Using the WinPager option

Answer

The “Show alarm on service communication error” function in WinPager now ensures that unmanned plants are not ignored in the event of modem failure. If the modem connection fails, remote operators may not be aware of the fact that this is not a sign of the absence of alarms. In such situations it’s imperative to know that there is no communication from the plant. WinPager can now detect modem failure and alerts personnel by entering a modem failure alarm message in the alarm list. At the moment, this functionality is only available for the Siemens M20 and MC35 GSM modems.

In order to use this function, do the following:

1. In the WinPager module, choose “General” > “Settings” and select the “Show alarm on service communication error” check box.
2. In the Definition module, create a new alarm text with alarm number 97 and name it “WinPager communication error”. Do not enable the “To WinPager” option for the alarm text. Set up the remaining alarm properties according to your needs.
3. Choose “Objects” > “New Unreferenced” and create a new analog object with the exact name of the IGSS station where the WinPager module is running. As an example, the object could be named “IGSSServer_1”. Go to the “Edit Mapping” tab and disable all atoms of the object.
4. Install the configuration and start it.
5. If there’s a service communication error, alarm number 97 will now appear in the alarm list for the newly created IGSS object.TIP: To test the functionality, simply unplug the Siemens M20/MC35 modem. The alarm should now appear in the alarm list.

The alarm is only ended if ALL services have no communication errors. For example, if two services fail and the communication error is fixed for one of them, the alarm is not ended.