Alarm Calls (DV-200)

Although Davicom units can be programmed to automatically perform commands when something goes wrong, alarm calls to on-duty personnel remain an extremely important feature.

Understanding alarm calls, priorities and sequence

Davicom units can be programmed so that specific events trigger different alarms. Each Davicom unit has 16 possible alarm types: 8 MAJor alarms (MAJ1-MAJ8), and 8 MINor alarms (MIN1-MIN8), and each alarm has an associated Alarm-Call List (ACL). Major Alarms are higher priority and will therefore be processed before Minor Alarms. Each ACL can contain up to 10 recipients, and each recipient can be notified using one of several different means (voice, pager, fax, email, SMS, smartphone, etc.). The ACL must contain at least one entry for an alarm-call sequence to occur for that alarm.

Once an alarm is declared by the Davicom, and as long and there are no blocking calls, an Alarm-Call Sequence (ACS) will be initiated after the user-specified delay in the Alarm& Comm Parameters setup window. This ACS uses the ACL associated with that alarm, and it attempts to notify recipients according to their sequential order in the list. If the Davicom does not receive an Alarm-call Sequence Acknowledgement (ASA) from a recipient, it will wait for a 2nd specified delay before initiating the next call in the ACL. If the Davicom reaches the end of the ACL without receiving an ASA, it will wait for a 3rd specified delay before restarting a new ACS. The specified delays are very important since they allow time for registered users to call back into the Davicom and acknowledge the alarms. If the delays are set too short, the Davicom will monopolize the line with its outgoing calls and prevent incoming calls. These delays are explained in Section 4 Alarm & communications parameters.

If there are many simultaneous alarms, the Alarm-Call Sequences will attempt to contact the recipients of the different Alarm-Call Lists in their programmed order.

There are two ways in which an ACS will terminate:

1– When a recipient, or any Davicom user in control of the Davicom that generated the alarm, acknowledges the ACS, then that ACS is terminated. Refer to this article for important details about alarm acknowledgement.

2– When all the ACS’s have been executed up to the number of times specified without any acknowledgment of the alarms.

Notes on configuring alarms

Normal configuration of alarms should always be done with Virtual Logic Gates (VLG). Assigning a VLG to each of the 16 Major and Minor Alarm-Call Lists facilitates their programming and increases their flexibility tremendously. Since VLG’s can be programmed with practically any combination of metering inputs, status inputs, timers and internal flags they can be used to create complex alarm conditions. You could, for example, have the Davicom call different people on weekends, or at night or even depending on which piece of equipment is defective. Remember that VLG’s can also be nested and cascaded.

To achieve this type of configuration, all physical inputs should be set to be either command (CMD) or qualifier (QLF), depending upon the need to log their activity or not. These commands or qualifiers can then be used in combination with the Timers and System Flags as operands in the VLG screens. Only the VLG’s should be assigned directly to be Major or Minor Alarms. For more information on the configuration of VLGs, refer to this article.

Alarm call lists

To enter recipients into an Alarm-Call List (ACL), click the Alarm-Call Lists button in the Unit Configuration window under the General tab.

First, select the ACL you want to configure among the 16 available ACLs. You have to select the Type (MAJ or MIN) and Alarm List (1 to 8) from the drop-downs. Then, enter up to 10 recipients for the selected ACL. For each recipient, the following fields apply:

Number (#): This is a simple line number and cannot be changed. You must click on the number in order to select a line.

Sequence (Seq): This field gives the sequential order in which the call attempts will be made. Although the telephone numbers/addresses can be entered in any order, this field sets the order in which they are dialled. This allows you to change the order without having to re-enter elements in the list. This value ranges from 1 to 10.

Telephone Number/Address: The complete number/address must be entered (maximum 40 alphanumerical characters including parenthesis, hyphens and commas). Commas are used for 2-second pauses. E-mail addresses must be entered in the foo@bar.com format.

Note: It is possible to use URL addresses in order to send alarms to DavNet or to an SNMP trap manager.

Descriptions: Although the descriptions are optional, it is strongly recommended that they be entered. They can represent names or information about call recipients. The default description can contain up to 30 Unicode characters and the alternate description can be up to 18 ASCII characters. Refer to this article for more details.

Transfer Type (Type): The transmission type must be defined by selecting one of the numbered options between 0 and 15 in the drop-down Transfer Type list.

Selecting 0 disables calls to the corresponding telephone number/address;

1 is for voice telephone calls (used mainly to reach personnel after business hours);

2 is for a computer or terminal;

3 is for standard Fax machines (used mostly for recordkeeping purposes);

4, 5, 6 are for pagers;

7 is for dial-up DavNet;

8 is for e-mail (with attachment);

9 is for DavNet IP;

10 is for SMS text messaging on cell-phones;

11 is for SNMP managers or trap receivers;

12 is for Serial link communication such as UHF/VHF radio link;

13 is for PTT mode over VHF/UHF radio link;

14 is for e-mail (no attachment);

15 is for Smartphone.

