation. In addition, NICE ScreenETA simulates the actual screen capture process and is therefore able to accurately calculate the aggregated load on the NiceScreen Logger. The NICE ScreenETA application was designed to be user-friendly. Its main application features are listed below:
Best configuration recommendation The NICE ScreenAgent application has numerous parameters that can be tweaked for best results. NICE ScreenETA is designed to test the most common configurations and recommend the best configuration for your environment.
Comprehensive reports NICE ScreenETA generates a detailed report, presented in a simple and straightforward format.
Automated procedure with manual user control NICE ScreenETA requires minimal user feedback and intervention. Most of the application options are fully automated. While tests are running, your agents can continue to perform regular work activities.
Component compliance verification When you install and activate NICE ScreenETA on your host machine, you can validate that there are no software or hardware collisions between system components. It is virtually impossible to provide a comprehensive compliance list of all supported combinations of video cards and applications. ScreenETA is the only way to guarantee that the NICE ScreenAgent application will run smoothly on the customers environment.
Verification that agent performance is not degraded The NICE ScreenAgent can impact system performance and response time. The level of performance degradation is usually negligible, however, the impact is more noticeable on certain configurations and client applications. NICE ScreenETA enables you to evaluate the level of degradation and its impact.
Generated data rate A major unknown factor in a customers environment is the amount of screen activity that each recorded workstation generates. The data rate can have drastic implications on the network load and the over-responsiveness of the clients network applications. In addition, the actual data rate also determines the total number of possible concurrent recordings per NiceScreen Logger and the number of NiceScreen Loggers that are required at the site.
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Introduction
By using the data rate information generated by NICE ScreenETA, you can calculate the required number of NiceScreen Logger channels that are required for your environment.
IMPORTANT For NICE ScreenETA to generate accurate results that truly represent your environment, you must run tests on an actual agent workstation. Throughout the tests, the agent must take calls, operate site applications, and work as usual.
Installation Requirements
Operating Systems
Workstation: Windows 2000 SP4 and above Server: Windows Server 2003 and above
Software Requirements
Microsoft .NET 2.0 At least 10 MB of free disk space Administrator privileges (during ScreenETA installation only)
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If you select Advanced mode, you will also need to specify which tests to run, the duration of each test, and the location for saving report files.
5. Start the tests. 6. The test terminates automatically after approximately thirty (30) minutes. NOTE:
The test period is configurable. You can manually terminate any test during system operation.
7. After a test completes its operation, you are requested to fill in a short evaluation form. 8. Depending on test results, a second or third test may be required. When required, you will
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Administrative access privileges are required during installation and uninstallation of the NICE ScreenETA application. NICE ScreenETA cannot be installed alongside NICE ScreenAgent. Make sure to uninstall NICE ScreenAgent before installing NICE ScreenETA.
2. Click Next.
The Destination Folder screen appears. The default destination path is: C:\Program Files\Nice Systems\ScreenETA.
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3. To change the default destination path, click Browse, and select the new location. To accept the default destination location, click Next.
4. To change installation settings, click Back, and redefine settings. 5. Click Install.
6. Click Finish.
To complete the installation, certain environments require restarting the computer. In these environments, the following message will appear.
Figure 5 Reboot required screen
7. Click Yes.
IMPORTANT If your system requires restarting the computer to complete the ScreenETA installation, ScreenETA will not operate correctly until you restart the system.
The ScreenETA installation creates a Program Group called Nice ScreenETA. You can now access ScreenETA from the Start > Programs menu. A shortcut named ScreenETA appears on the desktop.
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3. Click Next.
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Figure 10
These fields enable you to differentiate between report files from different machine hardware components and/or sites.
To customize which tests to run, the test duration, and the saved location of the generated report file, click Advanced Mode. Figure 11 appears. Proceed to Step 5.
-or-
To run the default test scenario, click Next. Figure 12 appears. Proceed to Step 7.
Advanced Mode Window
Figure 11
NOTE: Certain environments do not support all capture methods. A capture method that is not supported in your environment will appear disabled and will be inaccessible.
