The proliferation of remote and unmanned facilities is exposing many enterprises to devastating events. The need is to not only detect a threatening condition, but to also get a precise message to the person who is prepared to do something about it.
C a s e S t u d y
Putting yourself on notice
Place your trust in a reliable and stable systemOn a wintry Saturday evening in midtown Manhattan, the assistant manager of the research facility of a major pharmaceutical house was enjoying a sumptuous dinner when she received an e-mail on her Blackberry: Temp Lab 4 Air Handlr 78 degrees, 1830. She noted the time and continued with her dinner conversation. She "The proliferation of would remain watchful for further messages about Lab 4, which was unmanned on weekends and located at least an hour away. If remote and unmanned she got a notice that the air handler temperature had reached 80 facilities is exposing degrees, or that the humidity in the lab had exceeded 30 percent, she would then verify that a service tech had also been notified many enterprises to dev- and dispatched to the site.
astating events. Not only There was no emergency in Lab 4 that weekend. The temperature in the air handler, which exhausted the heat from a bank of PCs and is there a need to detect workstations, did not exceed 78 degrees, the point where service a threatening condition, action would be called for. As it turned out, the fan belt in the air handler was frayed. It was replaced on Monday morning when the but also to get a precise staff reported for duty. If the air handler temperature had reached 80 degrees, that would be a different story - a threat to some 20 message to the person computers and other sensitive research equipment. Under those who is prepared to do circumstances, prompt service would have been critical.
something about it." Fortunately, the lab in question, as well as other facilities at the pharmaceutical plant, is automatically protected against a wide range of threats. That protection is provided by a system of sensors that will detect intrusion or environmental conditions that could result in system malfunctions, the loss of data, intellectual property and equipment. Moreover, the system is capable of notifying appropriate support staff, depending on the threat, by pager, e-mail, wireless or even combinations of those modes. They can also trigger the video or data-recording of an entire sequence of events.
This kind of system represents a coherent solution to what has become a major issue today: Technological advancements and C a s e S t u d y
Putting yourself on notice
competitive markets are forcing enterprises to cut unmanned power substation may indeed require spending while also reducing the risk of equipment a message warning not to enter the facility until an failures that could cause business interruptions, emergency team has disabled faulty equipment.data loss, or risk to human safety. Reduced spending often translates to reduced maintenance staff or even What are the economic advantages of automating unmanned operations. such alarm and notification systems? "The savings could be enormous," Stoner says, "it depends on what's Addressing all of these challenges can be accom- at risk... precious intellectual property, customer credit plished through use of automated communications information, or exotic gear, for example. Of course, devices that relay conditions-based messages to the when human safety is at stake, the advantage goes right person at the right time. Such capabilities are beyond price."becoming critical for a growing number of enterprises today, yet are missing from many current site monitor- To facilitate these condition-based messages, firms ing schemes. This may be especially true where new such as Asentria develop and market devices that can systems must be integrated with legacy systems. monitor your secondary equipment such as a PBX or batteries, or environmental conditions such as "The need to remotely manage and protect facilities temperature, humidity, or water leaks. Many products from intrusion and unfavorable conditions is increasing can even receive SNMP traps or legacy alarm protocols across science and industry," says Tim Stoner, CEO of from other devices and convert them into standard Asentria, a manufacturer of equipment used in remote alarm text messages. These messages can then be communications monitoring and notification systems. relayed by pager, e-mail or even voice simulation "And the tol... [download for more]
