Temperature@lert Blog - USB & WiFi Temperature Monitoring with Email Alerts

How your holiday vacation affects IT equipment

Most likely you are traveling this holiday season either for Christmas or New Years. Your coworkers and friends are also likely to take a little time away from the office to spend with family and friends.  With almost everyone away (from the office) for the holiday, there is really nothing that prevents your company's IT equipment, or worse yet, your company's inventory from becoming damaged due to changes in temperature.

While away from the office, it may seem like you have no control over the health of your IT system or inventory.  This just isn't the case anymore. IT professionals have been using our device for over 3 years now and have received a multitude of alerts (email, SMS, phone) during the holiday season. These alerts have allowed our customers to make a quick phone call to quickly determine the problem and fix it before any serious damage occurs. While yes, it is still inconvenient to call building maintenance to turn on/off the HVAC system during the holiday season, that call may save the entire company days of work replicating data or replacing damaged hardware (and may end up getting you that company bonus for saving the day). 

Let's keep these holidays merry by protecting our assets while on vacation.

Click here to check out our USB, WiFi, and Cellular Devices.

New for 2009: Temperature@lert Cellular Edition

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Temperature@lert, a leading provider of low cost, high-performance temperature monitoring solutions, has announced a product enhancement on its popular temperature monitoring system. The new Temperature@lert Cellular Edition monitors the ambient air temperature and sends emails, text messages and telephone alerts the moment the temperature rises or falls outside of acceptable range. Temperature@lert Cellular Edition is easy to set up: simply plug it into power and it immediately begins transmitting temperature readings over cellular phone networks to the Temperature@lert 24/7 monitoring system and dashboard website. No Internet or phone line is needed.

Temperature@lert Cellular Edition helps doctors maintain the temperature for life-saving medicines and helps restaurateurs maintain proper food storage temperatures. Use Temperature@lert to monitor your server room so expensive equipment doesn't melt down. A new Temperature@lert iPhone app allows you to see the current temperature of all of your Cellular Edition units instantly, anywhere, anytime.

This is what makes Temperature@lert Cellular Edition the solution that you should select for your temperature monitoring:

• The temperature sensor is accurate to within ±0.5°C and can report temperatures from 55°C to +125°C (-67°F to +257°F).
• View temperature history and current conditions from any computer on the Internet.
• Temperature monitoring continues even if the power goes out for weeks.
• You pay only $399 per unit.
• All-inclusive wireless monitoring plans start at $15 a month and you do not have to sign any contracts or long-term commitments.

For high-res graphics, please email sarah@temperaturealert.com. Temperature@lert also produces WiFi and USB editions.

Temperature@lert WiFi Edition's Embedded Linux OS Easily Customized

Holly Dolezalek of Processor Magazine (http://www.processor.com) recently highlighted the fact that the Temperature@lert WiFi Edition wireless temperature monitor runs Linux which means this low-cost, high-performance device can easily be customized to fit your exact needs:

The company’s most recent release is the WiFi Edition of its monitoring product. Temperature@lert WiFi Edition is different from other, similar wireless-based temperature monitoring products in that it’s based on open-source software. “It’s essentially a mini-computer that runs Linux,” Schechter says.

It’s also a Wi-Fi client that monitors air temperature (between -40 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit) and sends emails to designated recipients if the temperature rises above or sinks below designated setpoints. It does so through a 6-foot external sensor that can connect wirelessly or through an Ethernet cable to the network. The device resembles a wireless router and measures 1 x 2.75 x 3.75 inches in size. The wireless edition connects automatically to any network in range.

Out of the box without customization, the WiFi Edition will email designated users every day with a summary of the indoor weather in the data center, including the high, low, and average temperature for the day. It also has XML and text log file feeds and a zooming feature so that when looking at a whole-day graph—which usually looks like a flat line—users can zoom in on any blips in the temperature to investigate those events easily.

Visit Processor.com to read the full article. Or, check out the details of the Temperature@lert WiFi unit.

