Sensaphone IMS-4000 FaQ
IMS-4000 Host
Q: What kind of installation procedure is required?
A: The IMS-4000 is easy to install. It is designed to easily go from Box-to-Rack in five minutes. Simply remove the unit from the IMS case and place it in your 19 inch cabinet or relay rack and secure it with your mounting screws.
Q: I do not have a 19 inch cabinet or relay rack, how can I mount the IMS-4000?
A: The IMS-4000 Host and Node unit can be mounted on a wall as well as a 19in cabinet. You can also mount it on a flat counter or table top surface. Mounting feet are included for mounting on a flat surface. You may purchase the IMS WallMount kit to attach your IMS-4000 securely to a wall or backboard.
Q: What kind of utilities are needed to get my IMS-4000 up and running?
A: You will need one standard grounded electrical outlet, one analog telephone line, and one ethernet port located nearby.
Q: I am not located in the USA, can I use an IMS-4000 with 220VAC power?
A: Yes. The IMS-4000 Host is 110/220 60/50Hz auto switching. The IMS-4000 Host uses a standard IDEC-320 PC power plug for the mains connection. A standard USA-type mains plug comes with your IMS-4000 Host. You will need to provide your country specific mains plug. The IMS-4000 Node unit is available in a special model designed for 220VAC International power requirements.
Q: Does the IMS-4000 Node require a phone line?
A: No. All telephone interaction occurs through the IMS-4000 Host.
Q: What kind of phone line is needed for the IMS-4000 Host?
A: The IMS-4000 Host uses a standard analog telephone line. It is recommended that this line be a direct line to the telephone CO. This ensures that if your internal PBX should fail, the IMS can still get a warning message out to you.
Q: My company restricts any direct CO lines. So I have to use an extension line from my company's PBX. What Class of Service should I request from my telephone department?
A: To obtain the maximum benefit from the IMS-4000, it is recommended that the CoS afford the most service available. This includes a direct-dial telephone number, long distance capable, and the ability to dial toll free numbers. Your IMS-4000 will be able to place any calls it needs to reach you.
Q: My data center is fully protected by a UPS. There are no unprotected power outlets in this room. How can I monitor the power coming in from my public utility?
A: If you can not have an unprotected power outlet provided easily, you can use the IMS Power Outage Sensor, sold separately, to monitor power remotely from outside the room. See the Power Outage Sensor for more details
Q: Does the IMS monitor both phases in my building?
A: No. Since a standard wall outlet is only one phase and a commercial building is served by two 115 phases (legs), you will always be monitoring only one phase. While power outages generally impact the entire utility power service, it is possible to lose only one phase (leg) into your building and thus your systems would suffer a power outage on one half only. Use the Power Outage Sensor to monitor this other phase. Your house electrician can help you identify which outlets are one which legs.
Q: If I receive an alarm message from the IMS informing me about a power outage, and the power comes back on before I decide I need to shut down my systems, will I be notified again?
A: Yes. You can instruct the IMS to contact you when the power status returns to normal. This is called Return-to-Normal.
Environmental Monitoring
Q: Why do I need the IMS-4000?
A: The IMS-4000 gives you the best defense against unknown problems which develop in your network and would ordinarily progress to creating a disaster and impacting your business.
Q: How does the IMS-4000 do this?
A: Though the various environment sensors provided for the IMS, you can monitor your data center, remote server rooms, hub closets, and any unattended facility for trouble. When a problem is detected, the message is transmitted to you or your staff.
Q: How do these messages get transmitted to me?
A: The IMS sends messages to you via a telephone call in your voice, pager, e-mail, fax, or an SNMP message.
Q: Will I miss a message if my network shuts down or experiences a power outage?
A: Absolutely not! Getting the message to you is what the IMS-4000 does best. Because the IMS has an embedded network port and an embedded voice port, you have multiple paths for alert messages to get out and delivered to you, instantly, and reliably.
Q: The IMS-4000 sensors have a RJ45 jack on them. Can they attach directly to my ethernet network?
A: No. The entire IMS-4000 system uses familiar RJ45 connectors and CAT5 cables to allow you easy installation and easy moving of sensors within your structured wiring network. While they use the same cables and jack-types, they are not ethernet devices. The Host and Node each have an ethernet port which is clearly labeled.
Q: Does that mean I can use my patch panel to route my sensors back to my rack?
A: Yes. Because the IMS sensors are all CAT5-capable, you can use your patch panels and wiring distribution points to connect and route your sensors.
