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Sending Global Alarms and E-mail Notification of Tracker Alarms to a Remote Workstation

Dan Berg
  • Updated

Issue:

Sending Global Alarms and E-mail Notification of Tracker Alarms to a Remote Workstation.

 

Resolution:

Sending Global alarms is only possible through the modem or LAN connection.

The PC serial connection cannot email Global alarms.

 

 

Topics: Discussion and setup of Global Alarms and e-mail alarm notification from Tracker to a remote PC workstation. See WAVE 58663 for connection with modem or LAN. Note that alarms can also be routed to a pager.

 

 

Summary: Global Alarming allows a single workstation that is running the Tracker PC software to receive alarms from more than one Tracker. Global Alarms can be communicated to the workstation either by a modem or Ethernet connection. The workstation can then provide notification of alarms by e-mail, using Outlook. Global alarming and e-mail notification must be setup with the Tracker PC software and/or at the Tracker operator display. In addition to proper setup it is necessary that: 1) the workstation is running, 2) the Tracker PC software is running. If e-mail notification is desired Outlook must be open as well.

 

 

The Tracker does not have an internal e-mail software application and does not send e-mail messages itself. The e-mail message is sent by the workstation using Outlook e-mail software. An individual workstation can connect to more than one Tracker (but to only one Tracker at time). More than one workstation can connect to an individual Tracker. Global alarms from more than one Tracker can be sent to a one workstation, however, Global alarms from an individual Tracker can be sent to one workstation only. So, even though several workstations may connect to an individual Tracker only one of those workstations can be designated to receive Global alarms and to send e-mails. If that single designated workstation is offline, if the Tracker PC software is not running, or if Outlook is not open, Global alarms will not be delivered and no e-mail notification will be sent, even if other workstations are currently connected to the Tracker and have received alarms directly. Tracker will save Global alarm notifications if it is unable to deliver them to the designated workstation. When the designated workstation becomes available undelivered Global alarms will be relayed to that workstation. If the workstation is unable to send an e-mail because Outlook is not open when a Global alarm is received, the workstation will save the message and send an e-mail notification as soon as Outlook is opened. Global Alarms is set up from the Tracker operator display or the Tracker PC software. E-mail notification is setup using the Tracker PC software.

 

 

If a workstation is receiving Global alarms from more than one Tracker, it is possible to receive alarms from some Trackers by modem and from others by IP/Ethernet at the same time.

 

 

The Tracker PC software must be running but the workstation does not need to be connected to a Tracker in order to receive Global alarms. A workstation can be connected to one Tracker and receive Global alarms from another at the same time.

 

 

 

 

Where to Setup Tracker and Workstation for Global Alarming and for E-mail Notification from Tracker PC Software and the Tracker Operator Display:

 

 

With the PC Software: In the PC software setup for Global alarms and alarm notification is done from the Alarm Log and Setup window. The Alarm Log and Setup window is accessed either by selecting the Alarm Log icon in the Tracker PC software or by selecting Alarm Setup under the setup menu. There are five tabs. Alarm Log, Alarm Setup, Delivery Setup, Global Alarms, and Global Setup. The Alarm. Log tab displays alarms from the Tracker that is currently connected to the Workstation. The Global Alarms tab displays all the alarms that the workstation has received from any of the Trackers that have been set up to send it Global Alarms. The Alarm Setup, Delivery Setup, and Global Setup tabs are used to various aspects of Alarming, Global Alarming, and the routing of Alarm notification.

Alarm Setup tab: Pertains to the Tracker. It determines what kinds of alarms (high, med, or low importance) will be sent to different destinations (pager, or workstation).

Delivery Setup tab: Pertains to the Tracker. It is how (modem or IP/Ethernet) and where (phone number or Workstation ID) the Tracker should deliver Global Alarms.

Global Setup tab: Pertains to the workstation. It enables the workstation to receive Global alarms. It designates a name for a particular workstation (ID #) if it will receive Global alarms via IP/Ethernet, or an incoming modem port on the workstation if it will receive alarms via modem.

 

 

From the Tracker Operator Display: Functions that pertain to the Tracker can be set up at the operator display. Functions that pertain to the workstation alone can only be set up with the PC software. Press Alarm/Setup. There are four options.

