A new generation of remote management, monitoring and control
Challenge : Providing 99.99% uptime while reducing capital and operating costs
A typical remote telecom tower site requires operational expenditure to power active and passive assets on the remote cell tower site. The active assets include the base transceiver station that consumes 1kW to 8.5 kW, though 80% of these have power demand of less than 3.5 kW. Having multiple tenants helps telecom operators to share passive infrastructure operation costs. The passive infrastructure includes the battery banks to supply backup power, diesel generating sets, solar generating panels, air conditioners to cool the shelter for the electronic equipment, and power interface unit. Grid availability has a great influence on the operations and maintenance costs of telecom towers. Sites located in areas of lower grid availability (power supply of 8 hours or less) have higher fuel costs due to extensive use of diesel generators.
Solution
CONTROMOTE is a unique solution. It brings in a new generation of remote management, monitoring and control systems for critical assets inside the telecom towers distributed over a wide geography. CONTROMOTE allows for real-time monitoring of on-site technical equipment, together with its energy consumption. Additionally, environmental parameters can be monitored, as well as any theft, damage or unauthorized access to the site. Notifications and alerts keep maintenance personnel constantly informed about the condition of their telecommunication infrastructure.
CONTROMOTE brings in a new generation of remote management, monitoring and control systems for critical assets inside the telecom towers distributed over a wide geography.
CONTROMOTE allows for real-time monitoring of on-site technical equipment, together with its energy consumption. Additionally, environmental parameters can be monitored, as well as any theft, damage or unauthorized access to the site. Notifications and alerts keep maintenance personnel constantly informed about the condition of their telecommunication infrastructure.
Increase Up-time
Increased tower up-time by taking action in real time on critical alarms, and preventive maintenance to save equipment failure – resulting in fewer penalties from telecommunication operators.
Reduced Opx
Reduced operations expenditure by introducing advanced algorithms that switch between power sources like the electricity grid power supply, battery bank and diesel generator. Optimum control of passive assets like air conditioners and diesel generators. Reduction of security manpower costs and reduction in pilferage of diesel and batteries
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Professional Reporting with CONCIEL
Central Management Software
brings together all elements of the CONTROMOTE solution, giving central administration of access control, sensor monitoring, recording and playback of video surveillance.
All access events and sensor alerts are synchronized together with recorded video to give easy playback and recall of video from specific sites at the time of a given event.
Access Control
Maintain a central database of all employees, together with their access rights and privileges. Select which engineers have access to which cell tower sites and at what time and days. Cabinet controllers allow site and cabinet level access to be restricted. Access events are logged and reports generated on per tower site or employee basis. Monitor individual towers, shelters and engineers as to the access activity. All of these access events are synchronized together with sensor and video playback in the CONCIEL Server timeline.
Sensor Monitoring
All sensors connected to the CONTROMOTE monitoring system at each cell tower site can be monitored in CONCIEL DIRIGO Server. Alerts such as SMS, e-mail and alarms can be triggered when a sensor reaches a critical status. Regional offices and engineers in charge of specific sites can login to CONCIEL DIRIGO Web client software that displays the relevant information for them. This allows for multiple sites spread over a large geographical area to be monitored by one or two systems engineers. Abnormal sensor readings can indicate potential failures and problems, meaning engineers can respond and be on site to take corrective action.
Video Surveillance
A fully featured video surveillance and camera management function. Compatible with a range of third party IP cameras. Video feeds from each cell tower site are streamed via the internet to CONCIEL Server, or in low bandwidth areas picture logs sent to the server at specific events. Recording the video off site gives many advantages.
Benefits
Our comprehensive suite of professional services caters to a diverse clientele, ranging from homeowners to commercial developers.
Integrated Approach
- CONTROMOTE solutions take an integrated approach to remote site and wireless communications infrastructure management
- combining environmental monitoring (EMS) together with access control, video security, power and fuel level monitoring in a single integrated and modular system.
Modular System
- The modular system can be built up to the sites specific requirements, with a combination of sensors and base units.
