The SmartLink interface

The SmartLink interface allows users to define a message and format type that may be sent on the second COM port or to a disk file. The following section explains how to build a character string that can be sent through the SmartLink. Using the SmartLink feature, you can interface to most intelligent devices such as video matrix switchers and paging systems. To do this, a RS-232 link is cabled between one of the EntraPass workstations and the external device. The necessary command strings and protocols can be easily edited on connection to fit most jobs.

The SmartLink simplifies the interfacing to 'alien' intelligent devices because it provides the system installer all the tools necessary to build and maintain the actual interface without having to purchase 'special' drivers from Kantech. In communications, a link is a line or channel over which data is transmitted: the transmission of data from one computer to another, or from one device to another. A communications device, therefore, is any machine that assists data transmission. For example, modems, cables, and ports are all communications devices.