Using email to create and edit a case

This topic describes how to use OSS-ESPA's email case management to create and edit cases, and to request IQ packets.

NOTE: There is also workflow automation which adds a structured workflow around the process described in this topic. For further information refer to Using workflow automation to create and manage cases.

This feature requires option E16 Email interface. If you do not have this feature is not available.

First, you must enable the email interface as described in How to enable the email interface and configure the IQ packets, then there are three options you can use to define your case by email:

Click here for a short video showing an example of using email to create your case.

  1. On the main menu click Settings, then click Account settings.

    The Account settings screen opens.

  2. Click Email interface settings in the IQ packet options group.

    The Email interface settings screen opens.

  3. In Email interface for case management:
    1. Select Enable.
    2. Select the types of IQ packet you require, for information on what is included in the default Gladiator ForensicsIQ packets refer to Email interface settings screen.
    3. Use the other settings to select the type of IQ packet you want including the Microsoft format you want it in. For further information on the contents of the different IQ packet selections refer to Email interface settings screen.

  4. Click Save.

Note: when you are not using the email interface clear Enable otherwise your account will be constantly monitoring the email address for your email requests.

  1. In the email subject enter the name you want to call your case prefixed by either:

    • New case
    • Create case
    • Add case

    For example:

    Create case Jewelry Store Robberies

  2. Include the people in the case. You can either include them in: the body of the email, using an attached file named persons.ext, or including them in the pdf. For further information refer to How to include persons.
  3. Include the locations in the case. You can either include them in: the body of the email, using an attached file named locations.ext, or including them in the pdf. For further information refer to How to include locations.
  4. Including the following information in the body of the email is optional:
    1. To specify the file number for your case enter File number: number. For further information refer to File number.
    2. To include a summary for your case enter Case summary: <description>. For further information refer to Case summary.

    3. To define a mission set for your case enter Mission set: name. For further information refer to Mission set.

      NOTE: For a location to be included in the mission set then it must contain a location buffer, event start time and event end time.

    4. An IQ packet is automatically created and emailed to you if you have previously selected one on the Email interface settings screen. However, if you have not then you can also request one if you enter IQ packet: yes. For further information refer to IQ packet.

  5. Attach all your files to the email. This includes CDRs, phone data files, public record files, geo-location files, tower dump files, geofence files, cell tower data and additional files . If your locations or persons are defined in files then these should be included too.

    NOTE: If your files are large, which is often the case with phone data, cell tower, tower dump and geofence files the email size may exceed the limits of your email provider. If this happens then refer to To upload a new file for a procedure description on how to upload files in OSS-ESPA.

  6. Send your email to the OSS-ESPA email displayed on the Email interface settings screen.
  7. If you want to view your case in OSS-ESPA then sign into your account or if you requested an IQ packet then you should receive it within one to ten minutes depending on the amount of data and files included in your case.

A case consists of people such as witnesses, victims and potential suspects. You can add one or more people to the case including adding their known phone numbers and other optional information.

You can include people either: in the Intake Form, in the body of the email, or using an attached file named persons.ext. If you include the persons in a file attachment then it allows you to include additional person details.

NOTE: You can only include people using one method, for example you cannot include people in the email body and also include an attached persons file.

To include persons in the email body use the following format:

Persons: person name, phone number, operator, smart track, smart track code

where:

(optional)

The person name can consist of a first name, middle name and last name. This first name and last name are mandatory, however the middle name is optional. By default both the first and last names are used to identify the person on other OSS-ESPA screens, IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the person's first name. By default both the First name and Last name are used to identify the person on other OSS-ESPA screens, IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports. Once imported, the information is used to populate the person's First name setting. However if you do not enter a name then the phone number you include is used to populate the person's First name or Description setting depending on what you have set in Display person as.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the person's middle name if known.This information is then included in IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports. Once imported, the information is used to populate the person's Middle name setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the person's last name. By default both the First name and Last name are used to identify the person on other OSS-ESPA screens, IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports. Once imported, the information is used to populate the person's Last name setting.