Have you customized the WiFi unit for your own needs? Let us know and you could win a free t-shirt!

Budget-friendly Server Room Cooling Methods

Having trouble maintaining the proper temperature in your server room? Looking for low-cost, high performance ways to improve temperature monitoring and alerting? Take a peek at this recent article in Processor.com where Temperature@lert CEO Harry Schechter shares some practical solutions for budget-friendly server room cooling methods:

Server rooms and data centers in search of budget-friendly cooling methods don’t have to dig deeply to strike oil—there are plenty of solutions available for environments of all sizes. The

• Replace or retrofit existing cabinets with a ducted air approach. 
• If there is open access between existing racks, add air dividers and front-to-rear air dams (foam weather stripping). 
• Use virtualization to consolidate hardware and possibly even shut down servers when usage is low. 
• Consider using outside air cooling, depending on location, through the use of air-side or water-side economizers. 
• Consider sending commodity-type functions (such as email) out of house to lessen the burden on in-house equipment. 
• Design a plan based on measurements and metrics and be sure to install metering systems on the power feeds to the IT and cooling equipment. 
• Update outdated facilities equipment. Newer equipment is more efficient and may qualify for government rebates.
• Incorporate a high performance, low cost temperature monitoring device such as Temperature@lert USB Edition (full disclosure: we added this shameless plug in ourselves!).

For more tips, read the full article at Processor.com.

How to get any Temperature@lert product for free

Hint: It's not a coupon code and it's not by remitting an IOU from California. However, it is by getting to know each other a little bit better. Read on to find out how to get any Temperature@lert product for free...

Clearly, we wouldn't be in business if we gave away all of our products for free. However, we also wouldn't be in business if we didn't know much about you and your temperature monitoring needs. So, here's the deal: Each week, we pick one order at random and refund the entire purchase price. That's right - the entire purchase price - no matter how large - is refunded. Simply complete the one minute survey by following the link on the order confirmation page after you checkout. It's that easy.

Good luck!

Temperature@lert USB Installs in Under a Minute

It can probably be installed even faster if you're not holding the video camera. Check it out:

There's a New Face at Temperature@lert

Welcome Stephen Beard!

Stephen Beard has joined us for the summer to apply his extensive knowledge of Linux and embedded systems by improving the performance of the T@ WiFi device. Stephen will be a senior next year at California Polytechnic in San Louis Obispo.

 

He programs by one motto, "never quit" b/c " for almost any problem you encounter, you can methodically go about narrowing down and finding the solution". Please join me in welcoming Stephen to Temperature@lert!

Temperature@lert Enters its Fifth Year!

We're excited to be entering our fifth year of being in business! In that time, we have:

• Saved tens of millions of dollars of IT equipment from melt down
• Honed the reliability of our flagship product, Temperature@lert USB Edition (without ever issuing a price increase I might add)
• Introduced two new ways to easily monitor temperature with our wireless products
• Been certified by Dell / SPEC POWER as the ONLY compliant temperature monitoring device with 64-bit drivers
• Received less than 20 product returns (yes, less than returns 20 in 5 years and tens-of-thousands sold!)
• Acted as "software curators" by not allowing the software to bloat with unnecessary features
• Managed to turn a profit without outside funding
• Responded to most support requests within MINUTES
• Adopted environmentally friendlier business and manufacturing practices

But, most importantly, we couldn't have done it without you, our customers. Thank you for your support in making Temperature@lert the easiest to use, most reliable and cost effective solution for temperature monitoring/alerting.

So, keep the lines of communication open, let us know what else we can do to improve Temperature@lert, and, of course, please tell your friends and colleagues. Here's to many more years!

Follow Us On Twitter

Temperature@lert is now on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tempalertharry

What's the next big thing in temperature sensors?

We're leading the charge at the Sensor Expo & Conference in Chicago, IL. Self powered sensors that run indefinately are on the horizon.

Find one of our team members there for free Temp@lert USB, WiFi, and Cellular products and cash prizes.