You constantly balance system performance versus costs and sometimes it seems like spending money on remote site monitoring is just another attack on your bottom line. After all, a ProTek jr+ almost costs what the new guy fresh out of tech school "earns" in a month. And he does ok, since he's just doing minor preventative maintenance until he gets the hang of things.
But with a PageTek monitor at every site you'll make fewer preventative maintenance visits since you get a daily system status report from every site. You can remotely log into any site, access current operating parameters and control site equipment, all without driving two hours to get there.
When you do have a failure, you're instantly alerted by voice synthesizer over standard voice lines, by modem to any terminal or printer, by pager, or even by IP network. Frequently, you can resolve failure before going to the site so you are prepared for the repair once you get there. Troublesome intermittent problems can be pinpointed using the history log. It all adds up to improved technician efficiency.
But even a hundred technicians aren't enough when weather or disaster prevents you from reaching the site. Then your ProTek, with its redundant communications capability, really pays for itself. You can get to any site by landline, cell phone or RF link, or even IP network to switch in backups or control site equipment. And since your sites are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week--without paying overtime--you'll improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn . Off air verification and inactivity generated test pages help you evaluate coverage complaints and fix problems before your customers complain.
And you'll sleep well at night knowing that your tower lights are operating correctly--or would you rather check them personally, every 15 minutes to satisfy the FCC and FAA? You'll also rest easy knowing that your site is secure by monitoring on-site fire and intrusion alarms or site entry controls.
Maybe the new guy isn't such a great deal after all.