AVTECH Helps Businesses Monitor The Environment Factors That Can Potentially Cause Downtime And Damages

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AVTECH first started helping organizations with their monitoring needs in 1988; this year marks their 30th anniversary, and with users in 185 out of 196 countries they couldn’t be happier to celebrate such a huge milestone. Their primary focus is on helping businesses of all sizes and types monitor the environment factors that can potentially cause downtime and damages. Below is our interview with Richard Grundy, President of AVTECH:

Q: Richard , could you provide our readers with a brief overview of Room Alert?

A: The Room Alert platform is comprised of hardware monitors, sensors, and software that work together seamlessly to notify users of any potential environmental issues that can negatively impact them. Room Alert can be customized for nearly any situation or facility, which makes it an excellent value-add for every organization.

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Q: You’ve recently won Silver Award in Best in Biz Awards 2017; could you tell us something more about the recent accolades awarded to AVTECH?

A: All of our team at AVTECH are truly honored to win the Silver Award in Best in Biz Awards – Most Innovative Company this year. The panel of judges are all industry veterans and media representatives who have covered a wide range of tech companies, so for us to be awarded a Silver Award speaks volumes about the work our team does in developing and supporting our products.

2017 was a banner year for AVTECH and Room Alert, as we also were named a winner in the Providence Business News Innovation in Manufacturing awards; this was based on our release of the patent-pending Active Power w/Temperature Sensor. This small sensor can be attached to nearly any AC power cord and immediately begin providing power status as well as temperature. It’s the perfect sensor for data centers, server rooms, and IT closets as well as critical devices such as sump pumps, HVAC units, freezers, and more. It will immediately notify users if power is lost, without needing to unplug the device to install the sensor or physically modify the power cable.

Q: Why is AVTECH a good choice for small businesses?

A: Small businesses have so much to lose if they suffer any amount of downtime or data loss – employee productivity, customer confidence and loyalty, and most importantly revenue are all impacted by downtime.

Every small business is concerned with data and network security, so they all have firewalls and anti-virus software installed for protection against loss and downtime. However, 30% of downtime is caused by environment factors such as temperature, humidity, flood or water damage, smoke, and more. These are all factors that firewalls and software aren’t monitoring, yet they can cause just as much downtime and physical damage to a small business.

A larger business with multiple locations and redundancy many not be hit as hard if they suffer from downtime, however a small business stands to lose so much more if they’re shut down for any amount of time. 40% of all small businesses that suffer a major outage close within 1 year, and Room Alert can help protect against those outages.

Room Alert is designed to be easily installed in minutes, and you don’t need to be a technical person to set it up. Alternatively, many small businesses that work with an outside managed service provider that help with their network and IT needs can have the MSP install Room Alert and manage it on their behalf, just like they would for their firewall. It’s another layer of protection and insurance to help keep the organization running at it’s highest capacity.

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Q: Why is now the time for a technology solution like Room Alert?

A: 2017 saw major weather events impact organizations all over the globe. Hurricanes, extreme weather, fires, and other factors all led to downtime for countless businesses. While those unfortunate situations make the news, smaller local events are impacting organizations everywhere. For instance, many businesses don’t realize that studies have shown they are 10 times more likely to suffer from flood or water damage than they are from fire or smoke damage. Nearly every facility has smoke alarms and fire suppression systems installed, yet only a small number of them are proactively monitoring for flood. Installing Room Alert and flood sensors can help alert if water is detected in any critical areas, helping to prevent costly downtime.

Even in the event of a catastrophic event such as a hurricane, Room Alert can help users determine exactly when power was lost, or water was first detected within a facility, which will help them begin their disaster recovery planning. Room Alert may not be able to completely help prevent downtime in a major event like that, however it can help minimize the impact and help speed along the recovery process. It’s a critical component in any organization’s business continuity plan.

Q: What are some of the new products and releases from AVTECH that can help a new user immediately begin monitoring their environment?

A: All our Room Alert monitors are designed to begin monitoring the environment within minutes of being installed, so new users should be confident that Room Alert will be helping to protect their facility immediately. With models that begin at just $145, there is a Room Alert for every situation and facility.

Our recent release of the Active Power w/Temperature Sensor has been a huge hit with data centers that have a large number of servers and cabinets that they need to monitor. Users have been very enthusiastic about how the Active Power w/Temperature Sensor has been increasing their ability to actively monitor their hardware to help prevent downtime and prolong server life.

We also recently introduced RoomAlert.com, our new online account dashboard that replaces and builds upon our previous web-based monitoring platform, GoToMyDevices. It’s a comprehensive interface that can be accessed from any internet-enabled device, and it provides instant notification of any alerts that users create based on the factors they need to monitor in their facility. RoomAlert.com allows users to collaborate on environment alerts in real-time with other team members, and also provides a wealth of reporting and logging features to help recognize situations that may lead to downtime or equipment failure. Seeing certain trends help Room Alert users take action to help prevent downtime, such as gradually rising temperatures may lead to HVAC maintenance, or a sensor notifying them of low fuel levels in their backup generator.

Often new users will come to us after they’ve experienced downtime, and they have already lost productivity and revenue. We want 2018 to be the year that organizations across the globe recognize that for just a few hundred dollars, they can proactively install a Room Alert monitor and customize it with their choice of sensors before they suffer from environment-related downtime. That small investment can save them thousands of dollars, and help increase their uptime tremendously.

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