The tool at the top left corner with the three lines is called the hamburger, which opens the sidebar and is different for each SOMA Application.
The following tool is the magnifying glass which opens the search feature and searches the SOMA Records and NCIC.
The location tool is accessed by clicking on the arrow. The tool will display the Latitude and longitude coordinates and the bearing, such as North, East, etc., for the users' location providing the location is being shared. The latitude is how far from the equator, and the longitude is how far from the Prime Meridian located in Greenwich, London, England the user is located.
The connection tool is accessed indicated by the lightning bolt and indicates the status of the user's connection to the SOMA System. The blue color indicates a good connection; the yellow indicates a weak connection, and red means no connection. It is essential to understand that if a user has an open call and they lose connection, they will still be able to see the details, but they will not get updates from the system. If they are working on a report, they will not lose any information as long as they don't leave that page until they get a connection.
The next tool is the SOMA Message system, and it will be covered in another chapter.
The SOMA SWITCH, which looks like a Rubik's Cube, is used to jump to the different SOMA applications as needed.
The applications will open up as a new tab, leaving other SOMA applications open for quick access. Depending on your service type, let's use the SOMA Switch to open Dispatch to discuss an additional tool only seen on those applications.
The alarm bell indicates the activity tool. Click on the bell to bring up the activity box, which can be used to see and search for either call or unit activity depending on which one is blue. The search box uses the call number if Call Activity is selected and the unit number if Unit Activity is selected.
The advanced search allows users to narrow down the search by clicking on the arrow, picking the activity type, typing the date and time period, or clicking on the calendar. Hide the advanced search by clicking on the arrow again.