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Telephonic Alarm Monitoring and Control Software for Windows®
A data sheet available in Adobe Acrobat Form here.
The problem that with a typical HMI program is that it relies on having an
operator watch a display for alarms. These days, most facilities are
running with fewer operators than ever. These operators are often out of
the control room doing something else when a critical alarm occurs. One of
those alarms could cost a fortune because it was not dealt with quickly.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the alarms could be delivered directly to the
operator wherever he or she is?
Introducing Alert!
Alert! is a remarkable new alarm
monitoring application that lets you quickly monitor your equipment for alarm
conditions and get the information to the operator. Like the HMI and SCADA
systems, you can see the alarms on a CRT display and on an alarm printer. Alarm
history data can also be saved in a database file for archival and/or later
analysis. Alert! announces the alarms over your computer
speakers, then. . .
Reach Your Operators
Alert!
goes even further to reach the operators – wherever they might be in the
world. When an alarm condition is detected, a user-defined list is consulted to
determine who should handle the alarm. Then calls are made in the predetermined
order that is valid for the current time. The call list varies regularly since
each operator may have different working times and days. A user can be informed
of alarms via:
 | Detailed alarm messages announced through your standard telephone
or cell phone. |
| Detailed alarm messages sent to alphanumeric pagers. |
| Coded messages sent to numeric pagers. |
| Detailed alarm messages sent to any e-mail account
including cell phones. |
Pagers can be part of traditional dialup pager
systems or an on-site system.
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No Recording Needed
A text-to-speech generator is used to make announcements and phone calls.
There is no need to record the messages. The text-to-speech generator produces a consistent easy to
understand voice.
Announcements are made by dynamically building a
sentence from the various fields configured by the user. This sentence is sent
to the soundcard through the text-to-speech engine. The message varies over time since
it is based upon current conditions.
The alarm shown on the pager above would be
announced as “In the south tank the level is eighty two point three feet and
above the high-high limit”. The text that appears in the text message is
automatically used for the announcements.
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Multiple Data Sources
Alert!
can get the raw data from a variety of different data sources. Data sources can
be connected via Dynamic Data Exchange or OPC. You can mix and mach these data sources
as needed. Use Alert! to consolidate your alarms
– even across a network.
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Powerful Scheduling
To ensure that each user is called when scheduled to take the calls, Alert! enables you to
schedule the days and hours that calls can be made. Because we realize that
people do not work the same days every week, Alert!
allows you to define schedules that do not repeat for a number of weeks. (You
can even define a 52-week schedule.)
Sometimes things get in the way with schedules. So,
if
someone goes on vacation or is off sick, he can be temporarily removed from the
call list with ease.
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Phone Options
Alert! allows
the system to call users at any telephone in the world, including cell phones.
If you can handle voice mail, you will find your interactive conversation with Alert!
to be easy. The system asks for the user and asks for verification. The alarms
are then announced and the user is given an opportunity to acknowledge them. The user can then ask for reports about current status conditions and be
given a chance to change settings. The system can receive calls as well as
making them.
Alarm History Logging
Alarm information can be stored in an industry standard database format for
historical data storage and analysis. This
data can even be examined across a network.
Fully Configurable
Not everyone agrees on the best way to handle alarm data. Alert!
was designed to let the engineer design an alarm monitoring system the way he or
she wants it.
Standards Based
Alert! works best on Microsoft NT
operating systems (NT 4.0 and above), but will also work in the consumer grade
operating systems (Windows 98 or Windows ME). Alert!
is built upon an alphabet soup of Microsoft technologies to ensure that it works
well now and in the future. These technologies include MAPI (messaging), SAPI
(speech) and TAPI (telephony).
Pricing (USD)
| Description |
US and Canada |
International |
| Alert! w/
30 days of Technical Support |
$1,295 |
$1,535 |
| Alert! w/ 1 year of Technical Support |
$1,570 |
$1,860 |
| Alert!
w/ Auto Upgrades |
$1,840 |
$2,190 |
| Alert!
w/ 1 year of Technical Support & Auto Upgrades |
$2,105 |
$2,510 |
| 1 year of Technical Support |
$360 |
$430 |
| 1 year of Auto Upgrades |
$480 |
$580 |
Alert!™ is a trademark of Hopkins Computing. All other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners
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