Q: How far can a sensor be from the IMS Host or Node?
A: The maximum distant is that of your structured CAT5 cabling network and those of your ethernet network, which ever is less, limits the sensor distances.
Q: What if a sensor is accidentally unpluged from a patch panel?
A: The IMS-4000 continually monitors the integrity of each IMS sensor. If a cable is cut or unplugged from a patch panel or sensor, the IMS-4000 will detect this and report it as a trouble alarm to the administrator of the IMS-4000.
Message Notification
Q: How does the IMS-4000 send messages to me?
A: The IMS uses real voice calls, pagers, e-mail, fax, and SNMP to distribute alert and alarm messages.
Q: I have different people on call at different times. Can the IMS-4000 handle this kind of scheduling?
A: Yes. The IMS allows you to schedule which alert messages go to which person and at which time. If you do not wish to be notified at night about an alarm, you simply identify this period to not be assigned to your schedule.
Q: My company is closed on national holidays and I need special coverage for our alarm messages, can the IMS-4000 handle this?
A: Yes. The scheduler allows the identification of a holiday schedule for these special situations.
Q: I am sometimes curious about the status of my infrastructure on the weekend. Can the IMS-4000 give me any information about the current status?
A: Yes. At any time you can call your IMS-4000 and obtain a voice status report. Only the elements which you have identified as important to you are reported to you.
Q: Can I obtain a status from any other means?
A: Yes. If your IMS-4000 is connected to the Internet, you can use any browser to obtain status. You can also send it an e-mail message and the IMS-4000 respond back to you with an instant e-mail message.
Voice Calls
Q: How does the IMS send voice call messages?
A: The IMS uses a standard telephone line to transmit alarm messages to you via your telephone.
Q: Can the IMS call a cellular telephone?
A: Yes. Because the IMS has a standard telephone port integrated into the unit, it can call any telephone number in the world.
Q: What if I am not home when the IMS tries to call me?
A: Not a problem. If you have an answering machine or telephone company provided voice mail, the IMS will leave a message for you.
Q: But I want to make sure I get the call, even if I am not home.
A: That's easy! One of the best features of the IMS is the ability to locate you wherever you are. With the use of the patented Sensaphone technology, the IMS-4000 can locate you based on detailed information you have given to the IMS. Think of it as a reliable dispatcher who always knows where you are and how to reach you.
Q: Whose voice is used in the IMS-4000?
A: The IMS comes ready to use with a standard vocabulary for all sensors available in standard English voice.
Q: Can I record my own voice messages?
A: Yes. Using your PC workstation and the IMS-4000 ConsoleView software, you can record specific messages in your voice and upload them to the IMS-4000 solid-state processor for reliable delivery. If you have someone in your office with that Radio Voice, this is a job for them!
Pagers
Q: What kind of pagers does the IMS-4000 support?
A: Anypager which supports TAP protocol is supported by the IMS.
Q: My pager is a numeric pager, can I use it too?
A: Yes. The IMS supports alpha and numeric pagers. When a numeric pager is used, the units telephone number is transmitted to your pager when an alarm event occurs.
Q: Does the IMS use e-mail to send the message to the pager?
A: No. Unlike other systems which use e-mail to transmit a message to a pager, the IMS-4000 uses a direct telephone call via the telephone network to dispatch a pager message- either numeric or alpha. This is because the IMS-4000 is designed to ensure you get the message every time-- even if your network egress is in trouble, you'll get the page!
Q: I do not keep my pager turned on when I'm at home. Will I miss a message from the IMS-4000?
A: No. If your pager service is a guaranteed-delivery service, you will receive the page when you turn on your pager. However, by using the IMS's integrated scheduling feature, you can instruct the IMS to not call your pager during the evening hours and alternatively, call your home telephone directly! Flexibility. That's the key benefit of the IMS.
E-mail
Q: Is the IMS e-mail capable?
A: Yes. The IMS-4000 provides for the sending and receiving of e-mail messages to deliver its alarm messages.
Q: Can I have my own mailbox on the IMS?
A: No. The IMS is not an end-user e-mail server. The integrated e-mail capabilities are used soley for the IMS to send and receive messages.
Q: Do I need any special e-mail software to communicate with the IMS-4000?
A: No. The IMS-4000 contains its own internal mailbox. In the e-mail setup of the IMS, you configure the e-mail configuration details for your server. You need to create an e-mail box on your e-mail postoffice just as you would for a user in your organization.
Q: Will the IMS-4000 send e-mail messages to the Internet?
