Managing cases

You can create cases for different purposes. The following procedure explains the steps required to create a basic generic case but if you want to create a case for one of the purposes listed below then it is recommended you refer to the suggested topic.

• If your case is specifically for intercept monitoring refer to Creating a case for intercept monitoring.
• If your case is specifically for live location monitoring refer to Creating a live location monitoring case.
• If you prefer to use the wizard refer to Using the wizard and mission sets.

This procedure is written for the purpose of new users and provide the basic steps for creating a case. There are other buttons and settings that you can use when you are creating your case that are not mentioned as this procedure focuses on the ones most likely used if you are new to OSS-ESPA. Note, all the settings you select, the information that you enter, and the files that you upload can also be managed once the case is created.

1. Click here to create a new case.

   Alternatively on the main menu either click:

   • View cases to open the Advanced view cases screen. On the Favorite & recent cases tab click . The Create new case screen opens. Note, this only works if you have View cases set to Advanced view.

   • Create new case then Without wizard. The Create new case screen opens.

2. This step is only applicable if your account has option E14 Sentinel. Click Select Folder to open the Select a Folder dialog box and define which folder you want your case created in.
3. In Case type select the type of case. This selection simply helps you filter cases in the future making them easier to locate. It does not change any subsequent settings.

4. In Case name, although it is optional it is recommended that you enter a name for the case so that the name means something to you, for example "Jewelry Store Robberies". However if you don't, OSS-ESPA will automatically create one which is titled using the format "Case <n>", where <n> is a number which increments each time a user on your OSS-ESPA account selects to automatically generate a case name.

5. In Mission set, you may want to select one of the pre-defined mission sets depending on your case's objective. If you do  preview of the analysis results is automatically generated.

6. Ensure Enable deconfliction (X-Case data search) is selected if you want the case data to be visible and usable for all account users if they do an identifier search for an identifier that occurs in your case. Identifiers can be phone numbers, names, license plates, and social media accounts. For further information refer to Enable deconfliction (X-Case data search) .

7. Click Next.

   Your case is created and the Manage case screen opens.

8. Use the Manage case screen to add the data to your case. For example for a case based on historical files you can click:

   • Edit case info to add a case summary and assign other users to the case.
   • New person to add people, their devices, vehicles, pictures and associated hyperlinks, refer to Managing persons.
   • New location to add locations, pictures and associated hyperlinks, refer to Managing locations.
   • Upload more files to upload all your case files and associate them to the appropriate person, location or cell tower, refer to Managing files.

   For further information on creating geofence and tower dump cases or live location monitoring cases refer to Creating and analyzing geofence and tower dump cases and Creating a live location monitoring case respectively.

You can find your case easily using whichever screen you prefer to use your cases from. If you are using the:

Advanced view cases screen

Finding a case

There are a number of methods you can use to find your case, using the Advanced view cases screen. Click here for a short video showing how to use the filters for finding cases or refer below for additional details.

• If you were using your case recently it may be displayed on the Favorite & recent cases tab. You can also add your favorite cases to this tab as shown in this video.

• If you want to find a case you either created or were assigned to then, on the Cases tab, in Case filter select My cases. Note, if Case filter is not displayed click . In Show and search cases in, select the year. All the cases matching your criteria are displayed. If you want to filter further you can use Search. Refer below for what details you can search on.

  

• If you want to find any case assigned to a particular user then, on the Cases tab, in Case filter select All cases and in Assigned to select the user's name. Note, if Case filter is not displayed click . In Show and search cases in, select the year. All the cases matching your criteria are displayed. If you want to filter further you can use Search. Refer below for what details you can search on.

  

• If you want to find all cases then, on the Cases tab, in Case filter select All cases. Note, if Case filter is not displayed click . In Show and search cases in, select the year. All the cases matching your criteria are displayed. If you want to filter further you can use Search. Refer below for what details you can search on.

• 

• You can use the search field on the Cases tab to search for specific words and numbers to help you find the cases. This search field searches for results in:

  • Case files

  • Person name

  • Phone numbers, IMSI, IMEI

  • Account, User/Vanity name

  • Vehicle license plate

  • Government IDs: SSN, driver license, passport, arrest ID

  Both full and partial searches are possible. Phone numbers can be entered in any format, for example 123456789, 123-456-789 and (123) 456-789.