- Integration to third party equipment is also possible. The CONTROMOTE base unit becomes the gateway device to monitoring all aspects of the telecom tower site. This modular approach to the hardware also allows easy additions to the site monitoring solution. Start with access control and add environmental monitoring later as your needs dictate.
Central Management
- CONCIEL DIRIGO Solution provides a centralized management bird eye view with dashboards, triggers and alarms
- Log data collected from each tower site at centralized regional or national offices. Manage all the devices in the system, administer access control rights and schedules, record and replay video and synchronize video together with access and sensor events. Never before has remote site monitoring been this easy and integrated into a single software that synchronizes data in an intuitive and informative way.
Managing Logistics
- CONTROMOTE improves your logistics efficiency by reducing the number of visits to remote sites and saving cost
- brings in transparency within the supply chain. On many times inaccurate alarms results in notifying wrong vendor and dispatching field technician without information on potential failure.
- CONTROMOTE identifies the issue and notifies the right technician with precise problem, so that he is sent out with right repair parts. Operators are informed when the fuel level of generator needs to be refilled. This saves time & avoids SLA penalty.
Benefits
Our comprehensive suite of professional services caters to a diverse clientele, ranging from homeowners to commercial developers.
Security and Control
- Access control and real time remote configuration
- Theft reduction
- CCTV and real time images snapping
- Real time SMS and email notifications
Asset Management
- Real time notification and alarms
- Analytics and reports
- SaaS capabilities
Energy Management
- Save energy by automation of diesel consumption
- Control system to switch between low cost energy sources
- Reduce fuel theft and lost by monitoring unusual events
Superior Operations
- Maintain Tower Up-time at 99.9%
- Reduce operational expenditure by 8-15%
- Implement higher assets utilization
Functions
Our comprehensive suite of professional services caters to a diverse clientele, ranging from homeowners to commercial developers.
Environmental Monitoring
- Temperature and humidity sensors as well as water intrusion detectors, smoke detectors and hazardous gas sensors
- are connected with CONTROMOTE on the site and send near real-time alarms to the NOC.
- Remote monitoring helps to gather fine-grained data on environmental parameters for further analysis
- Determination of optimal environmental settings
Fuel Monitoring
- ONTROMOTE uses an ultrasonic fuel level sensor on fuel tanks and Flow-meter to accurately determine current fuel level and graph usage over time.
- Monitoring fuel level in storage tanks for backup power generators is critical, not only to ensure smooth operation and constant power for the tower site, but increasingly fuel level monitoring is being used to protect the fuel asset. Fuel level sensors help to determine when next refill is due as well as to detect theft by tapping or short delivery and therefore helps to prevent generator damage. Viscosity sensors measure the composition of the tank capacity showing if fuel has been replaced by some other liquid e.g. water also resulting in generator damage. Constant tapping of minor amounts of fuel can be revealed using flowmeters in the fuel pipe to the generator as well as door contacts on the fuel cap showing if it has been opened besides scheduled refilling visits.
- CONTROMOTE will generate alerts notifying you of unusual fuel usage such as a sudden drop in fuel level.
- Fuel Leakage
- Using a combination of CONTROMOTE equipment you can accurately detect fuel leakage. Notifications can automatically be sent to a member of maintenance staff as well as to the main control center for further evaluation.
- Fuel Theft
- Be alerted to any unusual fuel usage such as rapid drop in fuel levels, this data can then be cross checked with access control data along with surveillance video giving you a clear recap of the event in addition to excellent evidence for prosecution.
- Fuel Consumption
- Using an ultrasonic fuel level sensor and flow-meter you can determine the tanks current level and graph fuel usage over time. This could be compared to generator power on times determined from power monitoring sensors to check fuel usage against generator time.
Surveillance
- Picture logs stored when events occur and video streamed to the central NOC for live view and recording purposes.
- CONTROMOTE monitoring solutions for cell tower sites support a range of IP cameras. In limited bandwidth installations video can be recorded with only picture logs of specific events being sent to the central monitoring location.
