In the telecom industry, cell towers are the prime component to ensure the success of telecom operators’ quality of service. These cell towers are scattered over multiple telecom sites at different geographies in remote areas. Hence, to maintain superior quality of service, this huge network of towers needs highly visible remote cell tower monitoring and management.
Traditionally, telecom companies used to monitor telecom towers manually, which is easier said than done. With telecom sites and towers spread across various locations in remote areas, efficiently managing them is a huge challenge for many organizations. Also, there are a lot of critical assets to maintain on tower sites such as data centers, tower beacon lights, generators, etc. to prevent equipment malfunctions and poor customer response.
Moreover, tower managers need to constantly monitor infrastructure data and other energy parameters such as battery life, alarms and alerts, fuel usage as well as the temperature of the tower site. Apart from that, companies are bogged with rising energy bills, human errors and wastage. Even, expanding networks are the stimulant for security outages leading to concerns such as vandalism, cybersecurity, or terrorism that can compromise the whole grid.
Deploying a telecom tower monitoring system for sites and cell towers will enable telecom companies to take a giant leap towards significant success in their field. By leveraging IoT sensors, tower managers can get a granular and comprehensive view of the entire cell tower infrastructure. Such deep visibility is effective for asset tracking as well as maintenance.
Some operational metrics that a remote telecom site monitoring solution keeps an eye on
Environmental condition
To maintain proper conditions of equipment on cell sites, it is vital to monitor the environmental conditions first. With an IoT-enabled telecom site monitoring application for cell towers, the site engineers can seamlessly monitor the indoor and outdoor humidity as well as the temperature at the site and initiate alarms on conditions that are outside of a specified range. It also allows them to monitor the shelter door and sends notifications when the door is open.
Generator
The telecom tower operators utilize generators to maintain the availability of power at sites and prevent power outages. To manage these power generators, tower managers can add IoT-based remote monitoring capabilities to take preventive actions before it fails in situations like power failure or natural disaster. This solution remotely controls the generator by allowing to start or stop the supported systems. It also allows operators to monitor the generator status for fuel levels, follow orders for precise measurement of runtime, carry out remote power cycles for preventative maintenance and more.
Fuel
Fuel is important for backup power availability and is often necessary as the main source for providing generator power. With IoT-driven remote cell tower monitoring, you can monitor fuel levels constantly and identify high consumption conditions (for example – leakage or theft). The tower operators can also monitor fuel delivery amounts and compare the same with actual invoiced amounts. With such an IoT solution, operators can detect fuel contaminants (for example water) and can get notifications when the fuel tank needs maintenance.
Tower lights
It is inevitable for telecom companies to have tower lights to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) telecommunications infrastructure compliance. If these tower lights do not function properly, then the tower owners are legally responsible and can be penalized. A telecom tower monitoring system helps field operators to monitor the cell tower from remote areas and generate automated reports of the light’s performance. Besides, it enables remote access and test control for many light types.
Onsite security
Cell tower sites in remote areas need to be monitored 24/7 with various infrastructure sensors as well as surveillance cameras. This is vital to obstruct intruders and other security threats from the cell tower site. Many sensors such as periphery PIR sensors and vibration detector sensors also help to keep cell towers safe. And, several telecom companies integrate smoke detectors and fire alarms at their cell sites that trigger alerts or sirens to enable safety manager to quickly act to subdue any unfortunate incidents.
The final say
These are just a few factors that the telecom tower monitoring system monitors to help tower operators to ensure the proper functioning of tower assets such as fuel, power, lights, etc. In case of any deviation, it notifies and accurately bills telecom customers for actual energy consumption. Doing so eventually decreases the network and operational costs, thereby increasing capital investment, network performance as well as availability. If you want to know more about the remote cell tower monitoring solution or wish to deploy it, talk to our experts.