• If you are using one of the tabs where the FILTERS group is not applicable then you can search for the case by filtering using the column titles' drop-down which opens the Column header menu. For example, if you were looking for a case which has store in it's title, in the Case name column, select Contains, enter "Store" then click Filter to display only the cases that match that criteria.

  

View cases screen

There are a number of methods you can use to find your case, using the View Cases screen.

• If you were using your case recently it may be displayed in My recent cases.

• If you want to find a case you either created or were assigned to then in Search cases enter part of the case name, then in Case filter select My cases if you created the case or Assigned cases if you didn't create the case but are assigned to it. Ensure Assigned to is set to Myself then click Search and all the cases matching your criteria are displayed.

• If you want to find a case assigned to a particular user then in Search cases enter part of the case name, then in Case filter select which is applicable either My cases, Assigned cases or All cases and in Assigned to select the users name. Click Search and all the cases matching your criteria are displayed.

• If you want to do a more detailed search by filtering the cases further then you can filter the cases in the table using the column titles' drop-down which opens the Column header menu. For example, if you were looking for a case which was a burglary then use the Type drop-down, select Burglary and click Filter.

  

NOTE: Depending on how your administrator has configured your system you may only be able to edit a case if you are the case creator, a case assignee or an administrator.

1. For the case you want to edit open the Manage case screen.

   Need help finding your case?

   On the main menu click View cases. The screen that opens depends on your setting of View cases. If it is set to:

   • Advanced view, then the Advanced view cases screen opens.
     • If your case is listed on the Favorite & recent cases tab, click the case name to open the Manage case screen.
     • If it is not listed on the Favorite & recent cases tab, then click the Cases tab. Use the search filters to help locate your case. You can also click to open the FILTERS group which allows you to set your own default filter defining what is displayed on this tab, for example you may wish to set it to cases that you created which are currently open.

     For further information refer to Searching for a case.

   • Grid view, then the View cases screen opens.
     • If your case is listed under My recent cases click it to open the Manage case screen.
     • If it is not listed under My recent cases then select your case from the table, using the search filters to help locate it if required. Note, by default the search is set to only display cases that you created; if you are not the original creator but an assignee then ensure you set Case filter to Assigned cases before clicking Search.
   • Tree view, then the View i-cases screen opens.
     • Click at the top-right of the screen to open either the View Cases or Advanced view cases screen and follow the above description.

2. Edit the case as required. You can:

   • Click Edit case info to edit the general information on the case. For further information refer to Edit case information screen.
   • Click Assigned users to add and remove people assigned to the case. People assigned to a case have exactly the same permissions as the case creator. For further information refer to Assign case to other users screen.
   • Manage the people

     • Click New person to add a person and their phone number. You can also add hyperlinks, pictures and files associated with the person.
     • Click a name in the Persons table to edit the persons details including their name, description, phone numbers, vehicles, hyperlinks and pictures. This also allows you to delete the person from the case.

     For further information refer to Managing persons.

   • Manage the locations

     • Click New location to add a location's address, and associated hyperlinks, pictures and files, and to activate a live location monitoring alert associated with the location.
     • Click a location in the Locations table to edit the locations details. This also allows you to delete the location from the case.

     For further information refer to Managing locations.

   • Manage the CDRs (Call Detail Records), phone data files, public record files, geo-location files, geofence files, tower dump files, cell tower data, drive data, social media files,location files, person files, subscriber information and additional files

     • Click Upload more files to upload any of the above files to the case, select the file type and complete the necessary settings for that file type.
     • Click a file name in the Case files table to view the file details including the phone, vehicle or location the file is for. If the file still needs assigned to a phone, vehicle or location then you can do that from here. This also allows you to delete the file from the case.

     For further information refer to Managing files.

