General Requirements for Total Response (TR) Software

 

Last Revised: September 12, 2023

The requirements outlined below are for the full-service version of PowerPhone’s Total Response software, which includes all features and modules as well as integration with Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems. If you are looking for requirements for the Total Response Stand Alone (SA) product, you will find them here.

PowerPhone installs Total Response software into the customer’s existing environment. PowerPhone does not provide any hardware, operating systems, systems software, database management systems, or any other infrastructure licensed through third-party providers such as Microsoft.

The customer will provide the following resources for their deployment of Total Response.

Escorted Remote Access to all servers and workstations

PowerPhone support personnel must be provided with escorted remote access to all servers and workstations at your site used to host Total Response software components. This includes servers used to host the Total Response application server and Microsoft SQL Server Database Management System, and all client workstations where Total Response software components will be installed.

PowerPhone will provide remote access software delivered via a standard web browser. All PowerPhone support personnel are required to maintain CJIS Security and Privacy Privileged Role certification as a pre-requisite to working on client systems.

Windows Server for application server hosting

PowerPhone’s Total Response server components must be hosted on a Windows server maintained by your agency. Requirements for this server are as follows:

• Suggested minimum hardware configuration:
  • Processor type/speed: 4 core processor with 8 MB cache, 2.5 GHz or higher
  • Total RAM: 16 GB
  • Storage: 200 GB SAS hard drive (RAID 1, 5, or 6 recommended)
• Needs to be running a version of Windows Server that is currently supported by Microsoft (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/); Windows Server 2016 or higher is recommended
• Needs to be running Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and 4.8; the customer is responsible for ensuring that all necessary updates and patches are applied to the Microsoft .NET framework
• The server used to host the Total Response server components does not need to be a dedicated server; it may also host other services or applications
• The server may be a physical or virtual machine but must have an accessible connection either onsite or remotely and be under control of the customer or a third-party vendor that maintains the server at the customer’s direction
• The customer is responsible for maintaining the Windows operating system on this server, including the application of security and maintenance patches recommended by Microsoft
• PowerPhone recommends that the “No auto-restart” option is enabled for Microsoft Windows updates on the server

Microsoft SQL Server Database Management System

Total Response database services must be run on a Microsoft SQL Server instance. Requirements for SQL Server are as follows:

• Suggested minimum hardware configuration:
  • Processor type/speed: 4 core processor with 8 MB cache, 2.5 GHz or higher
  • Total RAM: 16 GB
  • Storage: 200 GB SAS hard drive (RAID 1, 5, or 6 recommended)
• The database server must be running a version of Microsoft SQL Server Standard Edition or higher, that is currently supported by Microsoft (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/); Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard or higher is recommended
• Please note: Microsoft SQL Express Edition is NOT sufficient to run the primary Total Response database due to data file size restrictions and absence of necessary data replication components
• The customer is responsible for installing Microsoft Server SQL Management Studio and providing PowerPhone support personnel access to use this component to set up Total Response database services
• Total Response requires SQL licensing for each client workstation that will be using the Total Response software; it is the customer’s responsibility to provide sufficient Client Access Licenses (CALs) or Core Licenses to comply with Microsoft’s licensing requirements
• The Total Response database may be housed in a shared or dedicated SQL Server instance at the discretion of the customer
• The SQL Server instance used to host the Total Response database may be hosted on the same server that hosts the Total Response application server or it may be hosted on a separate server at the customer’s discretion
• The customer is responsible for maintaining Microsoft SQL Server, including the application of security and maintenance patches recommended by Microsoft, undergoing necessary upgrades to ensure that the database server version being used is fully supported by Microsoft, and ensuring that regular backups are made of the Total Response database

Windows workstations for client access

The customer provides all Windows workstations that will be used to access the Total Response application. Typically, Total Response is hosted on Windows workstations that host the customer’s CAD application to facilitate connectivity with those systems. Requirements for workstations are as follows:

• Suggested minimum hardware configuration:
  • Intel i5 or equivalent CPU or higher
  • Total RAM: 8 GB (16 GB strongly recommended)
  • Storage: 200 GB SAS hard drive
• Workstations must run a version of Windows 10 or Windows 11 that is currently supported by Microsoft (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/)
• Workstations must be attached to a network that provides them with access to the Total Response application server and Microsoft SQL Server that hosts the Total Response database
• Call Handler workstations will need to be configured with SQL data replication to provide failover capability. This will require Microsoft SQL Express components to be installed on each of these workstations for this purpose. PowerPhone will provide and install SQL Express as required
• Additional Workstations: For users needing access to other parts of the system (administrators, supervisors, call assessors, etc.), workstations may be deployed as non-replicated Total Response clients (i.e., no SQL Express components need to be installed and there will be no failover capability on these machines)
• Training Workstations: To conduct hands-on training for your personnel, non-replicated workstations can be set up for training purposes; ideally, these workstations will connect to the production environment, but can be set up “stand alone” if necessitated by local networking limitations

Version Number: TRGR091223