Security Monitoring
- Surveillance of the whole tower site with the help of cameras and motion detection sensors, triggering alarms if unauthorized access occurs
- Surveillance of the whole tower site with the help of cameras and motion detection sensors, triggering alarms if unauthorized access occurs
- Cellular tower sites can be targets for theft. Fuel tanks to power generators, and other high value equipment can become targets, particularly in emerging markets and when towers are in remote areas. CONTROMOTE provide security monitoring to protect against internal and external threats. Perimeter beam sensors, motion detectors and door contact sensors can be employed together with access control. Restrict access to the site, shelters and equipment cabinets. All sensor and access events can be synchronized with live and recorded video feeds.
- in addition, the solution allows for :
- Monitoring, if aviation warning lights are fully functional which contributes to enhance the visibility of the cell tower for aircraft
- Detecting theft of earthing systems which increases the security of the tower site in case of a lightning strike.
Power Monitoring
- CONTROMOTE provides a range of power monitoring devices, current transformers, power meters, AC and DC voltage sensors and power relays.
- Wireless communications tower sites contain multiple power systems, from grid power and battery banks to diesel generators. It is crucial for the tower site to maintain a reliable power source for maximum tower up-time. Often towers that are provided to third party networks by way of service level agreements contain clauses for a certain percentage of tower up-time. It can be very costly for a tower to go down, therefore monitoring of the power and ensuring it is stable is vital. CONTROMOTE connects directly to the battery, the generator and the rectifier and provides detailed information on all of their parameters as well as real-time clock, battery set-up and voltage set-up . In case of trespassing predefined thresholds, alarms are triggered to the NOC and staff in charge. Data and energy logging allows for detailed breakdown of energy consumption for comprehensive business analytics
- Power Meters
- Power meters can be used to monitor the total power consumed by the site or equipment. Ideal for monitoring line voltage coming from the power grid to ensure it is sufficient. Alerts can be generated if power drops below predetermined thresholds. In multi-tenant site operations, meaning that different Telco operators using one tower site and are paying only the energy they have consumed, the power meter connected to CONTROMOTE results in detailed invoicing per tower site tenant including energy consumption logging for performance analysis
- DC Voltage
- Battery banks or solar panels can be monitored for output of DC current. An accurate reading of the DC voltage being supplied is given, with alerts should voltage drop below critical levels. The efficiency of batteries and solar panels can be measured using this sensor.
- Power Relays
- Relays are used to control and power equipment within the site. The relays can be activated on a time basis, manually, or automatically depending on a sensors status. Ideal for controlling HVAC and other cooling systems should they exceed predefined limits.
- AC Voltage
- AC voltage sensors can be implemented to test for the presence of AC current in a circuit. Ideal for providing feedback as to whether a system is actually receiving power or not.
Access Control
- CONTROMOTE provides a unique access control solution for remote sites that synchronizes access events with recorded video.
- Logged and administered from a central location, this is a scaleable solution for hundreds or thousands of telecom tower sites covering a wide geographical area. On site cameras can support to manage access to the site from a distance. the solution can be used to provide work time-stamp control, enables to remotely grant access to sites/shelters from the NOC. Access to sites, shelters and on site equipment can all be controlled using Door Control Units (DCU) or Cabinet Control Units (CCU). Access events are logged on a central server giving reference as to who accessed the site, their activities and exit times.
- Door Control Unit
- The door control unit (DCU) is a remote terminal unit that can control access and exit from the tower sites. It combines video surveillance/CCTV and environmental monitoring. A comprehensive range of sensors can be connected as well as expansion modules and cabinet control units.
- Cabinet Control Unit
- Cabinet Control Unit (CCU) can be used to restrict access to rack mounted equipment, cabinets and locks boxes. It also provides access history as to who accessed specific wireless infrastructure equipment and at what time.
- CONTROMOTE answers the challenges caused due to the remote and often isolated nature of many telecom tower sites, it is often difficult to accurately monitor the wireless network infrastructure.
“Études has saved us thousands of hours of work and has unlocked insights we never thought possible.”
Annie Steiner
CEO, Greenprint
Watch, Read, Listen
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