Let’s dive into the advanced features of NovaVue! From custom virtual meters to detailed analytics and reporting, NovaVue offers a range of tools that can help you manage energy consumption more effectively. What advanced features have you found most useful in your day-to-day operations? Are there any specific functionalities you’re curious about or would like to learn more about? Share your experiences, tips, and questions here!"
What is the process for setting up alarms and notifications in NovaVue?
Hello, Thanks for your question. Alarms and notifications in NovaVue are very easy to set up. Here are the basic steps:
- Select the device with the metric(s) you want to alarm on
- On the right side of the screen, find the Alarm widget and click on the alarm clock icon.
- Select what severity (Low, Medium, High) you want the alarm to be. Low severity alarms will only alert on the screen in the portal / app - Medium severity alarms will alert on-screen and via email - High severity alarms will alert on-screen, via email, and send a text (if the user has put in their mobile phone number)
- Create the “trigger” for the alarm. We use boolean expressions to create alarm trigger. So you could have a simple threshold alarm like “Current over X amps” or you can use status alarms received by NovaVue. But, you can also use the Boolean expressions to combine multiple triggers. For example, “High Current” AND " Status = (someting)". With this system you can have complex logic for your alarm triggers.
- Once you build the trigger(s) you want, click the “+” sign to the right to see the expression you made and then “add trigger” below the expression to complete the alarm creation. See the screenshot below for what it looks like:
Please let me know if you have any other questions about alarms or have a specific example you want me to walk you through.
Thanks!
John
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I’ve seen the term “virtual meters” a few times throughout your documentation. Can you please explain what a virtual meter is?
Thank you for the question! By definition, virtual meters are software-based systems that simulate the function of physical meters. They aggregate data from various sources and provide insights into usage, such as electricity, water, or gas, as well as other operational parameters.
In NovaVue, our virtual meters allow you to combine data from similar meter types that share the same data points. This means you can easily monitor and manage complex energy systems with a single, unified view.
Key Benefits:
Data Aggregation: Combine data from multiple physical meters to create a holistic view of your energy usage.
Custom Arithmetic Operations: Use arithmetic operations to manipulate and model data according to your specific needs.
System Representation: Aggregate data from various sub-meters to represent entire systems such as chillers, generators, or any other large-scale equipment.
That a neat feature. Are they easy to set up?
I can tell you that they are very easy to set up. You can do it right from the main portal. Just select the building you want the meter to be located in and then click on “Add Aggregate” in the upper right corner. Then use the wizard to fill out the rest of the information like: What type of meter it should represent, a name and description, and which child devices should be included in the calculations. See the screenshot below:
That’s all you need to do.
That’s excellent & it looks fairly simple. What’s the catch? Right now if I want to add or device in my building automation system, I need to cut a PO to the vendor and wait 4-6 weeks for a tech to show up at my site.
In our case, new devices can usually be added in minutes assuming there is connectivity to them from our agent software. Also because we are cloud based we can do this remotely and don’t need to come on-site.
That’s a bonus. Do you know if the alarms trigger off of a single event or can multiple thresholds can be used to trigger an alarm?
Hi Bryan, alarms can be triggered off of multiple thresholds or status events. We use Boolean logic to create alarm triggers so you can combine any measurement points with operators like “AND” “OR” and so forth.
That’s great. Do you have a tutorial?