We’re working on some new functionality that we think you’re going to really like. For a long time now we’ve supported voice notifications where Tembria Server Monitor uses a voice enabled modem to call you on your cell phone or land line and play a message to you. When things really go wrong like when your main external connection is down or a critical network router has failed, Tembria Server Monitor can bypass the failed network and call you directly.
It’s been working great but there’s an unexpected new problem emerging: Modems are getting hard to find! Our favorite modem has always been the Creative ModemBlaster. It comes in a PCI model and, even better, a USB model that you can install without having to open up your machine. But now they’re getting hard to find. Even the Creative site itself lists the unit as “Out of stock (restock date unavailable)”.
Uh oh!
Well it came down to scraping eBay to build a stockpile of rapidly aging equipment or getting on with the new technological reality. Of course we took the second route.
We’ve been working with some really cool GPRS modems that include the ability to send SMS messages over the air. Here’s how they work: You put your SIM card in the modem, plug in the modem and you’re done! Tembria Server Monitor communicates with the modem and uses it to send notifications to you, again by passing your network.
The particular units we’re working with are USB modems which makes things even easier. They even have detachable antennas so if the reception is awful in your server room you can attach a third party antenna extension. An one more thing: At less than $75.00 each they ridiculously cheap.
We’ve been working with a tri-band model and are now testing with other models. This week we’re looking forward to getting our hands on a quad-band model that will work for you regardless of whether you’re in Europe, North America or Asia.
This new functionality is going to be included in Tembria Server Monitor v5.2 which is due to ship in July.
Posted by Don