iCOMM remote monitoring service brings innovation to commercial water heating
For the first time, A. O. Smith Water Products Company is offering an exclusive service for its commercial water heaters and boilers, the iCOMM remote monitoring service. The system allows access from anywhere in the world to current and historical performance data along with almost instant notification of problems with a unit.
The iCOMM service enables customers to interact with, proactively manage, and monitor A. O. Smith water heaters or boilers from anywhere in the world via the internet. It is designed for any commercial water heater customer, ranging from small businesses with one water heater to national chain operations with thousands of locations.
The iCOMM service allows a customer to:
• Gain access to 90 days of water heater data;
• Monitor “live” water heater status using a Web browser;
• Receive fault alerts via text message or e-mail;
• Receive leak detection alerts in the event of a tank leak.
Customers interact with iCOMM at the www.aosmithconnect.com website. In addition to the purchase of the iCOMM Communications Module, customers purchase an annual subscription to access this service.
The three main components of the system are:
• A. O. Smith-designed controls for boilers and water heaters that are now present on five product families;
• The server that hosts the websites; and
• The Communications Module (CM), which ties the two together.
iComm Communications Module
Multiple Device Adapters (MDAs) are used to connect multiple tank units to a Communications Module (CM).
An interface to building automation systems is another major part of the system. The CM has a BACnet port for communicating with a building automation system. Sites that have BACnet already installed should have few problems connecting to the iCOMM CM.
iCOMM is designed around A. O. Smith products for ease of setup and use. The end user uses the website interface, which is intuitive and employs normal browsing features such as a tree structure to locate a particular water heater, tabbed windows for different data display and drop-down item selection for graphs.
Five of WPC’s most popular commercial water heater and boiler product families are compatible with iCOMM. These include Cyclone Xi, Gold Xi electric, Custom Xi electric, VF Series boilers and Genesis boilers. The residential Vertex 100 model is also iCOMM compatible. In addition, iCOMM can be used with existing models already installed that have advanced controls.
Customers will be able to purchase iCOMM hardware, AT&T ConnecTech installation services and annual subscriptions on the www.aosmithconnect.com website. Upon its completion in October, this website will be used as a storefront for new customers to learn more about iCOMM and make a purchase as well as the log-in site for existing customers.