A: Yes. If your company e-mail server is connected to the Internet, you will be able to communicate with the IMS-4000 from the Internet. If you do not have an internal company e-mail server but use your ISP's e-mail server, you would setup your IMS to use this server as the post office for the IMS-4000. You need to create an e-mail box on your e-mail postoffice just as you woudl for a user in your organization.
Q: What is the e-mail address of the IMS-4000?
A: The e-mail address of the IMS-4000 follows the normal standards for Internet e-mail naming and is selectable by you. To avoid mailbox conflicts, this should be an e-mail account dedicated to the IMS-4000. Only one e-mail box is required for each IMS-4000 host.
Q: The IMS-4000 supports two-way e-mail, what is that?
A: Two-Way E-Mail is a unique feature to the IMS-4000. While the IMS-4000 can send you an alert notifcation message to your e-mail inbox, it can also receive an e-mail message from you. You can talk to your IMS-4000 by sending it e-mail messages with request for such things as current status, TCP/IP pinging, or Trace Route infromation.
SNMP
Q: I use a popular NMS package. Can the IMS report trouble to my enterprise NMS package?
A: Yes. Through SNMP traps, the IMS will send any alarm message to your popular NMS system.
Q: Do I need a NMS package to use the IMS SNMP features?
A: Yes. The IMS-4000 is not a NMS application. The IMS needs a higher-level application which is the receiver of SNMP messages. This can be a highly featured package such as HPOpenview or it can be a more limited package or software solution.
Web Pages
Q: Do I need a web server dedicated to the IMS to use the real-time Web page features?
A: No. The IMS-4000 includes a fully functioning web server. This supports the viewing of web pages directly from the IMS-4000 host unit.
Q: Can the IMS-4000 be viewed from the Internet?
A: Yes, if your network is connected to the Internet.
Q: My company uses a firewall. Can I use the IMS-4000 behind this firewall?
A: If your IMS is located behind your firewall and your company prohibits access of web servers from the outside, you can use the remote dialup feature to obtain real-time web viewing of the IMS.
Q: Does the IMS-4000 support proxy configurations for use through a firewall?
A: Yes. You can configure the IMS web server to use a proxy server to gain access directly through your firewall proxy server. If your firewall allows certain ports to pass through the firewall, you can than access the unit from outside your network.
Dial-Up
Q: Does the IMS-4000 need a modem for dialup access?
A: No. The IMS contains a fully integrated 56k modem.
Q: What is needed to make a remote connection from my workstation at home?
A: All that is required is a workstation running Microsoft's Windows 95, 98, 2000 or NT and support for Dialup Up Networking. A modem is required on the remote workstation.
Q: What capabilities are available from the remote dialup workstation?
A: Because the you use the same ConsoleView software for remote access as you do for local access, all of the features are available.
Q: What kind of security is provided for dialup access?
A: If you dialin directly to the IMS-4000s modem port, user access to specific features can be restricted by use of the IMS SecurityView configuration setup screen.
Q: I use a popular RAS product. Can I use my RAS port to access the IMS-4000?
A: Yes. You can use any remote dial-in network port to gain access to the IMS just as you would any of your network-based services. However, when you use the IMS-4000's RAS port, you are guaranteed access every time because the unit has its own internal battery backup.
Q: What kind of phone line is needed for the IMS-4000 Host?
A: The IMS-4000 Host uses a standard analog telephone line. It is recommended that this line be a direct line to the telephone CO. This ensures that if your internal PBX should fail, the IMS can still get a warning message out to you.
Q: My company restricts any direct CO lines. So I have to use an extension line from my company's PBX. What Class of Service should I request from my telephone department?
A: To obtain the maximum benefit from the IMS-4000, it is recommended that the CoS afford the most service available. This includes a direct-dial telephone number, long distance capable, and the ability to dial toll free numbers. Your IMS-4000 will be able to place any calls it needs to reach you.
Multi-User Access
Q: Is the IMS-4000 ConsoleView software licensed to the workstation?
A: No. The IMS-4000 comes with a full Multi-User License Agreement. It licenses the software to as many workstations in your enterprise as you need. You are able to install the software and access your IMS from home or office.
Q: Do I need to worry about system backups of the IMS-4000 Host and Node units?
A: No. The IMS system is fully fault resistant. There are not moving disk units which require backups. It is, however, recommended that you keep a hardcopy print out or export file of the unit's programming. This allows you to account for changes and historical review of programming updates.
Q: What capabilities are available from the remote dialup workstation?
