Introduction to RCAMS

Table of Contents

Overview

The RCAMS (Raptor Campus Alert Management System) is a comprehensive emergency notification and management platform designed specifically for educational institutions. The system utilizes networked LED lights strategically placed throughout school facilities to provide visual emergency notifications that can be activated and controlled remotely.

These lights can display different colors corresponding to various emergency protocols (lockdown, evacuation, shelter in place, etc.), providing immediate visual cues that are visible even in noisy environments where audible alerts might be missed.

Emergency Light Protocols
  • Lockdown RED
  • Secure Mode BLUE
  • Team Assist WHITE
  • Evacuate GREEN
  • Shelter ORANGE
  • Hold PURPLE

Hierarchical Structure

The RCAMS system follows a hierarchical organizational structure:

Districts

Top-level organizational units representing school districts. A district can contain multiple schools.

Schools

Individual educational facilities within districts. Each school can have multiple groups and wifi settings.

Groups

Zones or areas within schools (floors, wings, departments, etc.). Groups contain individual lights.

Lights

Individual LED devices installed throughout the facilities that can be controlled via the API.

API Features

The RCAMS API provides a comprehensive set of endpoints for managing this hierarchical structure and controlling the alert lights. This API enables third-party applications to:

Organizational Management
  • Manage districts, schools, and groups within the organizational hierarchy
  • Configure WiFi settings for device connectivity
  • Manage user access and permissions across the organization
Light Management
  • Discover, configure, and control light devices
  • Send commands to individual lights, groups, zones, or entire districts simultaneously
  • View command history for auditing and verification purposes
Security Features
  • Dual-layer authentication for secure access
  • User-specific permissions for resource access
Integration Capabilities
  • Connect RCAMS with existing school management systems
  • Integrate with other security infrastructure
  • Build custom applications tailored to specific needs

API Architecture

The RCAMS API follows RESTful architecture principles and uses JSON for data interchange. All API endpoints use POST requests with form data parameters.

Note: For security, all API requests require dual-layer authentication:

  1. Basic authentication credentials for API access

This ensures that only authorized personnel can access and control the emergency notification system.

The API uses standard HTTP status codes and a consistent JSON response format:

Standard Response Format
{
  "status": "OK",           // "OK" for success, "false", "denied", or "not_found" for errors
  "message": "Success message or error description",
  // Additional data specific to the endpoint...
}

API Base URL

All API endpoints are relative to the base URL:

https://rcamsapi.spheronomics.com/api/v2/

For example, to access the login endpoint, you would use:

https://rcamsapi.spheronomics.com/api/v2/login.php
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