azeti: Adding intelligence to BTS site management

Site management experts azeti reckon there are 8m telecom towers worldwide, of which 640,000 are dependent on generator power, rising to 1m in the next two years. To serve this market, azeti has developed and deployed together with azeti’s business partner Lemcon Networks the cost efficient SiteOne solution for network management, based on azeti’s proven SONARPLEX product line.

TowerXchange: Where do azeti fit into the telecoms infrastructure ecosystem?

azeti Networks AG is a global manufacturer and supplier of high-performance, intelligent site management solutions. Founded in 2006, with corporate headquarters in Berlin, azeti also maintains subsidiaries in the UK, South America, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. Today, more than 1,000 companies in 35 countries rely on azeti technology to monitor both their IT and physical infrastructures.

While we initially concentrated on industrial product monitoring, we now concentrate on telcos with special focus on BTS monitoring.

azeti’s unified monitoring solutions are not just limited to monitoring IT components (such as routers, switches, servers and software applications), but by supporting a wide range of sensors and detectors, we can also monitor and manage just about every sort of physical phenomenon imaginable: fuel levels and usage rates, temperatures and pressures, voltage levels and battery capacities, air quality and flooding, gages and valves... plus cameras, motion sensors, access-control devices and so on. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Information collected from all remote locations flows via communications networks into the SiteOne console that, regardless of monitored systems’ distance and location, acquires, visualizes, controls and analyses every sort of information client companies need to precisely monitor and operate their most vital systems and equipment. In addition, It also produces management reports, analytics and historical information data.

Because azeti makes use of standard sensors and industrial bus interfaces, clients can depend on an uninterrupted flow of information. And even if there should be a communications network failure, azeti’s appliances continue to run without the central console, thus assuring a complete data record.

I joined azeti in 2009 with a substantial round of venture capital financing, with an objective to internationalise the business, which had been focused on Europe. By 2010 we had 60% of our revenue coming from outside Europe.

TowerXchange: Please introduce our readers to your business partners Lemcon Networks.

We conducted extensive research and identified Lemcon Networks as a top star in the managed services business for telcos.

Your site management system could be the best in world, but if you don’t install, rollout and manage services in the right way with qualified people, the project will not be a success.

Lemcon Networks Ltd. was established in 2000 to focus on telecom projects. The company is part of the Lemminkainen group from Finland which has 9,000 employees and an annual turnover of €2bn. Over the years, the company has been involved in telecom network deployment projects in over 40 countries across all continents.

Lemcon’s core experience comes from upgrading and expanding GSM, WiFi, WiMAX, UMTS or LTE networks. Lemcon customers worldwide include or have included Globe Philippines, Econet Zimbabwe, T-Mobile USA, Nokia Siemens Networks, Ericsson, Huawei, Millicom, MTN, and the Finland based S-group. Lemcon has successfully delivered more than 200 projects worldwide since 2000. Many of these projects are complete end-to-end turnkey delivery service from site acquisition to final network operations. On-going projects include system integration type services centralised around data capacity expansions, site management, mobile network system integration, asset management, building maintenance and managed services.

It was perfect timing when we contacted Lemcon 20 months ago, as Lemcon had developed software around managed services for BTS and towers; software that combined monitoring and management, staff and project management, maintenance, repair and resale management. They were consolidating their managed services offering into a new suite – NeXsysOne, so azeti’s SONARPLEX Product line became the site monitoring component thereof.

Lemcon has established its Global Technical Support Center in Dubai (GTAC) that supports activities directly linked to the professional NeXsysOne software suites.

TowerXchange: What is the installed base of SiteOne in emerging markets?

azeti and Lemcon as mentioned have delivered successfully more than 1.000 installations independently. Now with the unique combined solution SiteOne we have successfully deployed our first installations around the globe.  The solution will be implemented at 250 sites in Q3/2013 and is shortlisted in projects with in total more than 100,000 sites.

TowerXchange: How does using SiteOne add value to the management of remote cell sites, particularly in emerging markets?

We collect data from remote sites to the NOC, and enable tower operators to react. For example, an engineer may set the air conditioning to lower the temperature in the shelter to 18 degrees for a maintenance visit, yet forget to reset the temperature when he leaves – that can cost a fortune in air conditioning power consumption. With SiteOne we can detect the temperature, verify from the surveillance module that is integrated in SiteOne that the site access is complete, and reset the air conditioning remotely.

We can monitor for water intrusion into the fuel tank, we can switch off the pump or generator remotely... Any number of sensors and data points can be deployed to SiteOne for control from the NOC.

TowerXchange: How can intelligent site management be simplified?

Many site management processes can be automated using SiteOne. Local events can be handled within our SONARPLEX appliance that can automatically reset temperatures, water pumps, entrance gates, cameras or reboot IT and RF components.

For example, all we need to know to configure the air conditioning is the highest critical temperature of every piece of equipment in a shelter. We don’t need manual intervention from the NOC, temperatures can be managed automatically onsite. The only important input is to know which asset will overheat and at what temperature.

