Many devices at a glance — the control room (Leitstand)

What it is for

Four tills, six machine PCs or a training room: instead of opening each computer on its own, the control room ("Leitstand") shows them at once as tiles in a matrix. Every tile stays live. A click into a tile brings the computer up large in the usual session window; from there you return to the overview without the connection dropping. For a wall nobody operates there is the tour, which shows one computer after another full screen.

What you need

• Licence feature leitstand: - Own relay: a licence with the control room. You can test it once per installation for ten days (console → Licence → Try for 10 days). - Cloud: the control-room feature for your access (A6, prices). - Free: not available.
• BrowserDesk on a computer running Windows, Linux or macOS. There is no control room on phones or in the browser.
• The computers' passwords — most conveniently saved in the address book (D3).

How to do it

1. Open Leitstand (control room) in the sidebar. If the item is dimmed with a padlock, the feature is missing (see "If it does not work").
2. Choose the matrix at the top: 1×2, 2×1, 2×2 (default), 2×3 or 3×3.
3. In a free slot click Rechner wählen … (Choose computer …). The window Rechner für diesen Platz (computer for this slot) lists Geräte des Zugangs (devices of the access, online first) and below them your Adressbuch (address book). Filter with Name oder Kennung suchen … (search name or ID …), then pick a device.
4. Click Alle verbinden (Connect all) — or Verbinden (Connect) in a tile's menu. If your access keeps support reasons, BrowserDesk asks once for all slots. The password comes from the address book; if it is missing, a window "Zugriffskennwort — …" (access password — …) asks for each slot in turn.
5. Zoom in: click a connected tile. "Steuern wird beim Relay angefragt …" (asking the relay for control …) appears briefly at the bottom, then the session window opens. Control works as usual here.
6. Back: the orange button Zurück zum Leitstand (Back to the control room) on the right of the floating toolbar. The connection stays up.
7. Full screen: the button on the right of the header shows only the matrix across the whole screen. Vollbild verlassen (Leave full screen) or Esc returns.
8. Tour: next to the full-screen button there is the play icon and the seconds field (default 10, 3 to 600). Play switches to full screen and shows one connected computer after another. Rundgang beenden (End tour) stops it.
9. Disconnect: Trennen (Disconnect) in the tile's menu or Alle trennen (Disconnect all) at the top. Gerät wechseln … (Change device …) and Platz leeren (Clear slot) are in the same menu.

How you know it worked

• Every tile shows a live picture, a green dot, name, ID and latency.
• The sidebar shows "Leitstand · n" with the number of connected slots.
• During the tour the header says, for example, "Rundgang · 2 von 4 · alle 10 s" (tour · 2 of 4 · every 10 s).

What the other side sees

For each device it is a normal session: depending on the settings, the dialog Zugriff erlauben? (Allow access?) and, during the session, the session window (F1). As long as the tile is small, no input arrives from it.

Good to know

• Nothing is controlled in the matrix. Mouse and keyboard only reach the computer once you have zoomed in. The tour does not control anything either.
• Tiles are throttled (a few frames per second) so nine computers do not fill the line. Zoomed in, the full frame rate runs.
• "nur Ansicht" (view only) on a tile means: it is not being controlled right now.
• The matrix is remembered with its devices. When you open it again, BrowserDesk does not connect by itself.
• Switching pages in the program keeps the sessions running.
• A device appears only once in the matrix; ones already placed show as "schon in der Matrix" (already in the matrix) in the picker.
• Making the matrix smaller disconnects the slots that disappear. BrowserDesk asks first (Matrix verkleinern? — make matrix smaller?).

If it does not work