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essensys Platform - Network management - Manage Floor Ports
essensys Platform - Network management - Manage Floor Ports

How do I view and make changes to the Floor Ports in each Space? | Patch Ports | Floor Ports | Internet and Voice services | Telephony

Stuart avatar
Written by Stuart
Updated over 3 months ago

In the Floor ports view for each space, you can add floor ports, patch them to switch ports, and manage the details of the patched switch ports; assigning switch port roles, allocating them to occupiers or the operator, and so on.

The floor ports are typically added to a space and patched to switch ports by essensys during onboarding, but you may need to update switch port roles, allocate occupiers or the operator, move floor ports, or power cycle ports during the lifetime of the space.

Important: It is your responsibility to ensure that the information in the essensys Platform reflects the actual state of the physical network, and that the switch port that is patched to a floor port has the appropriate switch port role to enable the required service on the connected device.

Managing Floor Ports

Accessing the Floor Port details for a Particular Space

  1. Select Spaces.

  2. Select the site, and then the floor that you are interested in. This produces a list of all Spaces on this floor.

  3. Select the Space whose floor ports you are interested in (for example, the Board Room).

  4. Click the Floor Ports tab.

    A list of the floor ports that are present in the selected space opens.

Tip: You can filter the ports that are visible in this view using the state drop-down list at the top-right of the page.

Manage the floor ports for a space "in bulk"

This includes:

  • Adding a set of floor ports to a space.

  • Moving a set of floor ports to another space.

  • Allocating a set of floor ports to a particular occupier or the operator.

For details, see Bulk floor port actions.

Manage individual ports within the space

This includes:

  • Editing a single port's details.

  • Patching a floor port to a switch port.

  • Moving a port to another space.

  • Power cycling a port.

  • Removing an individual port from the space.

Making a port Active

If you have a port that's showing a status of Inactive or disabled don't worry! This status isn't always updated as we can't always refresh this data but you can check the Switch Port details by clicking on Show switch port details,

This would then show you live information as of clicking on this and then update the Status of the port.

If Inactive it would mean a device isn't connected to this port when last checked, if you've made a change and believe a device is connected complete the Show switch port details as above!

If Active it means a device was connected last time the port was checked.

If Disabled, it would mean the Switch Port/Floor Port isn't assigned to an Occupier/Operator or a role, once assigned you can then click on Show switch Port details as above to see live information.

Once on Show Switch Port details to understand the details seen in this page please see this guide here.


Floor ports - Bulk floor port actions

The top of the main editor contains details of the space's floor ports, and actions that apply to those details as a whole.

Tip: You can filter the ports that are visible in this view using the state drop-down to the right of the buttons (default: All).

Add ports

Click Add ports to open the Add floor ports dialog box. Use this dialog box to add floor ports to this space, and, optionally, patch those ports to switch ports.

Field

Description

Floor port name

Mandatory. The name of the floor port.

This name is marked on the port itself.

Note

Optional note field.

Connect to a switch port (optional):

  • Switch:

    • Leave unpatched

    • <Switch name>

  • Switch Port:

    • Select a port

    • <Switch port name>

There are two fields associated with this option, which interact as follows:

  1. Default: Leave unpatched. The floor port will be added, but not patched to a switch port. An unpatched port cannot be used.

  2. If you select a switch from the Leave unpatched drop-down list, the Select a port drop-down list opens. You then select the name of the switch port that you want to patch from this drop-down list.

  3. Repeat for each port you want to add, selecting Add another port each time to add a new row.

Note: The switch port name list only offers ports that are available at this site. The name is typically its "position"; that is, where the port is located on the switch, 1:24 indicates the switch port is the 24th port on slot 1 of the selected switch.

Port role (read-only)

The switch port role. Indicates the type of service that can be enabled on a device that is connected to this port.

For details, see Switch port roles.

Assigned to (read-only)

The operator or occupier that the switch port is allocated to for use.

Tip: You can allocate the ports in this space to a different occupier or operator using the Bulk assign option. For details, see Bulk assign.

Remove floor port

Click X to remove a floor port.

  • Cancel

  • Save

The floor port details that you have added will only be saved once you click Save.

Bulk assign

Click Bulk assign to open the Assign switch ports and floor ports dialog box. Use this dialog box to allocate one or more of the floor ports in this space to an occupier or to the operator.

Field

Description

Space

The name of the space that contains your floor ports.

Assign to

The occupier or operator to allocate the selected floor ports to.

Available ports

Click the right arrow to select a port to allocate to the operator or the selected occupier.

Note: Floor ports are only available if they are:

  • Patched to a switch port.

  • Allocated to an occupier or operator.

  • Not locked.

Selected ports

The ports that will be allocated in bulk when you click Assign.

  • Cancel

  • Assign

All of the selected ports are allocated to the selected occupier or the operator once you click Assign.

Move ports to another space

Click Move ports to open the Move ports to another space dialog box. Use this dialog box to move a set of floor ports from this space to another space.

Tip: You might typically use this function when you reconfigure your spaces. For example, if you split a meeting room into two smaller meeting rooms, you might need to move half of the floor ports into the newly modelled space.

Field

Description

Move from <Current Space>

Read-only field. Describes the current location of the ports.

To <Target Space>

The two drop-down lists describe where any selected ports should be moved to:

  • The first drop-down list allows you to select a floor at the current site.

  • The second drop-down list allows you to select a space at that site. Where interior spaces are present, this list describes the relationship between the spaces using a forward slash.

Example: To move your ports to Desk 1, which is in Meeting Room 3 on Floor 9, you would select Floor 9 in the first drop-down list and Meeting Room 3 / Desk 1 in the second.

Available ports

Click the right arrow to select a port that you want to move from the current space.

The floor ports in this space are present in the Available ports field.

Selected ports

The ports that will be moved to the target space when you click Move.

  • Cancel

  • Move

All of the selected ports are moved to the new space once you click Move.

Floor ports - Individual floor port details

Each row in the main editor describes the details of an individual floor port in your selected space.

Note: This example shows a locked port. Locked ports are reserved and managed by essensys.

Field

Description

Floor Port name

The port name, as marked on the port itself.

  • Connected to switch slot # port #:# -<switch name>

  • Not connected

If the Switch Port is patched, the details of the connection are presented as links, allowing you to view the Switch Port and Switch details.

Floor Port Status

The current status of the floor port. The port statuses are as seen in the Switch port key.

  • <Occupier name>

  • Operator

Either the occupier or the operator that the Floor Port has been allocated to.

Role

Unassigned, or the services that the port is set to receive, such as Voice, LAN, or Internet.

For more details, see Switch port roles.

Port history

Opens a pop-up containing a change history for this Port. For more information, see Port history.

Last active

This date-time stamp is the last time the switch knew that a device was plugged in to this port and powered on.

Note: By implication, if the port is currently Active, this is the last time the port became Inactive.

Example: If you were to unplug a device now, the Last active date-stamp would be updated to show the time now as the last active date-time.

Edit floor port button

Click to open the Edit floor port dialog box. You can use this dialog box to view and manage switch port details.

Connect to / Disconnect from Switch Port button

Click to either:

  • Connect this floor port to a switch port.

  • Disconnect the floor port from the switch port.

Move Port button

Move this port to another space.

Power Cycle (PoE) button

Power cycle this port.

Delete Floor Port

Delete the floor port.

Port History

This pop up contains a table of Floor Port changes.

Tip: This functionality is useful when troubleshooting issues. For example, it may help you to identify unexpected changes by other users, such as switch port role changes that affect your occupier's service access.

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