Suggestions for remote alarming?

sparkie

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So I'm looking at putting in a cellular alarm. I'll have about 4-6 alarms, and I would like to send out text messages to a list of phone numbers. An email wouldn't be too shabby either.

Carrier will be verizon

I'm fine with discrete IO to trigger the notifier, but I think modbus or such would be fantastic to just trigger it over serial.

Added bonus: I'm trying extra hard to NOT install a 24V psu if I can get around it, so 120V IO would be even better.

Any suggestions?
 
I use Red Lion HMI to do this through whatever internet access I can tie it to. Red Lion offers a cellular modem module but I have no direct experience using it. I have a thread somewhere in the forum with an example program that includes screens that allow the operator to edit the lists of emails and phones to which alarms are sent.
 
I'm in a similar position where I want to get rid of a paging system towards mobile phones and the solution I am leaning towards is to get a serial GSM modem and have the PLC send the messages directly via it.
 
I have done this before, it does the work well but the way I made it is kind of creepy. I was able to reading data from HMI into my App (made it with any programming language in my case I used C# ) which I use AT COMMAND to send SMSs via a GSM Modem connected to the PC
 
I'm looking at something like this:

https://www.alliedelec.com/product/phoenix-contact/2313513/70208389/

I'm a bit unsure about it, though it does have 120V inputs as well. I'm trying to keep all the IO 120V to reduce a failure point. This is going in a fairly harsh environment. Remember that pump house post a while back? Time to start the designs on it.

According to Phoenix Contact, "This product is obsolete or pending obsolescence."

Is there a PLC involved at that location?
 
According to Phoenix Contact, "This product is obsolete or pending obsolescence."

Is there a PLC involved at that location?

There will be a PLC. An HMI is absolutely not an option. It will HAVE to be an SMS module of some sort. I'm fine using data / hardwired IO / etc, but this must be accomplished by a notifier of some sort. If I have to I can probably use the email feature of the productivity software through a mobile gateway and send an email to the phone number, but once again, without an HMI configuration can get very messy here.

I know the limitations sucks here, but hey, if they want to go this route, no problem.

I should have mentioned that I'm using an AD P1k PLC and the carrier is verizon.

Another EDIT: Even some keywords to look for would help on this one. I see a lot of names, and there is a lot of overlap with the fire alarm/security industry in terms of key words.
 
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Win 911 is what we use with factory talk. Win 911 then connects to your email server and sends a text message out. Better check with Verizon however, we used to use a free program to receive the emails on cell phone but it became unreliable, turns out they were turning the bandwith down on the free service. we now have to pay for a service to convert the email to text.
 
Okay, so no HMI, how about a virtual HMI (only visible when connected through web browser)?

https://www.redlion.net/product/protocol-converter-data-logger-virtual-hmi-vga-ext-temp#

And add this for cellular comms:
https://www.redlion.net/accessory/xchspa-cellular-modem-option-card#

That brings the cost up to $2000, but you could get the development done pretty quick starting with the example in my earlier link. The DataStation can talk to any PLC, no native driver for the P1K but Modbus TCP works great with the Red Lion gear.

We see a lot of Sensahpone dialers connected to landlines, and they are pretty reliable and easy to set up. They offer a cellular model too, but I have not used it:

https://www.sensaphone.com/products/sensaphone-sentinel-monitoring-system-with-cellular-modem.php

The Sensaphone would require wiring your signals which has its pros and cons.
The Data
 
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Okay, so no HMI, how about a virtual HMI (only visible when connected through web browser)?

https://www.redlion.net/product/protocol-converter-data-logger-virtual-hmi-vga-ext-temp#

And add this for cellular comms:
https://www.redlion.net/accessory/xchspa-cellular-modem-option-card#

That brings the cost up to $2000, but you could get the development done pretty quick starting with the example in my earlier link. The DataStation can talk to any PLC, no native driver for the P1K but Modbus TCP works great with the Red Lion gear.

We see a lot of Sensahpone dialers connected to landlines, and they are pretty reliable and easy to set up. They offer a cellular model too, but I have not used it:

https://www.sensaphone.com/products/sensaphone-sentinel-monitoring-system-with-cellular-modem.php

The Sensaphone would require wiring your signals which has its pros and cons.
The Data

I was looking at fleetzoom. It seems a lot cheaper than the sensaphone for their cellular version. As far as hardwiring goes, I have less than 10 alarms, so that is the way to go, I believe. If I put something in with a data connection it becomes a magic black box, but if they can troubleshoot and verify they are getting voltage to the device, it all becomes much easier. With the changes in technology, there really aren't so many notifiers like that on the market anymore.

As you suggested, it is mostly mobile gateways and such. Some have notification capabilities, etc built in, which is great as well, I just don't have 2k in the project budget to drop on one of these.
 
The Productivity Suite software has been updated to do secure email now. Authentication and Encryption is now done in the PLC.
https://www.automationdirect.com/videos/video?videoToPlay=P5i_4k7AcPI

https://www.techwyse.com/blog/online-innovation/send-sms-through-email-to-usa-and-canada/
Verizon – [email protected]

Hope this helps you out.
Regards,

Thanks a bunch. I'm glad they updated the software to allow you to change your smtp port! A lot of smtp servers block port 25. In the past, the way we always did it in the past was to use a local smtp server and have it push out the email based on the intended recipients carrier. I wasn't want to go that route with this one so that troubleshooting can be eased in the future.
 
I was looking at fleetzoom. It seems a lot cheaper than the sensaphone for their cellular version. As far as hardwiring goes, I have less than 10 alarms, so that is the way to go, I believe. If I put something in with a data connection it becomes a magic black box, but if they can troubleshoot and verify they are getting voltage to the device, it all becomes much easier. With the changes in technology, there really aren't so many notifiers like that on the market anymore.

As you suggested, it is mostly mobile gateways and such. Some have notification capabilities, etc built in, which is great as well, I just don't have 2k in the project budget to drop on one of these.


what does fleetzoom charge per month?
 
$30/month for all services billable annually. Perfectly reasonable. Plus you get a purpose-made product with support.
 

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