Customer Success Story

Digi Cellular Routers Improve

Environmental Monitoring Systems
Photo Courtesy of DR DAS, LTD

Background
DR DAS, LTD is a leading provider of environmental and energy monitoring
solutions. Its products allow state and local agencies to gather robust sets of “Our customers can
information remotely from field monitoring stations. DR DAS, LTD solutions now reliably and
collect information needed for public agencies to administer measurement systems,
operate facilities, produce in-house and regulatory reports and publish information affordably access a
for public consumption. rich data set of
For example, public agencies are required to deploy environmental monitoring
information about their
equipment to monitor and protect air quality. It can be difficult to manage these monitoring activities…”
devices because environmental monitoring equipment is frequently located across - Andrew Montz, owner of DR DAS, LTD
wide areas with stations sometimes hundreds of miles apart. Until recently, agencies
typically had to dispatch personnel to these remote sites to investigate potential
issues, primarily because the communications link to the stations supported limited
bandwidth. With remote control of the station equipment made practical with Application Summary
increased bandwidth, thousands of man hours and many gallons of fuel can be
saved by eliminating much of the travel to perform maintenance and calibration Application:
checks. Remote air monitoring

For primary connectivity to remote devices DR DAS, LTD turned to Industry:

Digi International for its ConnectPort® WAN VPN, a high-speed, 3G cellular Environmental and energy monitoring
router. Public agencies may now connect to their remote environmental monitoring
Company:
equipment using a high-speed wireless broadband connection, gaining access to a
DR DAS, LTD – www.dr-das.com
previously unused, rich set of metadata about the instrumentation and enabling
remote equipment control. Challenge:
DR DAS, LTD wanted to replace
Central Data
Collection System outdated communication links to
remote air quality monitoring stations
Department of in order to gain access to previously
Air Quality
unused instrumentation metadata and
to control equipment remotely.

Solution:
Cellular ConnectPort WAN VPN cellular routers
Data Network
(with VPN option)
Mobile and
enable high bandwidth remote
SMS Alerts
Temporary Sites monitoring and data collection,
eliminating many costly on-site visits.
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DARY DARY
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ANTEN R ANTEN R
POWE POWE

N N

ConnectPort®
t WA t WA
RESET RESET

or or
tP S tP S
ec STATU ec STATU
nn L STRENGTH nn L STRENGTH
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ACT ACT

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WAN VPN
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Site #1 Site #2

www.digi.com
 Digi Enables Broadband Wherever and Whenever
“The key to improving management of air monitoring networks is reliable,
affordable broadband access,” said Andrew Montz, owner of DR DAS, LTD.
“While broadband can be implemented in a variety of ways, cellular offers
the broadest coverage available at a reasonable cost. Many environmental
monitoring sites are located where competitive technology like DSL is not
available. Getting copper wire to some of the monitoring locations incurs
significant installation costs including possibly installing new poles to carry the
phone line needed for either POTS or DSL communications.”
Photo Courtesy of DR DAS, LTD
Because it can go anywhere and supports all major cellular carriers, the
ConnectPort WAN VPN with high speed 3G networking is a very effective
single solution to the many physical barriers involved in monitoring station
communications. It offers an ideal solution for mobile and emergency response
monitoring tasks.

Because high-speed cellular connectivity can transfer large amounts of data

in real-time, our customers can now reliably and affordably access a rich
data set of information about their monitoring activities,” Montz added.
“This allows customers to understand what an instrument might be doing
in order to constantly evaluate if the measurement values are believable.”

Digi Streamlines Equipment Maintenance, Saves Taxpayer

Dollars, “Greens” Process More about
In addition to allowing public agencies greater access to the data that determines
ConnectPort WAN VPN
whether their information is correct, the ConnectPort WAN VPN enables
The ConnectPort WAN VPN is an
customers to become more efficient.
enterprise-class 3G high speed flexible-
function cellular router that provides
“Receiving remote diagnostics information in real time is a huge time saver,”
secure wireless connectivity to remote
Montz said. “Agencies can now look at the data and understand what the issue
sites and devices. It can be used for
might be based on the remote information. They can bring the right parts during
primary wireless broadband network
a site visit because they know what the problem is. There is no traveling back
connectivity to equipment at remote
and forth like in the past. This is saving public agencies money and is also a
locations, as well as for a backup to
greener solution.”
existing landline communications.
Integrated IPsec VPN support ensures
The systems also save money by reducing the need for regular site visits for
true end-to-end data protection.
maintenance. Agencies save on man hour costs as well as hard costs such as
fuel and wear and tear on public vehicles. In many cases, an existing POTS line
Key Features:
to the station is eliminated. This essentially offsets the monthly cellular service
provider charges offered by major carriers to public agencies. • High-speed 3G primary or backup
network connectivity

In addition to providing strong ROI, the cellular routers are proving to be more • Integrated VPN support
reliable than the wired connections that previously connected some systems. • Ethernet, serial and USB ports
• Wi-Fi and GPS options
“Our customers can now reliably and affordably access a rich data set of
• Easily replaceable cellular modules or
information about their monitoring activities.” Montz said. PCM/CIA Cards

Montz concluded: “I found the ConnectPort WAN VPN to be a reliable rugged

device. It is a single box solution for all of the things my customers need. We use
them because they solve all of the problems and work.”

For more information on Digi products please visit www.digi.com

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