Could you explain the parameters on the "System Wide Settings" page?
System Name
This text box allows you to change the name of your company which will be used in notifications. Note that any changes will not become effective until the next time you log in.
Time Zone
Your selection will control the times stated on the web site.
Even if it is not currently Daylight Savings Time, if your locality observes Daylight Savings time you should select Respects Daylight Savings Time. When Daylight Savings time does change, the times stated on the web site will be adjusted accordingly.
Behavior on Return to Normal
After an alarm, the RTU will always notify the web site when the condition has returned to normal. This setting determines whether users will:
- No Action taken on Return to Normal - System will ignore the Return to Normal information
- Notify On Return To Normal - will receive notifications of the alarm condition having returned to normal
- Return To Normal Clears Alarms - when the RTU advises the web site that the alarm condition has returned to normal, the alarm is completely cleared, and no additional notifications will occur as a result of that alarm event, regardless of whether the alarm has been acknowledged or not.
Phone PIN Required
This setting determines whether you wish users to be required to enter their own unique Phone PIN in order to hear and acknowledge phone notifications and to call in to the toll free phone number. If so, you would need to enter the specific Phone PIN for each user on the Add/Edit Users page. One important reason for invoking PINS is to provide a more complete audit trail in the Events Reports as to which user received what notifications by what means at what time, as well as when they acknowledged an a given alarm
Area-wide Power Failure
Sometimes an area wide power failure will occur, resulting in separate power failure alarm notifications for each RTU whose power has failed. In large systems, this can be many RTUs. A special AlarmAgent feature consolidates such multiple power failure alarm notifications, in order to avoid a needless and undesirable proliferation of such notifications. If the number of simultaneous power failure alarms reaches or exceeds the number you enter, then a single area wide alarm notification will be created, identifying as many as five RTUs by name. If there are more than five RTUs experiencing the power failure, the notification will advise that there are additional RTUs with the power failure. Acknowledging an area wide power failure alarm acknowledges all current power failure alarms in the company. To identify the specific RTUs experiencing the area wide power failure beyond the maximum of five RTUs which will be specifically identified in notification messages, users should access the web site. All the relevant RTUs will appear on a list on the System Dashboard.
Snooze Alarm
If you turn on the Snooze Alarm function, then when the selected snooze period elapses, a new set of notifications will occur, if the RTU has not informed the web site that the condition has returned to normal as of that time. If the Snooze Alarm function is turned on, then users who are notified of alarms will be given the choice to acknowledge the current alarm without Snooze, versus acknowledging the current alarm with Snooze. You should carefully consider whether you want to activate Snooze Alarms. While their potential benefits are clear in some situations, they can also cause an undesirable proliferation of alarm notifications. The range of allowable settings is 4 to 48 hours. The default is 4 hours.
Duration of Acknowledged Alarms on the System Dashboard
The System Dashboard includes a listing of alarms that have been acknowledged. This setting determines how long after acknowledgement a given alarm remains on the Dashboard.
Company ID
This is the unique identification number assigned to your company. You will need this number as the login ID when using AlarmAgent.info.
System Access Code
This is essentially a company-wide Phone PIN, provided by RACO. Any user who calls the toll-free phone number to check the status of alarms in your system will be required to enter this System Access Code. This identifies your company to the web site and associated phone system, so that secure information regarding your company can be accessed. Because the System Access Code consists of seven digits, it is easiest to remember if users think of it as a “phone number”.
Note: This code is also used as the password for AlarmAgent.info.
Message of the Day
This is essentially a free-form “bulletin board”. Whatever you enter here will be included on the System Dashboard for view by all users who log onto the web site.
Logo
Browse for a graphic file that will be shown on the System Dashboard. This graphic is often the company logo. To completely remove the graphic, use the Delete button. The suggested pixel size for the logo is (500w X 250h).
Sort Reports by Newest First
Make this selection based on how you would like to view the data in AlarmAgent Reports. If you would like to view the most current data at the top of the data columns, select Yes. If you would like to view oldest data in you query first, then select No.
Allow User Polls
If you want to allow Users in your company to poll the AlarmAgent RTU, then select Yes. Select No if you do not want users to be able to poll your units.
Test Call Notification Phone Number
In some situations it is desirable for someone at the RTU site to be able to invoke a test transmission in order to verify that the system is working.. This can be particularly useful at the time of RTU installation; as long as the RTU has already had its service activated and has been imported into your system.
Important Note: Before anyone can use this test call feature, on the System Wide Settings page you must have entered the phone number (usually a cell phone number) of the individual who will be receiving the test call.
Note: This phone number cannot be configured to call a toll-fee number.
With that special notification number entered, when the installer presses the Test Call Pushbutton on the RTU, a special confirmation call will be placed to the number you have entered. Please note that this special notification phone number will not be included in any actual alarm notifications.
WARNING:
If someone presses the Test Call Pushbutton before the RTU has been imported and a Test Call Notification Phone Number has been entered at the web site, the RTU will disable the Test Call feature. This will be indicated by the associated Test Call LED on the RTU turning off. If this happens, it will be necessary to call RACO’s AlarmAgent Customer Service to restore the Test Call functionality.
Please note that the test call feature is not to be used on a regular ongoing basis. Ongoing verification of the functional link between the RTU and the web site occurs daily via the “Watchdog” alarm feature. If a scheduled report is not received as expected at the web site, a special Watchdog (missing scheduled report) notification will occur.