Warren, RI - AVTECH Software, Inc. (AVTECH), formally announces Room Alert 32W, the newest member of their popular Room Alert (TM) hardware line for IT and facilities physical environment monitoring. The Room Alert 32W is set to replace AVTECH’s original wireless model, the Room Alert 26W, and will raise the bar as the industry standard by combining new advanced features with AVTECH’s already reliable wireless technology. Like its predecessor, the Room Alert 32W uses advanced wireless technology to have sensors ‘report back’ status information to the main unit via a secure, private protocol that is ZigBee compatible and already approved in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and worldwide. With more sensor capacity and advanced built-in features, the Room Alert 32W allows users the ability to monitor up to 100 sensors both indoors and out, without running lots of cables, a tradition managers dread and sometimes spend hours completing in remote locations. “We’re taking our market-leading product and upping the ante” says Michael Sigourney. “We’re confident that the new model is better than anyone else’s and does more than any competitive monitor.”
 Sensors are a critical part of monitoring environment conditions in computer rooms, data centers, rack cabinets, telecom closets, basements, warehouses, schools, hotels, aircrafts, homes and many types of other locations. The physical conditions where valuable equipment operates will cause serious problems if they exceed certain threshold parameters for temperature, humidity, power, flood, smoke and more. Storage of food products, medicine, raw materials, packaged products and records are also vulnerable and may need monitoring as required by government regulation. Room Alert 32W monitors these conditions and more to immediately alert managers and staff, allowing an instant response and automatic corrective action to avoid or minimize downtime and costly damage.
In the data center, IT environment monitoring has never been more important than it is today. Computer and network equipment is drawing more power per square foot than ever before, generating extreme heat. The average data center temperature will rise from the standard 68° F to over 85° F in about 8.6 minutes. When a problem arises (e.g. like a power outage or aircon failure) the staff in charge must be alerted and take immediate action. With the critical shut down threshold for IT equipment typically agreed to be near 85° F, a better response would be to use the automatic server shut down capabilities available through AVTECH’s bundled Device ManageR (TM) software to eliminate risk by elegantly shutting down the most expensive and critical hardware. Temperatures can be monitored in real-time from -67° to 257° Fahrenheit or -55° to 125° Celsius, with an accuracy of + / - 0.5 degrees C.
The Room Alert 32W has built-in sensors for temperature, humidity and power. It even includes a built-in UPS to get the alerts out when a catastrophic power failure occurs. It allows direct connection of digital and switch-based sensors through built-in sensor ports and contact sets, as well as via AVTECH’s Wireless Sensor Hub (WiSH) and Wireless Sensor Hub & Powered Relay (WiSPR) units. Plus, the Room Alert 32W includes ports for the connection of external tower lights that allow visual and audible alerting, low-voltage relay switches and other third party sensors to be used.
Room Alert 32W is configured as a 1U 19˝ rack mount unit that fits into a standard rack cabinet. It includes mounting screws and has wings that turn to allow easy wall, under-cabinet or table-top mounting. It includes Power Over Ethernet (PoE) capability and connects to the network via Ethernet with the included 10´ Ethernet cable. The Room Alert 32W has eight (8) standard RJ-11 ports on the front of the unit for connection of AVTECH Digital Temperature/Humidity, Digital Temperature, Digital Fluid Temperature, and/or Digital Outdoor Temperature Sensors. Digital sensors connect via RJ-11 (phone) cable. On the back of the Room Alert 32W, there are sixteen (16) Switch Sensor Channels for connection of external sensors like power, flood, smoke, motion, air flow, room entry, sound, light, panic buttons and others. Switch sensors use a standard, non-voltage, 2-wire copper cable. Default sensor cables for both digital and switch sensors come in a 25´ length. Digital sensor cables can be extended up to 100´, and switch sensor cables can be extended up to 900´. An external Digital Temperature Sensor and a Room Entry Sensor are included with the Room Alert 32W unit. Additional sensors can be ordered separately and added at any time. Users can also connect to non-voltage (dry) contacts on other devices like air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, alarm systems, generators, pumps and more. This will expand the alerting capabilities of other hardware or equipment. The Room Alert 32W also includes a 0-5V Analog Sensor Input, 2 external Relay Output ports, 2 ports for connection of AVTECH’s External Light Tower’s, LED alarm status indicators, an optional GSM modem (available later in 2011) and much more.