A: Because the you use the same ConsoleView software for remote access as you do for local access, all of the features are available.
Q: How many administrators can access the units programming at one time?
A: Any administrator can view the IMS units programming simultaneously. Only one administrator can actually enter update mode. This ensures a network-wide continuity of programming data.
IP Device Monitoring
Q: How many TCP/IP devices can I monitor?
A: Each IMS-4000 Host and Node monitors up to 64 TCP/IP addresses.
Node
Q: What kind of installation procedure is required?
A: The IMS-4000 is easy to install. It is designed to easily go from Box-to-Rack in five minutes. Simply remove the unit from the IMS case and place it in your 19 inch cabinet or relay rack and secure it with your mounting screws.
Q: I do not have a 19 inch cabinet or relay rack, how can I mount the IMS-4000?
A: The IMS-4000 Host and Node unit can be mounted on a wall as well as a 19in cabinet. You can also mount it on a flat counter or table top surface. Mounting feet are included for mounting on a flat surface. You may purchase the IMS WallMount kit to attach your IMS-4000 securely to a wall or backboard.
Q: What kind of utilities are needed to get my IMS-4000 up and running?
A: You will need one standard grounded electrical outlet, one analog telephone line, and one ethernet port located nearby.
Q: I am not located in the USA, can I use an IMS-4000 with 220VAC power?
A: Yes. The IMS-4000 Host is 110/220 60/50Hz auto switching. The IMS-4000 Host uses a standard IDEC-320 PC power plug for the mains connection. A standard USA-type mains plug comes with your IMS-4000 Host. You will need to provide your country specific mains plug. The IMS-4000 Node unit is available in a special model designed for 220VAC International power requirements.
Q: Does the IMS-4000 Node require a phone line?
A: No. All telephone interaction occurs through the IMS-4000 Host.
Q: What kind of phone line is needed for the IMS-4000 Host?
A: The IMS-4000 Host uses a standard analog telephone line. It is recommended that this line be a direct line to the telephone CO. This ensures that if your internal PBX should fail, the IMS can still get a warning message out to you.
Q: My company restricts any direct CO lines. So I have to use an extension line from my company's PBX. What Class of Service should I request from my telephone department?
A: To obtain the maximum benefit from the IMS-4000, it is recommended that the CoS afford the most service available. This includes a direct-dial telephone number, long distance capable, and the ability to dial toll free numbers. Your IMS-4000 will be able to place any calls it needs to reach you.
Q: My data center is fully protected by a UPS. There are no unprotected power outlets in this room. How can I monitor the power coming in from my public utility?
A: If you can not have an unprotected power outlet provided easily, you can use the IMS Power Outage Sensor, sold separately, to monitor power remotely from outside the room. See the Power Outage Sensor for more details
Q: Does the IMS monitor both phases in my building?
A: No. Since a standard wall outlet is only one phase and a commercial building is served by two 115 phases (legs), you will always be monitoring only one phase. While power outages generally impact the entire utility power service, it is possible to lose only one phase (leg) into your building and thus your systems would suffer a power outage on one half only. Use the Power Outage Sensor to monitor this other phase. Your house electrician can help you identify which outlets are one which legs.
Q: If I receive an alarm message from the IMS informing me about a power outage, and the power comes back on before I decide I need to shut down my systems, will I be notified again?
A: Yes. You can instruct the IMS to contact you when the power status returns to normal. This is called Return-to-Normal.
Power
Q: Will I be notified if my building suffers a power outage?
A: Yes. The IMS-4000 monitors the power from where ever it is plugged in.
Q: My data center is fully protected by a UPS. There are no `dirty' power outlets in this room. How can I monitor the power coming in from my public utility?
A: If you cannot have an unprotected power outlet provided easily, you can use the IMS Power Outage Sensor, sold separately, to monitor power remotely from outside the room. See the Power Outage Sensor for more details.
Q: Does the IMS monitor all power phases in my building?
A: No. Since a standard wall outlet is only connected to one leg of the power distribution system the IMS will only monitor this circuit. While power outages generally impact the entire utility power service, it is possible to lose only one phase within your facility and thus your building would suffer a partial outage. Use the Power Outage Sensor to monitor additional circuits connected to all power phases within your facility. Your house electrician can help you identify which outlets are supported by each phase.
Q: If I receive an alarm message from the IMS informing me about a power outage, and the power comes back on before I decide I need to shut down my systems, will I be notified again?
A: Yes. You can instruct the IMS to contact you when the power status returns to normal. This is called Return-to-Normal. |