(mandatory)

This setting is mandatory. Enter the person's phone number. Once imported, the information is used to populate the person's Phone setting. Spaces, brackets and dashes can be included. The country code should not be included.

(mandatory)

This setting is mandatory. Enter the operator that the mobile phone is registered to. Once imported, the information is used to populate the person's Operator setting. The allowed values are:

  • att
  • cricket
  • metropcs
  • nextel
  • other
  • sprint
  • tmobile
  • unknown
  • uscellular
  • verizon
(optional)

This setting is optional. It is only applicable for phones where the operator is ATT, T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon. It defines whether or not you want to carry out live location monitoring on the phone which is based on a GPS ping email interface. Live call location monitoring allows you to monitor a mobile phone's or a vehicle's movement. OSS-ESPA automatically imports live location monitoring events provided by the phone operators and license plate reader providers. Once imported, the information is used to populate the phone's Enable location monitoring (Smart Track) setting. The allowed values are:

  • yes
  • no
  • true
  • false

If you do not enter a value OSS-ESPA assumes you do not want to carry out live location monitoring on the phone number.

(optional)

This setting is optional but is required if you are doing live location monitoring on the phone number and the operator is either ATT or Sprint.

For Sprint this is the Case ID, and for ATT this is the ITN that they provide you with for the selected phone number. Once imported, the information is used to populate the phone's Case ID or ITN settings.

For example, if you had five people to enter in your case you could structure the email content like this:

Persons:
Jane Doe, (321)100-9832, ATT
Beth Harris, (321) 200-7893, T-Mobile, True, 33345
Greg Graham, (321) 300-8943, Verizon,,
John Alan Doe, (555) 456-0090, Sprint, Yes, 1234567

The person file must be either a .csv, .xls, .xlsx or .txt file format, or a .zip file containing one of these file types. It must be named "persons" or "person". For the information in the file to import correctly, you must include the column headings in the first row of your file; refer to the following list for details of the column headings and content requirements, both of which are case insensitive. Alternatively click here to download an .xlsx template file provided by Gladiator Forensics.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter a brief description of the person, for example Woman in red top. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's Description setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the person's first name. By default both the First name and Last name are used to identify the person on other OSS-ESPA screens, IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's First name setting. However if you do not enter a name then the phone number you include is used to populate the person's First name or Description setting depending on what you have set in Display person as.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the person's middle name if known.This information is then included in IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's Middle name setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the person's last name. By default both the First name and Last name are used to identify the person on other OSS-ESPA screens, IQ packets, live location monitoring emails and the advanced analysis reports. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's Last name setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's Person type setting. The allowed values are:

  • suspect
  • victim
  • witness
  • other
(mandatory)

This setting is mandatory. Enter the person's phone number. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's Phone setting. Spaces, brackets and dashes can be included. The country code should not be included.

(mandatory)

This setting is optional. Enter the operator that the mobile phone is registered to. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the person's Operator setting. The allowed values are:

  • att
  • carolinawest
  • cricket
  • metropcs
  • nextel
  • other
  • sprint
  • tmobile
  • unknown
  • uscellular
  • verizon
(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the phone's Display color setting. The allowed values are:

  • default
  • red
  • darkred
  • green
  • darkgreen
  • blue
  • darkblue
  • magenta
  • cyan
  • orange
  • yellow
  • purple
(optional)

This setting is optional. It is only applicable for phones where the operator is ATT, T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon. It defines whether or not you want to carry out live location monitoring on the phone which is based on a GPS ping email interface. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the phone's Enable location monitoring (Smart Track) setting. The allowed values are:

  • yes
  • no
  • true
  • false

If you do not enter a value OSS-ESPA assumes you do not want to carry out live location monitoring on the phone number.

