Technical Reference

HEROConnect FAQ

Everything your IT team needs to deploy and support HEROConnect, the secure bridge between EventHQ and your Building Automation System.

Last Updated October 2025
Overview

What Is HEROConnect?

HEROConnect is a software application that provides a connection point between the EventHQ data center and various Building Automation Systems (BAS). HEROConnect runs in a Virtual Machine environment that is deployed, owned, and managed by the client.

Once HEROConnect is installed and connected to the network with internet connectivity, a member of the HEROConnect Team will log in to HEROConnect to complete the implementation process.
IT Requirements

What Your Environment Needs To Provide

Minimum Client Environment

Processor
Intel Core i5, 2+ GHz
RAM
16 GB
Hard Drive
100 GB, SSD preferred
Network
Ethernet 1 Gbit NIC with TCP/IP support, plus internet access
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2019

Firewall & Ports

Outbound From Client Network
8443Used by the web services connector to encrypt data transmitted between HEROConnect and the OperationsHERO Data Center using the OperationsHERO published API. HEROConnect must be authorized to make outbound requests on port 8443.
Niagara N4 (Local)
4911Encrypted Station access for maintenance and support.
5011Encrypted Platform access for maintenance and support.
BACnet Over IP (Local)
47808BACnet UDP traffic to the BAS. This may be adjusted as required for your BAS installation.
Inbound From OperationsHERO
In some cases, access rules need to be implemented to allow HEROConnect to receive and respond to requests from OperationsHERO whitelisted networks.
Common Questions

HEROConnect, Answered

  • Provide encrypted point-to-point communications to EventHQ.
  • Provide on-premises cache storage of the approved processed events. This enables the system to store events locally, which provides a measure of redundancy and additional reliability.
  • BACnet is not a secure protocol, and we do not recommend that it be communicated over the internet. The VM provides secure on-premises BACnet communications to the BAS devices.
  • This strategy also enables your IT department to better manage their own security policies.
  • The client (HEROConnect) and the server (EventHQ) can evolve separately without any dependency on each other.
  • The servers and clients may be developed independently, and even replaced, provided the interface between them is not altered.
  • Interaction in REST-based systems uses the internet’s Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HEROConnect uses HTTPS, the secure encrypted version of HTTP.
  • Example messages include an outbound request for any current approved events, and an acknowledgement that approved events were successfully received and processed.
  • Our HEROConnect Team is responsible for providing and deploying an instance of Niagara N4 on the VM.
  • We are certified N4 developers. The N4 security model lets us provide secured systems vetted over many years across more than one million instances globally.
  • N4 communicates natively with most modern building automation systems and multiple building protocols such as BACnet, normalizing data from various vendors.
  • N4 is extensible, so we can extend the core product’s capabilities to meet specific client needs, such as synchronizing BAS schedules with event management systems.
  • Our HEROConnect Team requests remote access for the implementation of the project. This is a mapping process between the rooms and fields defined in EventHQ and the existing BAS schedules or points.
  • Once implementation is complete, we recommend extending access for the duration of your subscription to expedite any support needs.
  • A secure VPN and/or RDP is typically provided.
  • This is our encrypted method of requesting and receiving any approved events from EventHQ.
  • This is outbound traffic only.
  • The domain for the EventHQ server is api.operationshero.com.
  • Yes. We support importing from various event management systems.
  • It requires some extra discovery to determine the best path forward for your installation, but it is well worth the effort. A lot of time and effort have likely been invested in the existing system, and our goal is to preserve as much of your investment as possible.
  • Please contact the HEROConnect Team to discuss your specific implementation.
Talk To The Team

Connect With The HEROConnect Team

To discuss your specific implementation, reach out any time. Support is included for every client at no extra cost.

automation@operationshero.com 919-948-0842