XM Assistant is an application to assist XM Satellite Radio service technicians in diagnosing and maintaining the terrestrial repeater network. It utilizes RS-232 serial technology to communicate with the proprietary equipment, and provide a more intuitive, friendly interface to the various maintenance and configuration functions of the hardware. This includes graphical gauges and color-coded readings and a real-time strip chart for various system metrics, which formerly would have required two separate applications (which could not be run simultaneously). In addition, it helps track site details and history, and manages some of the maintenance paperwork generation and online submission.