Optimizing Room Alert Performance: A Best Practices Guide For Monitors & Sensors

Keeping your critical infrastructure environment within a safe operating range is crucial for maintaining uptime and preventing costly unplanned outages. The all-inclusive Room Alert ecosystem delivers a reliable and versatile solution for monitoring a wide range of environmental conditions. Our Room Alert guide explores best practices to ensure optimal performance of your Room Alert hardware, maximizing its effectiveness in safeguarding your vital equipment.

Understanding Room Alert Products

Room Alert offers a comprehensive line of Room Alert monitors, each designed to address the specific needs of various environments. All our current Room Alert monitors support secure monitoring via HTTPS, TLS, and SNMP v3 and offer expansion with external sensors based on the customer’s exact needs.

• Room Alert 32S: The Room Alert 32S is our flagship monitor, that is designed for high capacity monitoring. This monitor proactively tracks several environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and power along with over 30 additional sensors and conditions (eight digital sensor ports, sixteen switch sensor ports, two analog sensor ports, two relay output ports, and two Light Tower & Relay Adaptor ports). The Room Alert 32S is offered in bundled configurations with pre-selected sensors. Our Responder bundle solution makes the Room Alert 32S ideal for large-scale applications such as larger data centers, server rack monitoring, larger facilities that need to monitor multiple factors, and enterprise level installations.
• Room Alert 12SR: This Room Alert 12SR is our mid-range monitor that accurately oversees temperature and up to eight additional conditions (three digital sensor ports, four switch sensor ports, one analog sensor port, one relay output port, one Light Tower & Relay Adaptor port). The Room Alert 12SR provides a rackmount solution for environment monitoring, however the same abilities are available in the Room Alert 12S, which can sit on a table or attach to a wall or ceiling with its included wall mount. Just like the Room Alert 32S, the Room Alert 12SR is also available in multiple bundled configurations that allow you to purchase the monitor plus various sensors that can easily monitor multiple factors right out of the box. The Room Alert 12S/SR is optimal for data centers, server rooms, warehouses, centralized facilities locations and more.
• Room Alert 3S: The Room Alert 3S is a budget-friendly option that monitors temperature and up to two additional conditions (one digital sensor port and one switch sensor port). It’s ideal for monitoring smaller spaces like telecom closets, server rooms, individual cold storage units or hard-to-reach locations with limited space.

Each Room Alert monitor can connect to various sensors to detect a wide range of environmental conditions, including:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Heat Index
• Dew Point
• Power Failure
• Water Leak Detection
• Smoke/ Fire
• Motion Detection
• Air Flow
• Network Camera Status

Planning Your Room Alert Installation

Before deploying your Room Alert system, take some time to plan and strategize for optimal placement and configuration.

• Identify Critical Areas: The first step is to pinpoint the areas within your environment that are most critical to monitor. These zones may house important servers, sensitive electronics or high-value inventory. They also may be areas that are consistently occupied, in which case occupant safety should be a top priority.
• Select Appropriate Sensors: Choose the sensors that correspond to the environmental conditions you need to monitor in each critical area. If you are new to environment monitoring and unsure of where to start, we strongly advise having temperature and humidity sensors in all facilities, regardless of size or kind because with just those 2 conditions covered, you are already helping to prevent half, 50%, of all costly environmental outages.
• Consider Sensor Placement & Cable Length: Strategic sensor placement is vital for accurate data collection. Additionally, it is important to consider cable lengths. Many of our digital sensors come in varying cable lengths: 25 ft / 7.6m, 50 ft / 15.3m and 100 ft / 30.5 m. Ensure sensor cables are long enough to reach the monitor without excess slack, which can create tripping hazards.
• Network Connectivity: Room Alert monitors connect to your network via Ethernet. Ensure that your network has sufficient bandwidth to accommodate the data traffic generated by the monitors and sensors.

Installation Best Practices

Once you have finalized your plan, proceed with the installation, adhering to these best practices we recommend: 

• Secure Power Source: Use a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to safeguard your Room Alert monitor and sensors during power outages. This will ensure that your monitoring system remains operational even in the event of a power failure.
• Testing and Verification: Following installation, thoroughly test your Room Alert system to confirm that all components are functioning correctly.

Configuration and Management

After a successful installation, configure your Room Alert system to match your specific requirements.

• Set Alert Thresholds: Define the acceptable ranges for each environmental condition you are monitoring. Room Alert monitors will trigger alerts when sensor readings fall outside these predefined thresholds.
• Configure Notifications: Determine how you want to receive alerts. Options include via custom push notifications in the mobile app, native SMS text messages, email or more.
• Utilize Management Software: Users can manage all of their Room Alert hardware through the mobile app, Room Alert Account in their web browser, Room Alert Manager software locally on their network, or the built-in web interface on every Room Alert monitor. Customers can also integrate their Room Alert devices into their preferred SNMP program over SNMP v3. (SNMP v1 traps and SNMP v2c also available).

By following the best practices outlined in this guide, you can optimize the performance of your Room Alert monitors and sensors, ensuring that your critical infrastructure environment is protected from potential threats. By carefully planning your installation, selecting appropriate sensors, and configuring your system correctly, you can maximize the value of your Room Alert investment and safeguard the assets that are essential to your operations.

Take the Next Step in Environment Monitoring

Don’t leave your critical infrastructure at risk. Start optimizing your environment monitoring today with Room Alert’s comprehensive solutions. No matter what type of facility, or size, you need to protect, Room Alert has you covered! Email us at Sales@RoomAlert.com to talk to a dedicated Room Alert Product Specialist and find the perfect Room Alert system for your facility.