Using maps to keep an eye on your sensors
I’ve wrote a lot lately about the expandability of the SecurityProbe line of products and getting the most out of your environmental monitoring system, but with the idea of virtually unlimited expandability comes the problem of keeping track of the hundreds of dry contacts and sensors that are integrated into your monitoring system. When you get a critical alert on temperature sensor 018, do you know where that is located? This can be a be an especially big problem for larger facilities, like college campuses, where the sensors are gathering information from multiple buildings spread out over a large area. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to see at a quick glance where individual sensors are located and if there is a problem. That is exactly what the mapping feature on the SecurityProbe is designed to do.
The Maps Tab allows you to upload site plans, building floor plans, or diagrams and then locate your sensors on the map. That way, you can instantly see that the critical problem being reported on Temp 018 is in the Math Lab and not in the cafeteria. Below is a screen shot of what this looks like to the user. Note that the sensor statuses are color coded, green=good, red=problem so you can pinpoint issues and their location at a glance.
The map feature is helpful if you are using sensors in more localized applications as well. For example, if you are monitoring a data center you could upload a diagram of your server cabinet layout and then locate the sensors graphically. This would be helpful especially if the responsibility for addressing certain issues falls to maintenance staff that might not be as familiar with IT equipment. Below is a screen shot of the diagram we use for the sensors in the Ravica server room.
There is no limit to the number of maps that you can load into you web interface, so you can use whatever formats work best for your application.
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Related posts:
- Setting up e-mail notifications for the SecurityProbe camera
- Virtually unlimited expandability for the SecurityProbe . . . connect up to 600 sensors to one unit!
- Server room temperature alerts via Skype
- Raising the Temperature Bar
- Motion detector sensors add security to your data center