(optional)

This setting is optional but is required if you are doing live location monitoring on the phone number and the operator is either ATT or Sprint.

For Sprint this is the Case ID, and for ATT this is the ITN that they provide you with for the selected phone number. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the phone's Case ID or ITN settings.

A case consists of locations. You can add one or more locations to the case. Locations are geographic points of interests that are used for investigating case data visually on the ESPA analysis center screen to determine the proximity of the locations to the sectors used during phone calls. They are also used in IQ packets and advanced analysis reports, may also be useful for drive planning, and are used in the geo-fence and reverse geo-fence live location monitoring alerts. For example, a location may be:

  • A crime scene.
  • A place of interest related to the crime or a phone user, for example the location of a phone user's home and locations a phone user is known to frequent.
  • A place that you want to monitor a person entering or leaving using live location monitoring.

If you do want to include locations then you can include them in either: in the Intake Form, the body of the email, or using an attached file named locations.ext. If you include the locations in a file attachment then it allows you to include additional location details.

NOTE: You can only include locations using one method, for example you cannot include locations in the email body and also include an attached locations file.

To include locations in the email body use the following format:

Locations: name, location details, location buffer, event start time, event end time

where:

(mandatory)

This setting is mandatory. Enter a name for the location that is meaningful to you, for example Jewelry store or Suspect's main residence.

Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Name setting.

(optional)

The location details can either be included as a latitude and longitude, or as an address.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Latitude setting.

If no latitude is specified but the address is, then OSS-ESPA automatically determines the latitude from the address. An address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Longitude setting.

If no longitude is specified but the address is, then OSS-ESPA automatically determines the latitude from the address. An address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However either a full address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. The address must include: the street address, city, state and postal code, but must not contain commas, for example "353 Winona Drive Jacksonville Florida 32206". Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Street address settings.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However it is mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Location buffer setting. The location buffer unit is miles.

If no location buffer is specified, then OSS-ESPA uses the default value of 2 miles.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the event start date and time for the location. For example if it is a crime scene you can enter the date and time the crime started. The date and time are required for multiple purposes:

  • They are used to include the location on the Timeline tab of the ESPA analysis center screen.
  • They are used in analytics to determine if the person was at a location during the event time.
  • They are used in advanced reports when you select Add selected calls as description, the call description in the report then displays the call time in relation to the event start date and time. They are also displayed in the report if you select Add selected target locations.
  • They are used in the optional IQ packets to determine if the person was at a location during the eventtime. Note, although it is not mandatory to enter the eventstart and end times to create the location initially, it is required before the location can be included for analysis in an IQ packet.

Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Event start setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the event end date and time for the location. For example if it is a meeting area that you know was used over a certain period you can enter the date and time the meeting ended. The date and time are required for multiple purposes:

  • They are used to include the location on the Timeline tab of the ESPA analysis center screen.
  • They are used in analytics to determine if the person was at a location during the event time.
  • They are used in advanced reports when you select Add selected calls as description, the call description in the report then displays the call time in relation to the event start date and time. They are also displayed in the report if you select Add selected target locations.
  • They are used in the optional IQ packets to determine if the person was at a location during the eventtime. Note, although it is not mandatory to enter the eventstart and end times to create the location initially, it is required before the location can be included for analysis in an IQ packet.

Once imported, the information is used to populate the location's Event end setting.

For example, if you had two locations to enter in your case you could structure the email content like this:

Locations:
Crime scene, 100 rialto pl Melbourne fl 32901, 1, 11/11/2013 21:15:00, 11/11/2013 23:15:00
Residence, 28.062399 -80.605908, 1, 11/11/2013 21:15:00, 11/11/2013 23:15:00

The location file must be either a .csv, .xls, .xlsx or .txt file format, or a .zip file containing one of these file types. It must be named "target locations", "targetlocations", "target_locations", "locations" or "location". For the information in the file to import correctly, you must include the column headings in the first row of your file; refer to the following list for details of the column headings and content requirements, both of which are case insensitive. Alternatively click here to download an .xlsx template file provided by Gladiator Forensics.