Note: Alarm-calls by voice and voice pager can be heard in another language than English (if configured by your local dealer). Alarm-calls sent by fax include the state and value of all Metering and Status Inputs as well as Physical Relays (Alarms sent by fax use the following symbols to describe the current state of all Physical Relays: ✻ = Forced-on, # = Forced-off, % = Pulsed, ! = Energized, $ = Controlled, & = Not controlled.) . Alarm-calls sent by e-mail have both HTML and XML format attachments and include the state and value of all Metering and Status Inputs as well as Physical Relays. Alarm-calls sent by SNMP-v1 traps use enterprise specific codes (SNMP Trap Alarms sent by Davicom units use the enterprise .1.3.6.1.4.1.14665 OID.) (see table below). Note that trap codes only indicate which Alarm-Call List is involved, not the specific input/output that generated the alarm.

Callout: Device This field gives a list of appropriate callout devices. This list can contain Ethernet, modems, or PPP devices according to the Transfer Type selected previously.

Pager Number: Identifies the pager that is associated with the specific entry in the Alarm-Call List. Its parameters are configured under the Alphanumerical Pager tab.

This window allows you to independently configure communications parameters for alphanumeric (Type 6), SMS (Type 10) pagers/cell phones, and Smartphone (Type 15) devices. Note that this window is for pager, cell & smartphone parameter settings only; it does NOT constitute a part of the ACL as such. Devices configured here MUST be listed in the ACL tab for them to be called during an ACS.

Consult your communications service provider for detailed instructions on setting the communication parameters for your alphanumeric pager or SMS settings.

Note also that the Alpha pager settings can often be used to send SMS messages to cell phones via landline if the cellular provider accepts TAP commands.

Alarm & communications parameters

The Alarm & Communications Parameters window contains settings that apply globally to all Alarm Call Lists (ACL). Some of the parameters also apply to other types of calls such as system status or log transfers, IP communications and incoming calls.

To configure the alarm-call parameters, click the Alarm & Comm Parameters button in the Unit Configuration window under the General tab.

Number of Rings (Incoming Calls): The Davicom will answer the incoming call after the selected number of rings. It must be a number between 1 and 9.

Number of Rings (Outgoing Calls): If there is no answer, the call is terminated after the selected number of rings. It must be a number between 1 and 9.

Dialing: Allows you to specify if the phone line connected to the Davicom uses Pulse or Tone (DTMF touch-tone) dialing.

MNP10 Attenuation: Transmission attenuation level can be set to adjust signal strength when the Davicom is communicating via an analog cellular telephone connection.

Enable MNP10: To enable MNP10 mode, this check box must be selected. Used for data transmission over analog cellular telephone line.

Max Connection Speed: This number is the data rate used by the Davicom when sending alarms or transferring reports by modem. It applies to Transfer Types 2, 6, 7 and 10.

Quick Commands: See Appendix F for details on using the Quick Commands wizard.

Group Commands: See Appendix F for details on using the Group Commands wizard

Pause Mode Alarm Call: Allows the Davicom to initiate a Major Alarm each time the Pause mode is activated and to assign it to a specific ACL.

Local Mode Alarm Call: Allows the Davicom to initiate a Major Alarm each time the Local mode is activated and to assign it to a specific ACL.

Delay Before Starting Alarm-Call Sequence: This delay is to allow accumulation of alarms before starting an ACS. It must be a number of seconds between 1 and 99.

Delay Between Each Call: Delay before the next number in the ACL is called when there is no answer from the previous number in the list. Remember to leave sufficient time. We recommend 90 seconds between calls to allow you to call back into the unit. A number between 1 and 999 seconds can be selected.

Delay Before Re-Doing Alarm-Call Sequence: Represents the delay before a new ACS is initiated, if no response was obtained from anyone in the complete ACL the first (or previous) time. A number between 1 and 99 minutes can be selected.

Max Number of Times Done: Represents the number of times the complete ACL will be dialled before stopping if nobody acknowledges the alarms. This field also represents the number of times the Davicom will call to when sending reports/logs for older Davicom MACs (black front panel). A number between 1 and 999 can be selected.

Volume Level: This parameter sets voice volume level in DTMF Telephone mode.

Delay Before Sending Voice Message to Pager: This delay is necessary to account for paging systems that cannot accept messages until a voice greeting has completed. A number between 0 and 99 seconds can be selected.

