The Benefits of Cloud-Based Temperature Monitoring

Cloud-based temperature monitoring should be an important part of an overall monitoring and security plan for any business.

Many companies will remotely monitor their networks for intrusion or traffic problems, and will also monitor alarm systems for entrance or after-hours motion. Physical security is definitely a key component for every company’s business continuity plan, but there are more than just unauthorized entry concerns that could impact your business.

Environment factors always come into play, and many times they aren’t easily detectable or controllable. That’s where cloud-based temperature and environment monitoring can help provide alerts and indications of problems. Becoming aware of a potential problem proactively, instead of re-actively, can mean the difference between a few dollars on a repair instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars or more lost due to downtime.

Accessing current conditions online through a web portal can give businesses a quick snapshot of conditions of all their facilities, no matter where they are.  Tracking those conditions over time and viewing trend graphs can also help give a better overview of where and when problems might occur.

Needing to monitor your temperature, humidity, flood, power, smoke, and more isn’t specific to just one or two industries or situations. Here are a few examples where cloud-based temperature monitoring can have a big impact.

Remote Unstaffed Locations

Knowing the temperature and flood status (among others) of remote locations is critical to making sure your company maintains maximum uptime. Small remote data centers, antenna installations, power or telecom vaults, and storage units all have the potential to be damaged or disrupted by temperature spikes. Underground facilities such as the previously mentioned telecom or power vaults can be knocked offline if even a slight bit of water is introduced as well.

Being alerted to quickly rising temperature, or water detected on the floor, can help get someone onsite to help fix the issue right away. That’s far more preferable than suddenly noticing the entire site is down and affecting customers.

Cold Storage

It goes without saying that a temperature change of even a few degrees can have a massive impact on cold storage facilities. Food, for example, needs to be kept within a very strict temperature range to prevent spoilage. A few degrees higher than what’s allowable can result in stored food being thrown out, or even worse, unknowingly used in a restaurant which could lead to sick customers.

Medical labs and pharmaceutical facilities also need to keep materials under strict temperature guidelines as well. Samples, medication, and materials must be watched closely and monitoring their refrigerated or frozen status is key. Having temperature alerts emailed or sent out via SMS to engineers and techs allows for immediate response to help resolve potential cold storage problems. Companies with multiple facilities can log into an online portal for a quick overview of conditions across all of their locations.

Equipment Closets

While equipment closets may not be remote, or hold temperature-sensitive food or medicine, they certainly hold important network equipment. It’s likely that every MSP or provider has had a few clients who complain of constantly failing equipment. When the vendor gets onsite to troubleshoot, the client points them to the closet and they’re met with a blast of hot air as soon as the door is opened.

Because they’re closets, employees aren’t constantly in and out like they would be in a server room or data center. They aren’t aware of just how much temperatures can fluctuate, or how high they can get. Having a small device that can report on temperature conditions through a cloud interface can pay for itself almost immediately; servers, switches, and routers won’t need constant replacing due to operating in unknown high temperature.

Cloud-based temperature monitoring and the Internet of Things

The explosion of available Internet bandwidth in recent years has allowed companies to monitor their processes, networks, and facilities more than ever. Hospitals are now remotely monitoring patient vitals, manufacturers are monitoring all the points on their supply chain, and any business can now get an overview of all of their facilities.

Being able to instantly see the environmental conditions of your company’s facilities from any mobile device or computer can help prevent disasters before they strike. Or at the very least, give you advance notice to help you prepare as much as possible. When an event does occur, it’s going to lead to some revenue loss – and it’s not a matter of “if”, it’s “when”. It’s far better to invest in a cloud-based temperature monitoring system that will help minimize those losses rather than look at days of downtime and the associated financial losses that come with it.

Every smart business continuity plan should already include a cloud-based temperature monitoring service. If your business doesn’t have one, you’ll discover just how easy and inexpensive it is to set one up. Otherwise, you’ll learn just how expensive it will be to recover when an environment related outage hits your company.