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Option
Description Select the tests you need to run. You can select any combination of the following three tests: Test Capture using Hooking, Test Capture using Scraper, and Test Capture in Grayscale Mode.
Tests to run
Duration
Define the duration, in minutes, for each of the selected tests. You can select a test range between 10-60 minutes in increments of 10 minutes.
Report Location
Define the path to the ScreenETA report file. You can choose to keep or customize the default location. NOTE: You must have write privileges to the defined folder.
6. Click Next.
The Test Summary window appears. Information about the selected test appears.
Figure 12 Test Summary Window
The selected test starts. NICE ScreenETA becomes minimized to the Windows task bar. A balloon tip indicates the name of the test that is currently operating.
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Figure 13
To view the status of a test in operation from the Windows task bar, hold the mouse over the ScreenETA icon in the task bar. The status appears. See below.
Figure 14 Windows Task Bar - Test Status
To view the status of a test in operation from the main ScreenETA screen:
The main screen indicates the remaining time for the current test.
Figure 15
To abort a test that is currently running, click Stop Test. When the test ends, the Windows task bar displays a balloon tip with information about the test completion. The tip indicates if the test completed its operation or whether it was aborted.
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Figure 16
Figure 17
9. Click Next.
NICE ScreenETA processes test results. If additional tests are required, Figure 12 reappears. Follow steps 7-8. If no additional tests are required, the All Test Completed window appears.
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Figure 19
The name of the generated report file is displayed. To open the folder containing the report file, click the report file name.
10. To close NICE ScreenETA, click Finish.
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NOTE: Availability of options depends on the action that is currently being performed.
Toolbar Button
Description Opens report files generated by NICE ScreenETA. Clicking the button opens a Browse window that enables you to select the desired file You can open multiple report files at one time. Each file opens in its own tab. TIP: You can open a report by dragging the report file into the Reports Viewer window.
Saves the currently opened report file as a document file. The saved document file can be viewed later in WordPad, Word or any document viewer application that supports .rtf format. The document file contains only the currently displayed report details. See Expand Report Details below. Closes the currently opened report file. If multiple files are opened, clicking this button closes the report file that is currently displayed. Expands a reports level of details. When a report initially opens, the Summary detail level is displayed. Summary is the default detail level. Repeatedly clicking the Expand Report Details button increases the level of report details. Different detail levels enable you to focus on different report information. From less to greater detail, the detail levels are as follows: Summary, Detailed Tests Results, System Information, Component Logs
Reduces the level of details that are displayed in the report. Repeatedly clicking the Reduce Report Details button decreases the level of report details.
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Toolbar Button
Description Displays a preview of the report document in print format. Clicking this button opens the Print Preview window. In the Print Preview window, you can review the pagination, zoom in/out, and print the document.
Prints the currently displayed report document. Clicking this button opens the Printer Selection window enabling you to select the preferred printer. If multiple report files are open, the report document that is currently displayed will be printed. NOTE: Only the level of details that are currently displayed will be printed.
Sends a report as an attachment via email. Clicking this button generates a new Outlook email message and automatically embeds the report document as an attachment. NOTE: This option requires Microsoft Outlook. Displays information about the NICE ScreenETA Reports Viewer application.
About
Report Details
This section describes the following four (4) detail levels of the NICE ScreenETA report display:
NICE ScreenETA Report Summary . See page 25. NICE ScreenETA Detailed Test Results Report. See page 26. NICE ScreenETA System Information Report. See page 27. NICE ScreenETA Report Component Logs. See page 28.
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Company name, site name, and workstation description that were entered when using NICE ScreenETA. See Figure 10 on page 17. A list of the tests that were run, and the average data rate for each test. If a specific test failed to run, it is listed and marked as Failed. Recommendations that the ETA Reports Viewer application generates based on the analysis of the data rate of each test and the user experience score that the user graded. The ETA Reports Viewer generates the two following recommendations:
Recommended setting according to data rate: The capture method that generated the lowest data rate. Recommended setting according to user experience: The capture method(s) that received the highest user experience grade. If more than one test received the highest grade, both tests will be recommended.
