Hopefully by now, many of you have already seen and tried out the new Meraki Vision Portal. (If not, you can find more information in my previous post.) It's now available as a progressive web app (PWA), which makes it even easier to use. If you're not familiar with PWAs (I wasn't before this), they are a type of application software delivered through the web, built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript. (Source: Wikipedia)
To download it on your device, you'll need to use either the Chrome or Edge browser. Log into the dashboard, and then navigate to the Vision portal. Once you're in the Vision portal, you should notice a download button on the very right of the URL bar. The video below shows the installation process on MacOS using a Chrome browser.
Note: the user interface has change since I recorded this video. The old "+" button has been replaced with a download button that looks like this:
Once you've downloaded the PWA, you'll be able to launch the Vision portal quickly by going to your applications. The user interface and functionality is the same across both the browser and the PWA versions. I personally like the PWA experience - it simplifies accessing the portal, and I never accidentally close it when I'm closing browser tabs or windows. The image below shows the newly installed Meraki Vision portal app on my dock, hanging out next to my handy Cisco collaboration tools, and a trash can in need of emptying.
In addition to the PWA, we've made some other changes and enhancements to the portal based on user feedback, including:
- Link back to the Meraki dashboard is now on the bottom-right
- Ability to zoom in on a specific camera from the video wall
- Networks are now alphabetized on the drop down
- Digital zoom level is reset when switching between cameras
- Access multiple Motion Recap images associated with a single event
- Ability to download a Motion Recap image
For more info on the Vision portal, you can check out our documentation. In the meantime, please continue to test it out, and let us know what works, what doesn't work, and what else you'd like to see so we can continue to improve the functionality. There is even a handy a "feedback" button on the bottom right where you enter comments, suggestions, or issues for our product and engineering teams.