Delay Before Sending Voice Prompt to Phone: This delay applies to the voice greeting you will hear from the Davicom when you call it (incoming calls). If 0 is selected, the voice prompt will be disabled and the system will enter modem data mode after a 2-second delay (unless the DTMF password is entered during the 2-second pause). If a number greater than 0 is selected, the Davicom will answer the call and the voice greeting will start after the set number of seconds. This delay is sometimes necessary to accommodate certain central telephone exchanges that produce a delay before opening the line. A number between 0 and 99 seconds can be selected.

PTT Relay: This parameter is used to select a physical relay to perform a Push-To-Talk operation when sending an alarm in PTT Mode over the Line out audio jack.

Vocal Acknowledge Before Manual Command: If you check this box, the Davicom unit will ask you to acknowledge all DTMF touch-tone commands before executing them. For example: Do you really want number 5 relay forced-off? Press 1 and # to confirm, or * and # to abort.

Transmit Alarm to DavNet Even if Previously Acknowledged: When this box is checked, alarms are still transmitted to DavNet for archiving purposes, even though they may have been previously acknowledged by a user.

Note: “Max Number of Times Done” and “Delay Between Each Call” are also used for transmission of system status reports, event history logs and battery test reports for older Davicom MACs (black front panel). Refer to Sections 4.6.2 and 4.7 of the Reference Manual for more details on configuring these reports.

E-Mail parameters

The Email parameters window contains parameters that apply globally to all Alarm Call Lists (ACL), system status and log transfers.

To configure the e-mail parameters, click the IP Parameters button in the Unit Configuration window under the General tab and then click the E-Mail tab.

The following parameters are used when contacting the mail server:

Unit E-Mail Address: The Davicom Unit E-Mail Address is used for the “From” address in the E-Mail header.

Send Alert E-Mail To (DHCP Alert Settings): Davicoms can automatically send an E-mail notification to a specified address whenever their IP address is changed by a DHCP server.

POP Host (Incoming mail server): The URL of the POP3 mail server. If the DNS server is configured properly in TCP/IP parameters, the Davicom will perform the name resolution.

Note: Even though the Davicom cannot receive e-mail messages, the POP settings are required because some outgoing mail servers require POP before SMTP authentication.

POP Port (Default 110): The IP port of the POP3 mail server. The actual port number will depend on the provider.

Security (Incoming mail server): Setting of None, SSL, TLS depends on provider.

User Name (Incoming mail server): The username used to logon to the POP3 mail server.

Password (Incoming mail server): The password used to logon to the POP3 mail server.

SMTP Host (Outgoing mail server): The URL of the SMTP mail server. If the DNS server is configured properly in TCP/IP parameters, the Davicom will perform the name resolution.

SMTP Port (Default 25): The IP port of the SMTP mail server. The actual port number will depend on the provider.

Security (Outgoing mail server): Setting of None, SSL, TLS depends on provider.

User Name (Outgoing mail server): The username used to logon to the SMTP mail server. Not required if the SMTP server doesn’t need authentication.

Password (Outgoing mail server): The password used to logon to the SMTP mail server. Not required if the SMTP server doesn’t need authentication.

E-Mail Testing

The Davicom can send test E-mails. This feature is very useful when trying to diagnose E-mail problems caused by anti-spam software and devices, ISP services and relaying-denial settings in servers. This special test function is available directly from within the DavLink e-mail configuration window, the IP Parameters Configuration web page, as well as in VT-100 mode.

Send Test Email: This button allows a test e-mail to be sent directly to a destination e-mail address. The e-mail test result is shown at the end of this section.

To send a test E-mail from within the web page, you must:

1. Connect to the Davicom at the Supervisor level
2. Select Unit Configuration
3. Select IP Parameters
4. Select E-MAIL tab
5. Click the E-MAIL TEST button (see image below)

To send a test E-mail in VT-100, you must:

1. Connect to the Davicom at the Supervisor level in VT-100 mode.
2. Select menu item B: IP Configuration Parameters.
3. Select menu item I: EMAIL Configuration Parameters.
4. Select menu item J: Send test e-mail to, and enter the e-mail address to which you wish to send the test (see image below).

Afterwards, a certain number of messages will appear below line J on the window.

• If the last message indicates “E-mail sent successfully” and if the recipient receives the message, everything works fine.
• If the last message indicates “E-mail sent successfully” and the recipient does NOT receive the message, the problem is between the E-mail server and the recipient since the server acknowledged receipt of the message to the Davicom.
• Finally if the last message does not indicate “E-mail sent successfully”, there is a problem with the E-mail or IP configuration in the Davicom, or with the E-mail server.

The Davicom tries several E-mail connection settings sequentially before declaring that the message cannot be sent:

• Is an SMTP server connection available?
• Is Authentication used?
• Is it a POP before SMTP system?
• Is it Plain SMTP?

If a step fails, the Davicom indicates the failure and proceeds with the next step. See the following figures for details.