Even with an in-house help desk team, there are times when IT support works remotely outside of the server room. In fact, in today’s world, remote access to network systems is the standard rather than the exception. Remote control has now advanced the environmental and access control capabilities of the office. Remote support and environmental automation are made possible by IP-ready management consoles and applications.

The XBUS Commercial and Environmental Console is used to control various components remotely. These devices make it possible for support personnel to access applications and environmental devices over the network, either internally or remotely, using the standard IP protocol. Examples of commercial applications of environmental automation include:

• Keyless entry controls in office buildings and hotels
• Interior lighting after hours
• Window blind control
• Exterior lighting automation
• Garden and landscape sprinkler system settings
• Support and administration of servers and networks
• UPS Management

In previous implementations, the costs associated with remote control often limited business and environmental automation to large, complex installations. Today, everything from home offices to large institutions benefit from the convenience and reliability of remote access over the Internet.

Environmental automation is also used in building management for temperature control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, as well as food refrigeration and fire sprinkler system control and management.

Climate control is one way building facility managers seek to reduce energy consumption. An example of an industry is the self-storage industry. Self-storage companies often own high-capacity buildings that can be single deployments or an entire chain of managed properties in locations across the country. The ability to control lighting, entry access and temperatures in these facilities remotely and automatically results in huge energy savings.

The problem of large energy bills affects almost every industry. Utilities reduce costs by using IP-managed meter reading. Usage readings are collected remotely from water, gas and electricity meters.

Another scenario is in large office structures where the thermostat controls are not locked out and cannot be easily changed by the occupants. Reducing the internal temperature of the building during off hours also saves money on energy. Automatically controlling temperature controls eliminates the dependency on an employee to lower the temperature on the thermostat after hours.

Lighting is another energy loss that can be managed remotely and automatically with commercial environmental controls. While there is a cost to implementing room automation solutions like these, studies indicate that the investment quickly pays for itself by reducing energy bills by up to 30-35% per year.

Energy monitoring and control systems, like XBUS, help businesses save money on energy costs that can be redirected to other priorities. The XBUS is a low cost solution that is easily implemented to solve many different remote management scenarios.