Alarms
Alarms are sent in real-time via a series of automated communications such as e-mail, SMS, pager or PDA. All alerts are also sent to the Spook Support team 24/7 and a member of our team will call you for all critical alarms to ensure you are in safe receipt and to offer advice if needed.
Alarm Escalation Procedure
Each sensor can be set its own individual alarm process or sensors can assume a global action. A series of escalation procedures is invoked when an alarm condition is triggered. When an alert is sent Spook expects to receive an acknowledgement to the event within a pre-agreed time. If this is not received the alarm escalates and is resent showing the new sensor reading to the same group or a new group. There are three escalation procedures, each with a predefined response time.
Once an alarm has been acknowledged the escalation process is stopped and an SMS confirmation is sent to all the people who were originally contacted to let them know a member of staff is dealing with the issue.
Alarm Status
Green
The sensor value is safely within its alarm settings. Each sensor is assigned an independent high/low value. When either of these values is breached and alarm is triggered.
Amber
A value can be set to send an amber alert which lets the client know a sensor is nearing a critical point. An SMS indicating the value is sent and a secondary SMS is sent 10 minutes later. This lets the client compare both values to see if the sensor is continuing towards the critical value.
Red
A critical value has been reached. The alarm invokes a series of escalation processes.
Purple
The sensor has recorded a rapid change in value but it has not reached any critical levels, for example there has been a 4 degree centigrade change in temperature within 60 seconds.
As well as managing alarms in real time, Spook is also notified when;
- A clients system is closed
- A clients system is opened
- Should a sensor become unplugged
- If the Spook Node can not be polled
Server Room Monitoring
Spook has over 200 installations across the UK, Channel Islands, Gibraltar and continental Europe, Spook is the leading managed monitoring service provider and is the IT professional’s choice in managed server room monitoring.
Many companies have disaster recovery plans in place; however if they are able to manage an out of line environmental/power condition before it escalates into a potentially more serious issue, then they remain in control of the situation.
A recent Spook survey showed that;
- 60% of our clients had some form of monitoring before moving to Spook
- 75% of our clients have increased their service level during their contract term
- 100% of our clients have renewed their service contracts
An area deemed critical for disaster recovery is monitoring the server room environment where anything adverse could clearly lead to a serious situation. By managing the environment of IT equipment a business can ensure the equipment they have invested in has longevity therefore maximising the return on their investment.
The Spook service provides:
- Real-time alarms 24/7
- Automated contact via SMS, e-mail, pager, PDA
- Spook Support contact 24/7 via landline for critical alerts
- Audit Reports every week
- Incident Reports for critical alarms
- Installation plans for each room monitored
- Unique mySpook client portal
- Real-time and historical charting for all sensors
Go here for a detailed service overview.
Spook Console:
Spook Console is designed to be installed on the client's LAN/WAN and is protected by the client’s firewall and IT security. Spook Console pushes information out via the internet and mail server in real time for all alerts and at regular intervals for sending system heartbeats and sensor data to Spook. Go here for a Spook Console Topology.
Spook Central:
Spook Central is an ADSL based service whereby Spook provides a dedicated CISCO router at the client site and establishes a secure VPN back to the Spook servers. The installation is a private network and does not reside on the clients LAN/WAN. Spook Central polls each installation every few seconds. Go here for a Spook Central Topology.