When organizations are in the early stages of a VR deployment, they typically start with small pilot phases and low quantities of devices. As businesses start to scale their VR programs, device numbers increase drastically. It's not uncommon in this phase for companies to receive 50 - 100 devices at a time that need to be inventoried, provisioned, and managed. In these circumstances, it's best to have standard operating procedures in place for unboxing, labeling, and registering large numbers of devices in a single session.
This process can be broken up into 3 phases:
Note: Before embarking on a large bulk device setup, we highly recommend that you step through our Getting Started Guide on a single device to get more comfortable with the ManageXR platform.
Phase 1: ManageXR Configuration Setup
Creating a configuration is important because it specifies which applications, files, and device settings will be applied to your devices. All devices with the same configuration will behave the same way, producing a uniform fleet of devices that are ready for production.
By the end of this phase, you’ll have a finalized ManageXR configuration that is ready to apply to your devices.
If you haven't already done so, you’ll first want to set up your ManageXR account.
Create a ManageXR account and log in
Create your first Organization
Add all team members that will be helping set up devices. (An email will be sent to these users with instructions to join your organization.)
💡Tip: If working with a reseller or someone outside of your organization, the device provisioning contact must be added to your ManageXR organization as a “viewer” or be given a Registration Code in order to register new devices.
Next, we'll need to upload our applications and build a configuration.
Upload apps that you want to deploy to your devices.
Upload files that you want to deploy to your devices.
Create and build a new configuration. A configuration is a bundle of ManageXR settings that include which apps to install, files to load, kiosk mode settings to apply, etc.
Let's get started!
Name the configuration
Approve applications to the configuration
Approve files (Optional)
Select how content is displayed to the end-user: Kiosk Mode, Custom Home Screen, or neither.
Note: For bulk enrollments, be sure to Enable USB Debugging (Developer Mode), and do not toggle on Disable USB File Transfer. This allows our Device Setup Tool to recognize and communicate with a connected device. Otherwise, as soon as you install ManageXR, the device will disappear from the device setup tool. These settings can be changed once you've uploaded all devices to the ManageXR platform.
Update your subscription to support the necessary number of devices.
Note: After your first configuration is complete, be sure to sample it on a test device. Once you've ensured the build is just right, you can rest confident that all of your devices using this configuration will behave just like their test device.
Phase 2: Pre-Device Setup
Now that your ManageXR account is set up, we need to prepare your physical devices for bulk enrollment. Here are a couple of key tips for setting up a repeatable process and preparing your deployment for success.
Device Boxes
Do not throw away the boxes. Factory packaging is typically a great way to store and transport devices. When preparing your device setup procedure, make sure to keep the boxes and their contents as organized as possible.
Note: For Pico devices, we recommend keeping the controllers in the box. You do not need them for the Pico setup process, and using them increases your chance of misplacing them.
Name and Label Your Devices
Naming devices is key for keeping track of your hardware and identifying each device once it's been deployed. Use the same name for the box, device, and name of the device in ManageXR.
Label your device box with a label, sticker, or Sharpie.
Label your device with a label maker.
We recommend a naming system that combines a prefix and a number, like Device_0001.
Once you label the hardware, be sure to use the same device name when registering the device in ManageXR!
Phase 3: Device Setup
Now that you have a ManageXR configuration and labeled devices, it's time to provision each device with ManageXR.
Meta Quest Devices
Because Quest devices require a Meta account or Test User account, there are options you must consider when deploying Meta devices at scale and specific setup instructions involved when setting these devices up in bulk. Check out the documentation below to learn more.
All Other Devices
For all other ManageXR Supported Devices, you can follow our standard device setup instructions to apply your new configuration to each device. It's important to run this on a few devices to understand your exact process before setting up many devices simultaneously.
💡Tip: If you are using Pico devices, you can also Register a New Device using the ManageXR app that comes preinstalled on all Pico devices in the US. This workflow is favorable when provisioning off-site devices.
Tips
During the setup process, there are a few additional steps you should consider taking:
You can bulk set up as many devices as you want using our Device Setup Tool. The only restriction is how many USB ports you have available. We recommend getting a USB Hub to increase the number of devices you can provision simultaneously using our tool. Check out our Bulk Setup Options documentation to learn more.
💡Using a USB Hub is only recommended while using Pico devices, as the Meta device setup process requires additional setup steps that can interfere with this method.
If you have limited internet speed, you can preload device configurations. Inside the Device Setup Tool, go to your account dropdown menu, settings, and select Preload Device Configuration (Beta). When “Preload Device Configuration” is enabled, the installer will download all apps and firmware for a target configuration and load them onto the device without the device needing to touch the internet. It will even save and connect you to any wifi networks you've saved to your configuration. This is useful for provisioning many devices at once and reducing internet bandwidth requirements.
Check the ManageXR Web Console to see if your devices have synced correctly. A device's sync status is viewable in the top right of the device's page and is either Up To Date, Updating, or Out Of Date. Read our Device Sync Status Documentation to learn more.
When running a large device provisioning project, be sure to test a subset of your devices as you go. You don't want to set up 200 devices before realizing you've missed a step!
Congrats - Goal Completed!
Our goal was to deliver fully provisioned devices that are connected to the ManageXR system. You can continue to use these best practices to provision all of your devices efficiently and manage them through the ManageXR Web Console.
Need more help?
Talk to a member of our team using the chat bubble in the bottom right of your screen, or reach out to support@managexr.com