(mandatory)

This setting is mandatory. Enter a name for the location that is meaningful to you, for example Jewelry store or Suspect's main residence.

Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Name setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. This information is displayed as a pop-up on the map on the ESPA analysis center screen along with the details you enter in Name. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Details tab setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. The location is then displayed on the ESPA analysis center screen, Sentinel screen, IQ packets, advanced analysis reports and real time tracking alerts with the appropriate icon. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Location type setting. The allowed values are:

  • crime scene
  • residence
  • frequented area
  • meeting area
  • celltower
  • other

If no type is specified then "other" is used.

(optional)

This setting is optional. It allows you to customize how the location icon marker is displayed in the ESPA analysis center screen, advanced analysis reports and IQ packets. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Marker icon setting. The allowed values are:

  • default
  • red
  • dark red
  • green
  • dark green
  • blue
  • dark blue
  • magenta
  • cyan
  • orange
  • yellow
  • purple

If no color is specified then the default markers are used.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter up to two characters to customize how the location icon marker is displayed in the ESPA analysis center screen, advanced analysis reports and IQ packets. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Marker label setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Latitude setting.

If no latitude is specified but the address is, then OSS-ESPA automatically determines the latitude from the address. An address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Longitude setting.

If no longitude is specified but the address is, then OSS-ESPA automatically determines the longitude from the address. An address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter a radius for the location buffer which is used in:

  • the Person's device at location analysis that is displayed on the Call analyses tab. The location used in the analysis includes the radius around the latitude/longitude which is specified by this location buffer.
  • advanced analysis reports to include in the call description, the details for the call in relation to any locations if the call was within the location's Location buffer setting.
  • live call location monitoring to define the location. The location used in live location monitoring includes the radius around the latitude/longitude which is specified by this location buffer. If you specify a location buffer here then any value set using Location buffer on the Add/Edit smart track alert screen is ignored.
  • the "Person's device at location" analysis that is included in IQ packets. The location used in the analysis includes the radius around the latitude/longitude which is specified by this location buffer.

Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Location buffer setting.

If no location buffer is specified, then OSS-ESPA uses the default value of 2.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the units that are used in the location's Location buffer setting. The available units are:

  • MI: miles
  • M: meters
  • Y: yards
  • K: kilometers

If no location buffer unit is specified, then OSS-ESPA uses the default value of miles.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However either a full address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Street address setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However either a full address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's City setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However either a full address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's State setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However either a full address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Postal code setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. However either a full address or latitude/longitude are mandatory if you want the location included in IQ packets, advanced analysis reports, analyses and live location monitoring. Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Country setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the event start date and time for the location. For example if it is a crime scene you can enter the date and time the crime started. The date and time are required for multiple purposes:

  • They are used to include the location on the Timeline tab of the ESPA analysis center screen.
  • They are used in analytics to determine if the person was at a location during the event time.
  • They are used in advanced reports when you select Add selected calls as description, the call description in the report then displays the call time in relation to the event start date and time. They are also displayed in the report if you select Add selected target locations.
  • They are used in the optional IQ packets to determine if the person was at a location during the eventtime. Note, although it is not mandatory to enter the eventstart and end times to create the location initially, it is required before the location can be included for analysis in an IQ packet.

Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Event start setting.

(optional)

This setting is optional. Enter the event end date and time for the location. For example if it is a meeting area that you know was used over a certain period you can enter the date and time the meeting ended. The date and time are required for multiple purposes:

  • They are used to include the location on the Timeline tab of the ESPA analysis center screen.
  • They are used in analytics to determine if the person was at a location during the event time.
  • They are used in advanced reports when you select Add selected calls as description, the call description in the report then displays the call time in relation to the event start date and time. They are also displayed in the report if you select Add selected target locations.
  • They are used in the optional IQ packets to determine if the person was at a location during the eventtime. Note, although it is not mandatory to enter the eventstart and end times to create the location initially, it is required before the location can be included for analysis in an IQ packet.

