What is remote monitoring?
Remote monitoring is a technology that gives a greater visibility of your lifts, via the internet, on a single dashboard, viewed on any device. Providing a real-time overview of a range of elements, sensors send data on temperature, vibration, speed and signal strength, amongst others, allowing a comprehensive picture of each lift to be built.
Information is collected to monitor the running conditions and ensure the lift is kept in good working order. This data informs a range of stakeholders, from the manufacturer to the building manager, with dashboards tailormade to display only the information relevant to each party. Data can track how efficient lifts are; how often they are out of service and why, as well as monitoring issues or service defects that can be programmed for maintenance.
How is remote monitoring installed in lifts?
The remote monitoring system is made up of a router and a module within the controller which sends information to the cloud, to then be drawn down to the dashboard view. Most lifts can be fitted with remote monitoring, and here at ILE we retrofit systems to our own control panels and third party panels, as well as installing monitoring as part of new lift solutions. An installation on a new lift takes around two to three hours, with retro-fitting to our own controllers taking a similar amount of time, and fitting to third party panels taking no longer than a day, depending on the age of system, how it works and the customer’s requirements.
The benefits of remote monitoring
Monitoring lifts remotely holds a wide range of financial, safety and efficiency benefits.
- Increased efficiency
Remote monitoring increases the efficiency of lifts, as conditions can be constantly reviewed and potential issues attended before they occur and render the lift out of service. - Identifying trends
It shows the reasons behind issues and allows users to begin to identify trends, drilling down into the data to understand the effectiveness of each lift and create maintenance programmes accordingly. - No false call outs
It also removes the need for manual checks and false call outs, with instant checks saving time and eliminating engineers travelling unnecessarily. - Correct resources allocated
With a detailed view of issues, resource can be allocated appropriately; an engineer with the correct skill set can attend faults that they are proficient to fix. - Pre-empting issues
Proactive maintenance becomes the norm, increasing efficiencies and saving time, solving problems before they become expensive or dangerous. - Instant system information
The system can be used to send emails directly to engineers, providing them with all the technical information they need to complete the repair, saving time. - Custom alerts
‘Red status’ alerts can be customised, with the user choosing the criteria of this status. Once flagged, the system will automatically alert the relevant people.
Should all lifts have remote monitoring?
With a single initial cost up front, remote monitoring starts to pay for itself from day one. Break-even point is around six months, in terms of reducing down-time and identifying issues and faults, and with components that use minimum electricity, anything that the system flags up saves time and money. This is why we consider remote monitoring a benefit for any building. People rely on lifts for movement, especially in residential buildings, and even more so in hospitals and care homes where near 100% of residents need to use a lift to move around. Remote monitoring improves the efficiency of the building; if there is a problem, someone is usually on the way to fix it before most people realise there is an issue!
