March 15th, 2010
Yesterday there was an article in the NY Times, “Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly“, describing the difficulty cities and municipalities are beginning to face: how to maintain and upgrade aging sewer and water systems. In some cases, especially along the eastern seabord, these systems can be 100+ years old. The article describes the frustrations of government leaders in raising the revenue to undertake costly renovations.
This article has got me thinking of the value Microtel autodialers can offer in early warning of impending failures, and how adding monitoring technology to these aging systems can help city leaders manage these resources. Newer cellular technologies allow solutions such as the CellStat Voice Dialer to be deployed in remote or difficult to reach assets, such as small lift stations at the edges of communities. A simple pressure or float sensor, coupled to a remote monitoring solution, is often all that is needed to detect and warn of a pump failure–early. With a prepaid cellular service plan such as the ones offered with Microtel’s cellular remote monitoring solutions cities can monitor for just pennies a day.
This is something to think about and consider as communities wrestle with this difficult problem in the years ahead.
Tags: remote monitoring, US Water system
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March 5th, 2010
Just a note to all our partners and customers in the upper Midwest: Microtel products will be exhibited by our partner, Tri-State Pump, Inc, http://www.tristatepump.com/ at the upcoming Wisconsin Rural Water Association’s 22nd Annual Technical Conference March 23 – 26 in Green Bay, WI.
We are very honored to be represented by Tri-State Pump, Inc in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Bruce Bottko and his team have installed many DialStat and CellStat projects and are very knowledgeable. Please stop by their booth at the show to see the latest from Microtel, as well as discuss any upcoming projects you may have.
Tags: Partners, Trade Shows
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February 11th, 2010
Microtel Links For Web Site:
As Microtel continues an ongoing task of keeping our web site up to date, I have noticed that a lot of our REPS and OEMS that have web sites do not have a link that goes to the Microtel web site. Perhaps this is just an oversight and your person in charge of your web site missed that task.
It only helps both you and Microtel to have this link. Microtel will also link your web site from our site once we have received all information to complete the task.
If you have a web site please add a link to www.microtel-inc.com for additional information on the procedure to add a link please email support@microtel-inc.com with your questions.
The WHO DAT Nation:
In my last news letter to everyone I stated the following:
“Just as the New Orleans Saints and Fans have never given up for the last 43 years, this should encourage you as a REP, OEM, or CUSTOMER of Microtel, Inc to never give up on something you believe in. It is my hope that you truly believe in Microtel Products and the Team that stands behind Microtel. Even if you are not a Saints Fan, I have to think that in some way this Team has inspired you.”
As a life time member of the WHO DAT Nation and a victim of Katrina, I truly believe that the New Orleans Saints have proven to most of us that Giving Up is NOT an Option.
HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!! The Party Continues….
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January 16th, 2010
Have you seen the AT&T commercials featuring Luke Wilson responding to Verizon’s “There’s a Map for that” campaign? Confused about which is right? We hope to help clear up any confusion about cellular options for SCADA, remote monitoring, or other M2M applications.
Verizon claims better coverage nationwide than AT&T, yet AT&T disputes this. Who is right? Turns out they both are, and the reason has a very important implication for your choice in which type of cellular service is best for your remote monitoring application.
Verizon has better 3G coverage; AT&T has better 2G.
What does this mean?
3G is the newer protocol used for data transmission via cellular networks. Think web browsing and Smart Phones, such as the Blackberry or iPhone. 2G relates to the extensive Voice and SMS coverage that AT&T (correctly) boasts. It turns out that 2G coverage is more extensive and much more likely to exist in remote areas in which most M2M applications take place. Also, most alert messages can be delivered in a short message–perfect match for SMS.
Microtel uses cellular Voice and SMS to transmit alarms from its CellStat and DigiStat remote monitoring solutions. Since SMS is supported by both the more current 2G and next generation cellular systems such as 3G, Microtel M2M solutions are assured the same coverage as that promoted by Luke Wilson in those AT&T commercials: coverage in North America is nearly Everywhere!
Another consideration when choosing an M2M solution: cost. SMS, for example, is very cost effective for alarm notification. With the Prepaid cellular plans included with Microtel’s CellStat dialer users only pay for alarm transmissions; there are NO monthly costs or contracts beyond that. With the 3G Data plans, however, expect to pay at least $30 to $60 a month, with long-term contracts, to monitor some remote equipment.
Does that make $en$e?
Tags: 2G, 3G, Cellular plans, Costs, M2M
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December 21st, 2009
To all of our loyal customers and partners we are proud to announce we are launching a new tool to stay in touch with all of you via the web–the NEW Microtel Blog. This is an enhancement of our weekly newsletter, in that now you can easily comment on the topics we send out.
We want to hear from you.
We want to know what problems you are trying to solve. What can Microtel do to help?
Do you have any Testimonials you would like to share with us?
For now we would just like to say Happy Holidays from all of us at Microtel!
Tags: Microtel, Testimonials
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