Once the Room Alert 32W is installed, it is able to immediately communicate with enabled WiSH Sensors that can be located up to approximately 250´, depending upon the environment and building structure. AVTECH’s more powerful WiSPR Sensor can be located up to approximately 350´ away and acts as a sensor hub and repeater for more dynamic monitoring environments. Users can therefore place WiSPR units every several hundred feet (like a chain), to allow monitoring of up to almost a mile away. WiSH sensors located at distances beyond 250´ can then send data to a nearby WiSPR, which will pass it down the line to the Room Alert 32W for processing. WiSH and WiSPR units are about the size of a BlackBerry (TM) or iPhone (TM), and each have a built-in Digital Temperature Sensor, 2 Digital Sensors Ports and 1 set of Switch Sensor Contacts where additional sensors can be attached.
 What sets the Room Alert 32W apart from other products on the market (beyond the obvious wide range of features) is its software advantage. Room Alert 32W can easily be monitored via its built-in web server. That’s right, NO PC is required! However, users can also use their favorite monitoring software, like AVTECH’s Device ManageR software (included FREE), or any third party SNMP monitoring software (e.g. Tivoli (TM), OpenView (TM), Unicenter (TM), PageR Enterprise (TM), Nagios (TM), What’s Up Gold (TM), Big Brother (TM), etc.). This will significantly extend the alerting methods, add automatic corrective actions and enable network-wide monitoring.
The Room Alert 32W package includes a license for AVTECH’s powerful Device ManageR software, an advanced solution for the discovery, management, logging, graphing, alerting and more of AVTECH’s IT & Facilities Environment Monitoring hardware. It runs as a Windows Service and automatically discovers AVTECH’s hardware units and Axis IP cameras across the network, allowing users to immediately be informed when environmental thresholds are passed or physical events occur. Device ManageR’s web browser interface allows users to view and manage any or all units on their network, graph and log sensor data in real-time or over a specified date range, send out alerts if an issue or event arises, and much more. This is all possible through a single IP address!
Device ManageR allows unlimited alerting at multiple thresholds for rising and/or falling temperature and humidity levels and status changes for all types of sensors. This allows early warnings, notification to different people at different thresholds and for different sensors, as well as automatic corrective actions to be implemented. Alerts can go to individuals or groups, and different people or devices can be notified at different times or days of the week. Alerts can be sent to mobile phones, pagers, PDAs, email accounts, computers, web pages & more. Alert messages can be fully customized and incorporate ‘Keywords’ for real-time values, date, time, and other ‘live’ information. “The software is a real advantage,” Sigourney says, “and is one of the most important features that differentiates AVTECH’s Room Alert monitors from other products.”
The Room Alert 32W package also includes a Windows Plugin Bundle (Unix/Linux version available as an alternative if preferred). When used with Device ManageR, these plugins provide the functionality to shutdown, reboot and/or log off Windows systems remotely across the network and perform commands or scripted actions when alerts are detected or events occur. These plugins can be used to shutdown, reboot and/or log off an unlimited number of Windows systems... individually, in groups, simultaneously, sequentially or according to a defined schedule.
In summary, Room Alert 32W will help protect valuable equipment and other important assets to minimize downtime and reduce losses if conditions change or a disaster does occur. It is the environment monitor of choice for today’s most demanding IT & facilities managers. |
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Sales@AVTECH.com
AVTECH Software, Inc.