Optimally both recommendations will consistently recommend the same capture method. However, if the recommended capture method according to data rate is different than the recommended capture method according to user experience, prioritize the recommendation according to user experience. See the following example.
Figure 22 Summary Section Example
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Name of the test. Whether the test completed successfully or not. Cause for test completion - whether the test duration elapsed or the user aborted the test. Test run-time duration. Average data rate of the test this is the calculated overall data rate derived from the total measured screen activity divided by the total test time. User experience score lists the users performance feedback on a scale of 1 (slowest) to 5 (fastest), and supplemental notes. A graph displaying the data rate sampling for each test. Each of the tests is represented by a different color in the graph.
NICE ScreenETA Report Detailed Test Results Graph
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Operating system information the operating system version, Service Pack version and whether its a 32bit or a 64bit operating system. Display information the workstation display settings. This includes the number of attached screens, the resolution and color of each screen, and the display driver information of each screen. Desktop features information indicates which enhanced desktop features were enabled.
Full Windows dragging - shows window content while dragging. Windows Animations - shows animation for window minimize and maximize. Mouse cursor name.
Windows startup programs information - the applications that are automatically activated during workstation log-in. Running processes information all the processes that were running on the system at the time of the test.
NICE ScreenETA Report System Information
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Report Analysis
Analyze the NICE ScreenETA report according to the following three primary objectives:
Are there any hardware or software conflicts? See Component Compliance on page 28. Has the tested workstation suffered unacceptable performance degradation? See Agent Workstation Performance Degradation on page 28. Does the generated data rate exceed the NICE System limitation(s)? See Generated Data Rate on page 29.
A positive answer to any of these questions indicates a high-risk NICE ScreenAgent installation. The detailed report information can assist in providing a preliminary diagnosis. Use this diagnosis to tweak and configure NICE ScreenAgent. Use the configuration that was recommended by NICE ScreenETA. The recommended configuration will best suit the customers environment.
Component Compliance
In the event that a hardware or software conflict was discovered:
If a hardware/software inconsistency arises during ScreenETA installation, the installation will fail. If this occurs, no ScreenETA report is generated. If a hardware/software inconsistency arises during the execution of a test, the test in progress will fail and the failure will be noted in the ScreenETA Report. In rare cases, a conflict can cause visual artifacts or cause an application to malfunction (without any error in the ScreenETA application). In such occasions, the malfunction should be described by the user inside the comment field in the User Experience Feedback window. See Figure 18 on page 20.
The report indicates the agents performance grade in the field user rating, on a scale of 1 (slowest) to 5 (fastest). Compare the user rating value between tests to find the least degrading configuration. Reliable agent feedback is one of the key elements of the entire process. The agent must provide clear and concise information about his or her work experience with the system, focusing on the following questions:
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Was there a noticeable difference in system performance between a standard workday and during test duration? Was the machine response-time adequate?
The basic question is whether ScreenETA (Nice ScreenAgent) slows down the machine to an unacceptable level. If this is the case, the ScreenETA report must be accompanied by a detailed description of the client application and work method (for example, mainframe emulation, multiple screen shifting, solid data entry, etc).
The required number of NiceScreen Loggers. The storage area that is required by the storage center for screen archiving.
Do not rely on the calculated data rate only. Always examine the data rate samples that appear in the data rate graph. ScreenETA measures the average data rate that the actual screen activity generates every 60 seconds. Look for sample periods with low data rate. These may indicate when the agent was on a break during the test. In this case, the average data rate for this test will not indicate the real work environment.
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This session must be a session of an agent that is working and taking calls. Note that ScreenETA does not run automatically. It runs upon user request only.
3. Run NICE ScreenETA. 4. Once the test ends, copy its report file locally. 5. Uninstall NICE ScreenETA from the server. IMPORTANT
Do not run ScreenETA simultaneously in more than one session. To run ScreenETA in the Citrix Published Applications or Server 2008 RemoteApps environments, the ScreenETA application must be published.
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