diff --git a/server/src/models/analytics_message_model.ts b/server/src/models/analytics_message_model.ts
index 12ebe2d..a82b7db 100644
--- a/server/src/models/analytics_message_model.ts
+++ b/server/src/models/analytics_message_model.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 export enum AnalyticsMessageMethod {
   TASK = 'TASK',
-  PING = 'PING',
   TASK_RESULT = 'TASK_RESULT'
 }
 
 export class AnalyticsMessage {
   public constructor(
     public method: AnalyticsMessageMethod,
-    public payload?: string, 
+    public payload?: any,
     public requestId?: number
   ) {
 
diff --git a/server/src/models/analytics_task_model.ts b/server/src/models/analytics_task_model.ts
index 97bcd89..85af4a0 100644
--- a/server/src/models/analytics_task_model.ts
+++ b/server/src/models/analytics_task_model.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { AnalyticUnitId } from "./analytic_unit_model";
 
+import { uid } from "../utils/uid";
+
+
+const UID_LENGTH = 16;
 
 export type AnalyticsTaskId = string;
 export enum AnalyticsTaskType { 
@@ -20,13 +24,17 @@ export class AnalyticsTask {
     if(type === undefined || type === null) {
       throw new Error('type is undefined or null');
     }
+    if(id === undefined) {
+      this.id = uid(UID_LENGTH);
+    }
   }
 
   public toObject() {
     return {
       _id: this.id,
       analyticUnitId: this.analyticUnitId,
-      type: this.type
+      type: this.type,
+      payload: this.payload
     };
   }
 
@@ -37,6 +45,7 @@ export class AnalyticsTask {
     return new AnalyticsTask(
       obj.analyticUnitId,
       obj.type as AnalyticsTaskType,
+      obj.payload,
       obj._id,
     );
   }
diff --git a/server/src/services/analytics_service.ts b/server/src/services/analytics_service.ts
index bab4851..e6ad2b4 100644
--- a/server/src/services/analytics_service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/analytics_service.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import { AnalyticsMessageMethod, AnalyticsMessage } from '../models/analytics_message_model'
+import { AnalyticsTask } from '../models/analytics_task_model';
+import { AnalyticsMessageMethod, AnalyticsMessage } from '../models/analytics_message_model';
 import * as config from '../config';
 
 const zmq = require('zeromq');
@@ -22,24 +23,25 @@ export class AnalyticsService {
     this._init();
   }
 
-  public async sendTask(taskObj: any): Promise<void> {
+  public async sendTask(task: AnalyticsTask): Promise<void> {
     if(!this._ready) {
       return Promise.reject("Analytics is not ready");
     }
-    let message = {
-      method: AnalyticsMessageMethod.TASK,
-      payload: taskObj
-    }
+    let message = new AnalyticsMessage(
+      AnalyticsMessageMethod.TASK,
+      task.toObject()
+    );
     return this.sendMessage(message);
   }
 
   public async sendMessage(message: AnalyticsMessage): Promise<void> {
     let strMessage = JSON.stringify(message);
-    if(message.method === AnalyticsMessageMethod.PING) {
-      strMessage = 'PING';
-    }
+    return this.sendText(strMessage);
+  }
+
+  public async sendText(text: string): Promise<void> {
     return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-      this._requester.send(strMessage, undefined, (err: any) => {
+      this._requester.send(text, undefined, (err: any) => {
         if(err) {
           reject(err);
         } else {
@@ -169,7 +171,8 @@ export class AnalyticsService {
   }
 
   private _onAnalyticsMessage(data: any) {
-    if(data.toString() === 'PONG') {
+    let text = data.toString();
+    if(text === 'PONG') {
       this._pingResponded = true;
       if(!this._ready) {
         this._ready = true;
@@ -178,7 +181,6 @@ export class AnalyticsService {
       return;
     }
 
-    let text = data.toString();
     let response;
     try {
       response = JSON.parse(text);
@@ -201,7 +203,7 @@ export class AnalyticsService {
       }
       this._pingResponded = false;
       // TODO: set life limit for this ping
-      this.sendMessage({ method: AnalyticsMessageMethod.PING });
+      this.sendText('PING');
     }, config.ANLYTICS_PING_INTERVAL);
   }
 
diff --git a/server/src/utils/uid.ts b/server/src/utils/uid.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..418e358
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/utils/uid.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { randomBytes } from 'crypto';
+
+
+// Copied from https://github.com/louischatriot/nedb/blob/master/lib/customUtils.js
+
+/**
+ * Return a random alphanumerical string of length len
+ * There is a very small probability (less than 1/1,000,000) for the length to be less than len
+ * (il the base64 conversion yields too many pluses and slashes) but
+ * that's not an issue here
+ * The probability of a collision is extremely small (need 3*10^12 documents to have one chance in a million of a collision)
+ * See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem
+ */
+export function uid(len: number): string {
+  return randomBytes(Math.ceil(Math.max(8, len * 2)))
+    .toString('base64')
+    .replace(/[+\/]/g, '')
+    .slice(0, len);
+}
\ No newline at end of file