Telecommunication industry is a vital and essential part of personal and professional life with many mission critical components running in the background to ensure reliable connectivity and service availability.
In order to increase network availability to more customers, telecom operators have stay on top of their game operating the sites in very remote areas to keep up with demand. A critical component of these sites is power generators as a main and/or backup source of energy. As useful as these generators are, maintaining their health and efficiency can be a tall order due to extreme weather conditions in the area and the difficulty of accessing these generators manually due to their location. Some power generators demand a snowmobile, boat, or helicopter as the main vehicle of travel.
Faulty generators can be a hazard for both workers and the communities that rely on them for power. Keeping them safe and secure must always be a top priority. But the previously mentioned logistical problems can make manual maintenance a real challenge.
A case study that surveyed multiple remote installations found that the most common costly issues and problems that persist at such sites due to these circumstances are:
- Lack of visibility regarding the fuel level of the generator
This could be the cause for many unwanted and unnecessary cost burden such as multiple site visits and frequent service calls.
- Lack of visibility regarding the fuel leakage
Fuel leakage in the generator could only be detected physically, which could lead to running out of fuel unexpectedly, as well as harming the local environment.
- Lack of clarity on the generator’s fuel consumption
Another fuel related costly issue that could lead into many problems such as power generator’s inefficient performance, added fuel cost, environmental impact, unnecessary added preemptive service calls, and even generator failure.
- No real-time visibility of generator battery life
This won’t allow the operators to detect generator battery failures as soon as they occur resulting in operational interruptions and backlogs
- Inefficient block heater runtimes that go under the radar for longer than they should
The common quick fix for such issue is to run generator block heaters longer than expected, just to be on the safe side. This will results in faster depreciation and life expectancy of the unit, as well as additional operational cost and higher environmental impact, all of which could be prevented.
The Cutting-Edge Alternative
The best way to handle these situations is to employ PLC’s AI-based real-time Remote Monitoring and Control (RMC). Our technologies allow you to retain full control and oversight over your operations without having to expend so much energy and money to do so in person. Generator monitoring gives you access to energy utilization and consumption data that gives customers a better gauge of the cost-effectiveness of their sites. This data is transmitted in real time thanks to an electronic meter reading system, and it’s made visible through our client access portal.
Our generator monitoring solutions are viable on both intelligent and legacy generators. These tools help add better context to capacity planning based on generator load. They also allow for generators to be tested remotely, making it easier to schedule maintenance alerts.
The effects of generator monitoring are felt soon after implementation. Once the solutions are full entrenched in your ecosystem, operational inefficiencies will be identified much quicker than they would be otherwise. Identifying these problems earlier can save a significant amount of money for the customer and allow for a deeper level of control over the inner workings of each remote site.
Bottomline
RMC is quicker, less costly, and more accurate than manual tracking. PLC has delivered high quality solutions to over 10,000 sites around the world. The company was borne out of a desire to provide Telecom companies, data centres and other focus industries with better support and tools to make their systems more reliable, and our commitment to that goal has not wavered in the years since.
PLC Group’s RMC solutions are applicable to the following industries:
- Telecom
- Data Centers
- Tower Companies
- Critical Facilities
- Oil and Gas companies
Innovation keeps businesses in the game. Contact us for more information on how to streamline your business efficiently.
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