Once imported, the contents of this column are used to populate the location's Event end setting.

The following items can also be included in your email.

This setting allows you to edit the original case file number if you feel it is no longer appropriate.

When you created the case you may have either entered a file number that was relevant to you at the time, such as that in your Crime database system, or if you left it blank then OSS-ESPA automatically displays it as "undefined".

Once imported, this information is used to populate the case's File number setting.

If you do want to include a file number then you can include it in the email body using the following format:

File number: your number

For example:

File number: F125

Enter a description of the case. This description provides you with an overview of the case on the Manage case screen. In IQ packets this description is included in the Case summary section and in advanced analysis reports it is included by adding the Case information keyword in the Edit text dialog box.

Once imported, this information is used to populate the case's Summary tab.

If you do want to include a case summary then you can include it in the email body using the following format:

Case summary: <your description>

Your description must be surrounded by brackets, either < > or ( ) or { } or [ ]. The description itself cannot include any brackets, for example you could not enter the brackets displayed in red:

Case summary: {Suspect was seen leaving the scene (by two witnesses) at 14:10.}

Mission sets provide you with a preview of your case results prior to adding an IQ packet. The following mission sets are available:

  • The Crime scene/Location analysis mission set can help you to locate a person so that you can either include or exclude them as potential perpetrators of the crime.

  • The Historical pattern of life analysis mission set can help you locate a person's potential location based on an analysis of their previous locations during the calendar week.

  • The Real-Time location monitoring through GPS Track mission set can help you to locate and monitor the current location of a person.

Once imported, this information is used to populate the case's Mission set setting.

If you do want to include a mission set then you can include it in the email body using the following format:

Mission sets: value

The allowed values are:

  • case builder which is the Crime scene/Location analysis mission set.
  • apprehension which is the Historical pattern of life analysis and the Real-Time location monitoring through GPS Track mission sets. For the Real-Time location monitoring through GPS Track mission set to be run it also requires that you have the E10 Live location monitoring option and that you to set the person's Smart-Track to "Yes".

For example:

Mission sets: case builder

An IQ packet is automatically created and emailed to you if you have previously selected one on the Email interface settings screen. However, if you want to change what you have set on the Email interface settings screen then you can do so in the email body using the following format:

IQ packet: value

The allowed values are:

  • yes
  • no
  • true
  • false

For example:

IQ packet: yes

  1. In the email subject enter the name of the case you want to edit prefixed by either:

    • Edit case

    • Updated case
    • Existing case

    For example:

    Edit case Jewelry Store Robberies

  2. Update the people in the case as required. You can do this by either updating and resending the original content, or just sending the additions or updates that are required.

    NOTE: You can edit all the person's details apart from their name which must remain the same.

  3. Update the locations in the case as required. You can do this by either updating and resending the original content, or just sending the additions or updates that are required.

    NOTE: You can edit all the location's details apart from their name which must remain the same.

  4. Update the optional information in the body of the email if required which includes the File number, Case summary, Mission set and IQ packet. You can do this by either updating and resending the original content, or just sending the additions or updates that are required.

  5. Attach any new files to the email. This includes CDRs, phone data files, public record files, geo-location files, tower dump files, geo-fence files, cell tower data and additional files . If your locations or persons are defined in files then these should be included too.

    NOTE: If your files are large, which is often the case with phone data, cell tower, tower dump and geofence files the email size may exceed the limits of your email provider. If this happens then refer to To upload a new file for a procedure description on how to upload files in OSS-ESPA.

  6. Send your updated email to the OSS-ESPA email displayed on the Email interface settings screen.
  7. If you want to view your case in OSS-ESPA then sign into your account or if you requested an IQ packet then you should receive it within one to ten minutes depending on the amount of data and files included in your case.