Alarm Notification: the options here determine what level alarms (high, med, low importance) will be sent to the workstation, pager, the alarm led, or the alarm contacts.

Pager Setup: enables alarms to a pager, sets the pager type (TAP or Numeric), and sets up the pager number and PID.

Workstation Setup: enables sending Global alarms to a workstation. Select the delivery method (IP/Ethernet or Modem).If the method is IP/Ethernet select the Workstation ID# of the workstation that will receive alarms.(Note that the UDP port of the tracker must also be set for IP/Ethernet delivery of alarms, see below).If the method is modem enter the telephone number of the modem in the workstation. The Tracker modem requires an analog phone line.

Delete All Alarms: deletes all the alarms from the tracker.

 

 

 

 

Setup for Global Alarms via IP/Ethernet:

 

 

Ethernet/IP delivery of Global alarms from a Tracker to a PC workstation requires:1) the workstation has been assigned a Workstation ID #, and that the Tracker has been told the ID # of the workstation to which global alarms will be sent.2) The UDP port # of the workstation and the Tracker must match.3) The workstation must have connected to the Tracker at least once.

 

 

Give the Workstation a Workstation ID: The Workstation ID is used for receipt of Global alarms via Ethernet/IP. Each PC running the Tracker software has a Workstation ID. Individual workstations are given a Workstation ID using the Tracker PC software. This is done by selecting the Global Setup tab of the Alarm Log and Setup window, checking the Enable Global Alarms on Workstation checkbox, and by selecting the desired workstation ID from the pull-down box. This assigns a workstation ID to the current workstation. It is not possible to give the workstation any name other than those in the pull-down. Note: It is possible that more than one workstation will have the same workstation ID. One way this can happen is if the ID is not changed from the default. However, for Global alarms and e-mail notification to work properly, all the workstations that connect to a given tracker should have a unique workstation ID.I f workstation IDs are duplicated and that ID has been designated to receive Global alarms and send e-mail, only one of those. workstations will actually be used. Global alarms will not be received, and E-mails will not originate from all the workstations with the designated workstation ID. It is possible that a workstation that has been getting alarms and sending e-mail notifications will no longer do so if another workstation connects and gives itself the same ID. There will be no way to tell that this has happened from the original workstation in this case delivery of Global alarms and notification by e-mail can fail.

 

 

UDP port: Ethernet/IP connection to Tracker and the delivery of Global alarms requires that the UDP port be the same on the Tracker and the workstation. The UDP port of the Tracker is set from the operator display. Touch Advanced/Tracker Setup/scroll to page 3/Tracker Network Setup/Port Number. The UDP port of the workstation is set in the Setup/Ethernet Setup menu of the Tracker software. At any one time a workstation can receive Global alarms only from Trackers with the same UDP port as the workstation. At the present time (Service Pack 6) it is necessary to restart the Tracker software when the UDP port of the workstation is changed. Therefore, a workstation can receive Global alarms from Trackers that have different UDP ports only if the UDP port of the workstation is changed and the Tracker software restarted. Global alarms from Trackers that have a UDP different from that of the workstation will be saved by the Tracker and delivered when this change occurs. Service Pack 7 will allow the UDP port of the workstation to be changed without restarting the software. This will allow connecting to Trackers with different UDP ports without restarting the software. However, this still does not allow simultaneous receipt of Global alarms from Trackers with different UDP ports since the listening port is not changed.

 

 

Designate a Workstation to Receive Global alarms and to Send E-mail Notification: With the PC software select the Delivery Setup tab in the Alarm Log and Setup window. In the Send to workstation section, select Ethernet/IP for method. Select the desired Workstation ID from the Send Alarms To: pull-down box. This tells Tracker which workstation to use to send e-mail notifications. Only one workstation should be designated to send e-mail. On that workstation, setup e-mail notification from the Global Setup tab of the Alarm Log and Setup window. Check the box to enable e-mail forwarding. Enter an e-mail address to the distribution list in the Enter new e-mail address field Press add More than one address can be entered in the distribution list. Select an email profile from the drop-down field. This is populated from Outlook. Press the Test E-mail button to send a test message to all the addresses above.

