Power Room Automation

Today, the operating environment of the central office is changing as a result of reduced staffing. At many sites, the all too critical power room equipment is unattended and remote monitoring is relegated to only two alarms, a major and a minor. Any further definition requires the dispatching of maintenance personnel to determine the exact severity and nature of the problem. And these persons are being asked to cover ever increasing territories. The net result is that reliability of the office is jeopardized by the lack of operating and alarm data and the inability to respond quickly. With a technologically innovative industry such as telecommunications, the application of microprocessor systems to the power room seems to be a natural fit. Power utility companies have been successfully realizing the benefits of digital supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for many years now. The fact is that microelectronics now offers a viable alternative and more flexible approach to the traditional hardwired relay logic systems used to monitor and control power room equipment. By making these systems programmable and adding remote communications features, a multitude of engineering, operations, and management benefits can be derived. In fact, the same hardware could benefit the power room or the central office as a whole.