Monitoring
Remote UPS monitoring sends your UPS and battery alarms to people who know what each one means and what to do about it, around the clock, instead of to a screen nobody is watching. The service covers the network connection, the alarm list and thresholds, the routing and escalation, and the response.
Because a UPS alarm is only worth something if someone acts on it in time. Vertiv states that approximately 37 percent of all UPS system failures are battery related, and that ongoing remote monitoring of UPS and battery health improves availability by finding and correcting problems early. Its reliability study found zero outages due to bad batteries on systems whose batteries were professionally maintained and remotely monitored, and noted the need for experts to read the alarm data correctly; a monitor on site that nobody interprets does far less.
In a server room without staff, or a data centre whose operators watch a dozen other systems, the UPS front panel is not a monitoring plan. Remote monitoring puts the alarm in front of someone whose job is the UPS.
| Step | What is agreed or recorded |
|---|---|
| Survey the UPS, battery strings and network | Models, card type, strings and blocks, network access |
| Set the alarm list and severities | Each point, its thresholds and its level |
| Configure the network card and routes | Read-only access, changed SNMP strings, email, SMS and trap targets |
| Agree the response plan | Who is called for each level, escalation times, site access |
| Test every alarm end to end | Alarm raised, received, acknowledged and logged |
| Go live and report | Event log, monthly summary, findings for the next maintenance visit |
Each alarm gets a severity. Schneider Electric's guidance is to allow several thresholds per point, informational, warning, critical and failure, so a battery temperature creeping up and a UPS on battery are not treated alike.
By more than one route, with escalation. Alerts can travel as email, SMS text, SNMP traps or posts to an HTTP server, and each should say which unit, where and when. An alarm not acknowledged within a set time escalates to the next person on the list. Battery monitors can send their own alerts too; Vertiv's BDSU-50 guide describes an embedded email manager that delivers alerts and battery data on a defined priority to service technicians.
The network card is configured for this with security in mind: SNMP community strings changed from their defaults, read-only access for building systems, and the card on a network segment the site's IT team approves. If a BMS or DCIM also reads the UPS, see DCIM vs BMS for how the alarms are shared.
It is checked, classified and answered according to the response plan agreed for the site. A battery block drifting out of range becomes a planned visit and a battery test or replacement; a UPS on battery during a utility failure becomes a call to the site contact and, if the event outlasts the runtime, an emergency UPS repair dispatch. Every event, the actions taken and the outcome are logged, so the next maintenance visit starts with the history; the preventive UPS maintenance guide explains what that visit covers.
Requests and quotes are answered within 4 business hours, and the emergency line is answered around the clock. Monitoring connection and any sensor or BMS work are delivered through specialist subcontractors, under the same quote as the UPS and battery service.
Most three-phase and many single-phase UPS can, through a network card or a serial interface. Older units may need a card or a gateway; the survey settles it.
No. It catches problems between visits and tells the next visit where to look. Vertiv's study found the best results with maintenance and remote monitoring together.
The card's heartbeat stops arriving, which raises its own alarm. Silence is treated as an event, not as good news.
Specialist subcontractors, under the same quote as the UPS and battery service, with one point of contact.
Within 4 business hours of a complete request with the UPS models and battery strings.
Sources, checked 2026-10-04:
Tell us the site, the UPS and the timing. We reply and quote within 4 business hours, or call 1 (438) 800-0382
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