 

 

The workstation that will receive Global alarms can also be designated at the Tracker operator display. Press Alarms/Setup/Workstation Setup, select IP/Ethernet for method, and select the Workstation ID # from the menu E-mail notification is a workstation function and can not be setup at the operator display.

 

 

It is possible to designate a workstation ID to be used for Global alarming and e-mail notification that does not correspond to any actual workstation This does not work.

 

 

 

 

Setup for Global Alarms via Modem:

 

 

Delivery of Global alarms by phone requires:1) an analog phone line to the Tracker.2) The Tracker is setup to send Global alarms via modem.3) The workstation is enabled to receive alarms by modem. Note: When Global Alarming has been setup for a Tracker to use a modem connection for alarm reporting, the modem on the receiving workstation can no longer be. used to make an outgoing connection from the workstation to the modem will be controlled by Tracker software and will be used only for incoming calls that report Global alarms. In order to be able to both connect, and to receive alarms, it is necessary to either have two modems (one for outgoing and one for incoming), or, to deselect the incoming modem port on the Global Setup tab. It will then be necessary to restart the software.

 

 

Setup the Tracker to send Global alarms by modem: In the Alarm Setup Tabof the software enable sending alarms to a workstation In the Delivery Setup Tab select Modem for method and enter the telephone number of the modem in the workstation These functions can also be setup at the tracker operator display.

 

 

Setup the workstation to receive Global alarms by modem: In the Global Setup Tab of the software check Enable Global Alarms at Workstation (see note below) and select an Incoming Modem Port from the pull-down This pertains to the workstation alone and can not be done at the Tracker operator display.

 

 

 

 

Note: The Global Setup tab in the Alarm Log and Setup window contains a checkbox to enable Global Alarms on Workstation. This does not seem to work as expected. It enables or disables Global alarms by IP/Ethernet but has no effect on delivery of Global alarms by modem.

 

 

Note: The workstation can listen for global alarms on only one UDP port at a time. This means that Trackers that send alarms to that WS, but have a different UDP port, will not be able to deliver their alarms until the UDP port is changed at the WS. When that is done the alarms will be delivered with a delay of up to many minutes. However, this will then blocks alarm delivery from Trackers with the original UDP port. It is suggested to allow listening on more than one UDP port in a future service pack. The workstation can continue to receive alarms from a modem connection regardless of the UDP setting of the WS.

 

 

Note: It is not possible for a Tracker to send Global alarms to one workstation by IP/Ethernet and to another by modem at the same time. Each Tracker will send Global alarms to a single workstation. If alarms are sent Ethernet/IP they are sent to a workstation with a specific Workstation ID #.If alarms are sent by modem they are sent to a specific phone number.

 

 

Note: Once Tracker has begun to route Global alarms to particular workstation it will apparently continue to do so until the tracker software on that workstation is shutdown. This seems to be the case even if the send to workstation ID# is edited to another workstation with the tracker software or the operator display. This can result in the send to workstation ID# as shown in the software and on the operator display being different than the ID# of the workstation that is actually getting Global alarms.

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Notes:

 

Changes:

 

Other Question/Problem/Cause Statements:

  • Sending Global Alarms and E-mail Notification of Tracker Alarms to a Remote Workstation

  • Will Tracker save alarms to deliver later?

  • Setup Global Alarms in Tracker.

  • Setup of e-mail email alarm notification from Tracker.

  • Modem connection to Tracker does not work.

  • The requested COM port is already in use by Tracker. Check existing connection or the setup for incoming alarms.

  • E-mail email alarms are not sent or received.

  • Tracker Global alarms are not received at the workstation.

  • Not getting Global Alarms from Tracker.

  • Workstation is not getting global alarms from tracker.

  • Tracker Global alarms or e-mail email notification is not working.

  • Can Tracker send alarms to more than one workstation?

  • Can Tracker send alarms to e-mail email?

  • Can Tracker send alarms to a remote workstation?

  • Tracker alarms are not received.

  • Tracker alarms alarming is not working.

  • Tracker workstation ID.

  • Tracker UDP port and remote connection.

  • Can tracker send alarms by modem or IP/Ethernet?

  • Tracker Global alarms are going to the wrong workstation.

Facts:

  • Tracker BMTK

Original wave: wave58465

Document Identifier: DOC-99555

Document Identifier: 99555

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