Ways to push PLC generated alarms to smart phones

Hi all,

My boss just assigned me this task to figure out a way to push alarms generated by AB PLC to the smart phones of on-site technicians because my boss think I have got some computer programming background. But at this moment I have no clues at all. Only thing I can think of is the so called RSView32 Web Server, which lets you create a web server for your HMI so you can access it remotely. By that way sure I can see the alarms but it is really "pushing" anything to phones. So if there is any recommendations or suggestions, I will be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Are you already running RSView32 as your HMI system ? RSView32 Messenger is probably what you want to look at for such a system, rather than WebServer.

The 800 pound gorilla of the remote alarming world is Win911.

But there are quite a few other ways to implement remote alarming.

The first question you should ask yourself is whether or not you also need remote reset/acknowledgement of alarms. Second is whether you need an escalation schedule.

With the advent of e-mail to SMS functionality for virtually all smartphones, simple unidirectional alarming has become very common.

Ken Roach said:

Are you already running RSView32 as your HMI system ? RSView32 Messenger is probably what you want to look at for such a system, rather than WebServer.

The 800 pound gorilla of the remote alarming world is Win911.

But there are quite a few other ways to implement remote alarming.

The first question you should ask yourself is whether or not you also need remote reset/acknowledgement of alarms. Second is whether you need an escalation schedule.

With the advent of e-mail to SMS functionality for virtually all smartphones, simple unidirectional alarming has become very common.

Click to expand...

Thank you, Ken, for your quick reply! I took a quick look at the RSView32 Messenger document, it seems like the solution I am looking for. But I think my boss is asking me to find a general way to implement the alarm notification instead of relying on one software.

For your another question, yes, we do need remote reset/acknowledgement of alarms and an escalation schedule as well. Thus, could you give me some guidelines I can follow on... Thanks!

What AB system are you using?
I use Control Logix Version 19 and I have an EWeb card installed, and created some logic to send an email to various maintenance personnel regarding alarms etc.. Very easy to,configure I don't have a link for the EWeb card to send you but a quick search on The Knowlegebase should set you up

schui said:

What AB system are you using?
I use Control Logix Version 19 and I have an EWeb card installed, and created some logic to send an email to various maintenance personnel regarding alarms etc.. Very easy to,configure I don't have a link for the EWeb card to send you but a quick search on The Knowlegebase should set you up

Click to expand...

Thank you schui for the EWEB card information. My concern is whether you can reset the alarm remotely with the EWEB card. Thanks.

Never looked in to that
There are a number of safety issues to consider before persuing this avenue
Always better to have someone on site to assess the situation
On the off shift we can log into the machine PC via Teamviewer and assist the operator over the phone, but I don't know your application it maybe a whole lot different than mine

Depending on which AB plc you have you could just use the email function to send a email to 1 or multiple phones.

Use the email function to send the alarm to a concentrator address and have a rulem to forward that email to specifc phones on specific days and hours aor type of message / alarm.

you can also email to sms by using the email to sms for the specific carrier. I use verizon for my personal and corporate phone. I can send emails to the concentrator address and have it forward to [email protected] and it will come to phone in the form of a text or I can have it forward to [email protected] and it will be a standard email.

This can be a very powerful and cost effective solution in many cases.

If you are using a ControlLogix PLC and it has has an ethernet card in it you can program the PLC to send brief email and text messages. Most phone providers allow you to send email as a text message by using phonenumber @ cellproviderservice dot com.

There is a technote in the Allen Bradley Knowledgebase at AB.com on how to do this. You will need a tech-connect contract to access the KB and RSLogix5000 PLC programming software.

Edit to add: Also posted in your thread at Mr. PLC.

There is another HMI package out there called VTS. It has an addon package for a dialer system that works seamlessly with the HMI alarms, they also have a add-on for blackberry WAP server. I love their product, the HMI talks to anything, the price is right, and they are out of Halifax NS. Check them out, google Trihedral VTS.