   • Manage the smart track location alerts

     • Click New alert to create a new live location monitoring alert for the case. For further information refer to How to create a smart track alert.
     • Click an existing alert in the Smart Track alerts & notifications table to view and edit the alert. For further information refer to Using Smart Track for live location monitoring tracking and alerts.
     • Click on the number of times the alert has been triggered in the Smart Track alerts & notifications table to select and view each triggered alert. For further information refer to Smart Track triggered alerts screen.
     • Click Recurrent report to configure reports which reoccur on a frequency you define, for example you may wish to run them daily. For further information refer to How to request a recurrent Smart Track report .
     • Click Historical report to request live location monitoring reports containing past data over a defined date range including the original GPS ping email data which can be used in court as evidence. For further information refer to Request Smart Track historical report screen and How to request a historical Smart Track report.
   • Manage the IQ packets (optional feature)

     This feature is optional depending on the type of account you have.

     • Click New IQ packet to create a new IQ packet. For further information refer to New IQ packet screen.

     • Click to immediately download the IQ packet in the format it was generated in, either Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Word. This is only available when the IQ packethas generated successfully and if its status is active.

     • Click to immediately download the log of the IQ packet request. This can provide useful information if your IQ packet did not generate correctly. This is only available when the IQ packet status is active.
     • Click on the date requested to view the status of a requested IQ packet, download a completed IQ packetand the log, and to change the status between active and non-active. For further information refer to IQ packet status screen.

     For further information refer to Using IQ packets.

3. Click Save. The new settings are saved and the Manage case screen reopens.

NOTE: Depending on how your administrator has configured your system you may only be able to edit a case if you are the case creator, a case assignee or an administrator.

1. For the case you want to assign a user to, open the Manage case screen.

   Need help finding your case?

   On the main menu click View cases. The screen that opens depends on your setting of View cases. If it is set to:

   • Advanced view, then the Advanced view cases screen opens.
     • If your case is listed on the Favorite & recent cases tab, click the case name to open the Manage case screen.
     • If it is not listed on the Favorite & recent cases tab, then click the Cases tab. Use the search filters to help locate your case. You can also click to open the FILTERS group which allows you to set your own default filter defining what is displayed on this tab, for example you may wish to set it to cases that you created which are currently open.

     For further information refer to Searching for a case.

   • Grid view, then the View cases screen opens.
     • If your case is listed under My recent cases click it to open the Manage case screen.
     • If it is not listed under My recent cases then select your case from the table, using the search filters to help locate it if required. Note, by default the search is set to only display cases that you created; if you are not the original creator but an assignee then ensure you set Case filter to Assigned cases before clicking Search.
   • Tree view, then the View i-cases screen opens.
     • Click at the top-right of the screen to open either the View Cases or Advanced view cases screen and follow the above description.
2. Click Assigned users. The Assign case to other users screen opens.

3. In Search enter any part of a person's name or email address to quickly find them then select the check-box beside their name.

   People assigned to a case have exactly the same permissions as the case creator.

4. Click Save. The Manage case screen reopens.

NOTE: Typically you can only delete a case if you are the case creator, a case assignee or an administrator. However your administrator may have configured your system so that only administrators can delete cases.

1. For the case you want to delete open the Manage case screen.

   Need help finding your case?

   On the main menu click View cases. The screen that opens depends on your setting of View cases. If it is set to:

   • Advanced view, then the Advanced view cases screen opens.
     • If your case is listed on the Favorite & recent cases tab, click the case name to open the Manage case screen.
     • If it is not listed on the Favorite & recent cases tab, then click the Cases tab. Use the search filters to help locate your case. You can also click to open the FILTERS group which allows you to set your own default filter defining what is displayed on this tab, for example you may wish to set it to cases that you created which are currently open.

     For further information refer to Searching for a case.

   • Grid view, then the View cases screen opens.
     • If your case is listed under My recent cases click it to open the Manage case screen.
     • If it is not listed under My recent cases then select your case from the table, using the search filters to help locate it if required. Note, by default the search is set to only display cases that you created; if you are not the original creator but an assignee then ensure you set Case filter to Assigned cases before clicking Search.
   • Tree view, then the View i-cases screen opens.
     • Click at the top-right of the screen to open either the View Cases or Advanced view cases screen and follow the above description.

2. At the top of the Manage case screen click Delete case.

   Click OK on the confirmation dialog box and your case is now deleted.