Introduction

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Today's Facilities and Operations Managers must be both network manager and facilities manager. With advanced technology providing better facilities management solutions, wearing both hats has become necessary.

One example of this dual responsibility is remote monitoring, the management of a stand-alone serial device from a LAN or WAN. Today's networked solutions lack one significant capability: the ability to access all devices from a LAN/WAN. Even today, products still exist that do not have networking ports. These legacy devices can include HVAC systems, UPS systems and data loggers. The only means of managing these devices is through the serial port; the challenge is to find a way for the serial ports of these devices to 'talk' to the LAN or WAN. In the absence of a solution, these devices must be physically monitored on-site by an administrator or technician.

Today's organizations rely on network infrastructure for inter and intra corporate data transmission. The demand on network and facilities managers to reduce network downtime and improve operating efficiency is greater than ever. The challenge for these network administrators is formidable; consider that even a few hours of downtime can lead to millions of dollars in lost revenue for some organizations.

Solution

In the case of large organizations with many locations, regulating and monitoring utility usage is key to cost containment or reduction and maintenance. Specializing in commercial metering solutions for large clients, Metering Sales & Service needed a solution to help a large Philadelphia area hospital group to better manage their electricity consumption. Power monitoring is used to measure consumption of electrical energy, usually in kilowatt hours (KWH). Metering Sales & Service attached an SHN data logger to each electricity meter throughout the hospital group's numerous local and satellite locations, many of which had been added to the group through acquisitions. Several of these satellite locations had their own LANs. While the data loggers can collect vital data on energy consumption, the customer needed a means to bring this data onto the hospital's LAN. By connecting each data logger to a Precidia Ether232, electricity consumption data captured in the data logger could be accessed from a central location on the LAN, which was then connected to the larger city-wide WAN.

Steve Helzner, Meter Systems Engineer at Metering Sales and Service, spearheaded this ambitious project: "We needed a solution which would provide the 'missing link' for our customer: the ability to access the data retrieved from the data loggers in real time from their LAN. With the Ether232, they can now retrieve real-time data on the hospital's power consumption from a remote location. With this solution, our client is able to easily identify and eliminate energy waste." The Precidia solution has been a tremendous success; the hospital group has enjoyed a return on their investment in under a month, reducing energy costs significantly, and gaining new control over their expenditures. Building upon this success, Metering Sales & Service will soon expand the application of Precidia's device, bringing steam, water and gas meter data onto the LAN for an even greater cost savings.

Leveraging the Network for Better Device Management

This is just one example of the benefits of remote monitoring via an Ethernet LAN. The ability to remotely monitor stand-alone serial devices in real time is beneficial in any environment where access to information and reducing downtime is critical. HVAC systems can be monitored from a central location with a Precidia device; school boiler systems are controlled from a central location, sending out alarms to custodial staff when problems occur. Medical equipment, from patient bedside alarms to blood monitoring devices, can be brought onto a hospital's LAN for simplified access and monitoring.

All of these solutions have some elements in common: the need to access information from a central location, the importance of reducing downtime, and the ability to reduce staff time in checking and monitoring equipment at many locations. When these challenges are faced by network or facilities managers, IP access is the answer.

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