cmarks

I agree with JD and Old Timer, it's extremely important to check the company and system they're offering. Couple of things I would add: - make sure they have local Service Support and 24 hour Technical Support (stuff seems to always go down in the middle of the night and you need the fastest response possible). - make sure the system can use the network or the web, but not rely on it for data transmissions, alarming, and notification (you don't want to lose those functions if the network goes down). - ask to see their validation documents (this will tell you a lot about how thorough they are, how comprehensive it is, and how well it will satisfy the auditors when they're inspecting your site). We also preferred local storage of our data, rather than offsite. We didn't want anyone else having the potential of seeing our data, or paying extra fees for the storage of that data, or the possibility of that connection being broken too. Make sure to look at multiple groups. You'll make the best decision for you if you compare. Good luck, CM

MK, Validating one of these systems can be a very time consuming task, plus you really need to know what you're doing. The sensors need to be calibrated with certified meters and the entire system needs to be tested to be sure it's functioning properly (such as alarms, power checks, notifications, etc.). It's something we aren't comfortable doing, so we, like most groups we know, have the company who supplied the system do this work. It also has to be done at least once a year. When we were looking to put in a system, it's actually one of the main reasons we went with Rees Scientific. Yes, we also experienced some issues with their service, but that was a number of years ago when they were struggling to keep up with how fast they were growing. But since then, no problems. Apparently, they've added a number of people to their Service Department and have some 60-70 Field Technicians now. We have them do our annual validations every year, and they've been great. Matter of fact, our 3rd shift called their Tech Support at about 2:45 AM three weeks ago (had a situation we needed to deal with ASAP) and got a LIVE human being on the phone. Do yourself a favor....If you can, have the experts perform the validation. CM