With our technology, up to 40-50 different measurements of temperature can be gathered, enabling us to identify the optimal sweet spot for air conditioning, which should lead to at least 30% savings.

Our reports require very low data traffic when everything is fine – there’s no need to transport data about the temperature every minute, all that does is blow up the data traffic.

Our solution is powered by an intelligent Modbus, BlueTooth, Zigbee, WirelessLAN, GSM-enabled box onsite, each with the processing power of a computer but as big as two cigarette boxes. There is no need for 10 boxes from different vendors – more sensor devices only means more installation and maintenance hassles! Whether it’s a diesel generator, solar panel array, deep cycle battery, or the monitoring of rectifiers, complex power scenarios can be managed from a simple device.

TowerXchange: What impact does intelligent site management have on Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)?

We provide predictive monitoring for IP devices logging file size, CPU usage, HDD status et cetera, while we can detect fuel refilling status and purification with water, and optimise battery cycles and performance to extend battery life cycles.

Generator life cycles are extended by the many ways in which intelligent site management can reduce runtime, for example reducing fuel usage by energy (AC) management, such as by using a simple “maintenance” button.

Co-ordination with asset registers and spare parts inventory means spare parts can be delivered faster to the site, further reducing MTBF.

TowerXchange: How can tower operators combat fuel theft?

The most common challenges we encounter working with tower operators involve fuel, batteries or copper being stolen, or problems with access control and unqualified access.

With SiteOne, video surveillance is built into the site and linked to alarms, with a camera that automatically locks the site if broken, and a ‘dead man alert’ in case of tower falls.

Access control can be simplified with the Staff Manager tool from Lemcon plus SiteOne. Only qualified engineers can open the gates using an SMS code that works for six hours on a simple electronic lock and PinPad or barcode read from a smartphone – there’s no need for an expensive intelligent lock, although we can use fingerprint access control if the operator wants. We also support a proof container/area with separate access control for the fuel tank.

TowerXchange: How can tower operators “close the loop” on maintenance alerts and job ticketing to ensure priority actions are completed in a timely manner and recorded in asset registers?

SiteOne includes a ticketing system which can be integrated with an existing job ticketing system. On top of this, Lemcon offers a whole range of integrated applications to optimise maintenance of remote sites:

• MaintainOne is a comprehensive preventive and corrective maintenance management system. This web-based application is a one-stop solution for all your event and alarm management needs

• AssetOne is the premier asset management and inventory solution

• StaffOne is an advanced human resource management software that allows you to control and consolidate all your resource information in a streamlined and efficient manner

• TaskOne is a comprehensive task management solution that coordinates field activities with those of the NOC

Let’s use an example scenario in which the RF-Unit malfunctions. This generates an alert which triggers an automated restart of the RF-Unit by software command; and as we know it seems like 90% of malfunctioning assets work if you just switch them on and off!

Whilst we try to fix the problem intelligently and automatically on site, at same time we report the problem to SiteOne at the NOC, which generates a job ticket and alert with historical data on the asset. If the automated solution onsite still hasn’t fixed the problem, the alert goes into StaffOne to find the nearest engineer with the right qualifications. That engineer is SMS’ed an access code to open gate, together with a photo of the RF-Unit, and notification that this is the component in which we’ve detected an error. Meanwhile TaskOne governs the change of RF-Unit, and looks into AssetOne for stock of spare RF-Units of the right type (or orders one if out of stock), while also identifying who is the next engineer free to take the spare part from the store to the site. So there’s a seamless, end to end process from the azeti SONARPLEX boxes on the site to the dashboard at the NOC.

Typically our joint service is sold on a monthly base.

TowerXchange: Can you extend your business model into providing energy as a service?

We’re finalising a new partnership with a company that manufactures modular energy stations designed to provide efficient power to telecommunications base stations. The model will be based on a zero capex model, where they generate revenue solely from fuel savings. We have a contract to pre-install azeti inside their generators to manage the whole site and embed this in a managed service model.

In this model, the energy service company might give the old generator to the community, which incentivises them to take care of the site. Security improves if you work with the community to protect the site – it’s in their interest that the site is up and running. When locals can charge their phones using generators, if the gate is ever broken, local people can respond fastest. The model has been proven in the favelas in Brazil.

TowerXchange: Finally, please sum up how you differentiate SiteOne from competitive remote monitoring and intelligent site management systems?

The combination of azeti’s intelligent remote technology SONARPLEX and Lemcon’s SiteOne software offer a unique solution to:

• Monitor ANY old or new assets at a remote sites from IP devices, plus sensors and cameras to control theft of fuel and assets

• Manage ALL intelligent devices (AC, batteries, generator, cameras, entrance gates, et cetera) directly at the site

This significantly reduces energy consumption, theft, MTBF, and maintenance opex including truck rolls.