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Reserve Your Seat TodayI recently spoke with a client that almost did business with us a while ago but his bid did not win the project he wished to work on. He reached out to me recently looking to start up talks about a NetGuardian 832 for a current project of his in Alaska.
He did not have any specs on the requirements other than attachments showing the system that he was working with. He knew, however, that his phone network company had 14 locations that he wanted to monitor.
My client sent over a detailed white paper of what his project's vision was with our NetGuardian 832. He seemed to have wanted two stacked 1RU NetGuardian 832A at each site.
I crafted a proposal and sent it his way:
By reviewing our records, I'm confident that I've found a suitable modern build (G6 832A and G5 "DX" expansion unit) that matches the existing NetGuardians in question (G2 832A and G2 DX). I've matched the -48 VDC power inputs. The G6 & G5 are largely pin-compatible with the G2 model, so any replacements here would mostly be a straightforward swap of a few cables. There are limited exceptions to this (we changed the DB9 RS232/485 ports to RJ-45 connectors to eliminate your need to solder cables in the field).
The DX has a much smaller function (connects directly to the base NetGuardian 832A to expand its capacity), so there has been no need yet for a G6 model. The G5 DX is compatible with the G6 832A and remains the current model.
When looking for an alarm monitoring system manufacturer, choose one that can provide a proposal early on. This shows their experience in the industry and their ability to understand your needs and offer solutions.
Thanks to our expert team with over 40 years of experience, I was able to quickly solve my client's problem. We even included RJ-45 connectors to eliminate the need for soldering cables in the field.
Finding a reliable alarm monitoring system manufacturer will save your staff's time and your money.
Always make sure to look for manufacturers that will be able to save your company money by giving you great discount deals. A way to do this would be to trade in discounts. A good manufacturer will take your older equipment even if it is damaged beyond repair.
Manufacturers that will accept your equipment even if it has no resell value are the ones you want to do business with. You should always look for ones that do so because it is a sign that they have been in this business for a long time, and understand that nurturing a relationship with you is more important than making a quick buck off of you.
As the bidder here, remember to explain the fact that you're quoting a modern equivalent. The G2 was superseded by the G4 by approximately 2006 and was seldom sold after 2012. The G2 is no longer recommended for modern installs for a variety of reasons, and it is largely unavailable for manufacturing.
Although I believe this is an expansion to new sites, you can also remind your company that trading in older NetGuardians yields a 30% credit (of the lesser price, usually the original older purchase) when purchasing an upgraded model. That might be a project for the future at sites that have been deployed for perhaps 20 years or more.
By sending my client a fully detailed proposal about all that we can offer him, in addition to our 30% credit for a trade-in offer -- I'm ensuring that he can lay down the best deal on the table for his company's higher-ups and be able to successfully present a proposal.
My client was confused by the offer of two NetGuardians (The G6 and the G5) and if it was at all necessary to have two. I explained to him that the G6 is the base NetGuardian while the G5 would be the option expansion unit to add capacity when required.
My client then called in to ask if we have ethernet alarms or dry contact alarms and if they can be brought directly into the NetGuardian. His phone network company wanted to install and wire the unit, and he had hopes of continuing to use a 66 block that he is accustomed to.
Dry contact alarms can be pulled directly into discrete points on the back of an RTU. However before I could answer his inquiry about ethernet alarms, I needed to know what protocol would be used for communication.
My client informed me that the communication protocol was HTTPS so I sent him the following response:
Our NetGuardian RTUs have a web page to monitor alarms, but they do not parse alarm inputs from HTTP/S. They can accept alarms over the network with Modbus TCP or SNMP. We also have the T/Mon monitoring platform which can parse or poll alarms over HTTP/S.
My client was satisfied with that answer and wanted to find out what environmentals monitoring capabilities we could provide him. He specifically needed temperature, humidity, dew point, and airflow sensors.
I was happy to inform my client that we do have these sensors available for manufacturing and shipping at DPS Telecom! I gave him a brief overview of our sensors...
My client realized that his HVAC providers included all the other sensors for temperature and humidity. He no longer felt like he needed dew point sensors and only needed airflow sensors. He required 24 sensors in total as he has 12 sites with 2 HVACs in each one.
He was also concerned at first that we wouldn't be able to pair up his HVAC pairs in each building. I proposed the idea of daisy-chaining both of them together. This would allow them to wire up and act like a single unit with two halves.
This is possible through D-Wire ports that should be available on most NetGuardians. D-Wire ports are typically found on NetGuardians except for ones that are from 10 years ago (2013).
After my client was happy with his proposal, I confirmed a quote for 24 (temperature + airflow) sensors, and we came to an agreed-upon proposal. My client's telephone network company already had cabling under control as it comes with their line of business.
As a telecommunication network alarm monitoring manufacturer, DPS Telecom prides itself on being your own personal engineer. We have experts on hand who have helped build the company and the equipment from the ground up. Those experts are readily available for your support.
If you are looking to take the headache of scaling your network that comes with a growing and/or starting business and like what you've read here today, please reach out to me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.
Call me at 1-800-693-0351 or E-mail me at sales@dpstele.com
Ziad Alezabi
Ziad Alezabi is a Application Documentarian at DPS Telecom. He reviews successful DPS client projects and reports on the best practices that you can use to successfully reach your own project goals.
