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September 2012 Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 8


What Can You Monitor with Temperature@lert?

When deciding on a Temperature@lert solution, generally you would have something in mind for the application prior to purchase.  Of course we have our standard industries that require the use of our products; however, there are many imaginative ways consumers have thought up that have opened a new world of monitoring possibilities.  

Here are some of the innovative uses that have been implemented:

  • R/V pet monitoring 
  • HVAC systems
  • Warehouses
  • Wine storage
  • Ovens 
  • BBQ Smokers
  • Cryogenic Freezers
  • Food Trucks
  • Reefer Trucks
  • Kennels
  • Police K9 vehicles
  • Water Tanks 
  • Ponds
  • Farms/Barns
  • Chicken Coops
  • Portable bio-pharmaceutical cooling units
  • Steam Pipes
  • Incubators
  • Boiler rooms
  • Crops
  • Greenhouses
  • Explosives
  • Vacation homes
  • Candy factories
  • Vacant commercial property
  • Boiler rooms
  • Crawl spaces
  • Outdoor Cooling Units
  • Saunas
  • Hot tubs

Of course these applications would not be possible without our smart sensors:

  • Temperature
  • Humidity
  • Flood
  • Expanded Range Temperature
  • Tank Level
  • Pressure
  • Leaf Wetness
  • Soil Moisture
  • Wind Direction
  • WInd Speed
  • Rainfall
  • CO2
  • O2
  • Dry Contact
  • Stainless Steel Temperature
  • Wine Bottle Temperature

With the implementation of our smart sensors, the possibilities are endless in discovering solutions for your monitoring needs.  If you need a solution for your monitoring we're here to help, just send us a quick quote request: Quote Inquiry. Or if you have an interesting way you use your device, we'd love to hear about it, email info@temperaturealert.com.


ALERT: WIFI Firmware Update

It's that time again, the latest version of firmware for the WIFI has been officially released: Version 6.5! Here are the changes that we have added to this version:Please read the ReadMe text file before proceeding with the download and follow the reflashing instructions.  

  • New Graphing options in the preferences tab
  • New sensor reading engine to prevent interval time drift between readings
  • Bugfix for units that exhibit unwanted beeping
  • Bugfix to allow $ characters in passwords and usernames
  • Additional email providers have been added in the email settings 
  • Sensor readings now have a lowest level resolution of 1 minute

*Settings will be automatically erased with a reflash so make sure you write down your settings or screen shot them before reflashing your device if you do not remember your exact preferences. 

Please let us know if you have any issues or problems via support@temperaturealert.com. We're here to help!


Proper Food Storage

About 3.5 weeks ago, Jeff Rossen from the TODAY Show reported: "Some trucks carry unsafe food, authorities say".  This rang into our heads like the piezo on our WIFI devices, we are highly concerned with the proper storage of food whether during storage or transportation.  Rossen reported, "A hidden health hazard in some of the food you buy: Authorities say the trucks delivering that food to stores may be putting your family at risk." We are also concerned at the fact that much of this food is being carried to your local grocery stores and restaurants. Only way to avoid getting sick from spoiled food is proper storage, meaning that temperature monitoring is essential to ensuring the safety of your food and you. 

Currently, up to 33% of perishable items are lost during transportation, thanks to logistical flaws and errors.  Not to mention the percentage of loss due to improper storage at the retail level.  In the food distribution industry, there are about $35 billion in reported losses annually of perishable foods.  With the rise of organic foods and such, it has become even more crucial for proper storage.  This is where Temperature@lertt steps in and saves your food.

Temperature@lert's CELL and WIFI devices can monitor your foods at different points of the cold chain. By using either CELL or WIFI device from processing to transportation to retail, the food can be ensured of proper storage.  On the growing level, agriculturalists can use our SOLAR CELL to monitor crop growth without wasting water.  Then by using our CELL during transportation, the cargo of perishable food would be monitored without wasting diesel fuel and be able to alert the driver if there maybe a potential disaster.  Once it reaches retail level, the restaurateur or grocery store owner, can use the CELL or WIFI to monitor the storage of food before it's either cooked or sold to the consumer. 

Not only would all members of the cold chain be able to protect their foods from spoilage but their consumers can enjoy their food safely without the worry of food-borne illness. To learn more about the food industry and storage, please visit our commercial refrigeration page or request a solution from us. 


MITX Blog Feature: Warming Up Users

Directly from the MITX Blog: http://blog.mitx.org/Blog/bid/90274/Temperature-lert-Warming-Up-Your-Users

This post is part of the September blog series. With FutureM coming in October (do you have your pass yet?!), we're thinking a lot about marketers and consumers, and this series reflects that. We asked our writers to answer this question: "what is it going to take for marketers to catch up to consumers?" We'll be sharing several posts each week of the month. Stay tuned for diverse viewpoints and creative answers to this question. This post is by Diane Deng, Advertising Acrobat (Online Marketing Coordinator). Born and raised a Bostonian, Diane graduated with a BS from Boston University in Communications with a specialty in Advertising. Aerodynamic Diane spends her spare time flying in the air through her practice of aerial yoga while pursuing her Masters in Visual Arts at Harvard. Not only is she a flying machine but a marketing machine as well. She recently launched her first national cross-promotional marketing campaign. When Diane is not gliding on yoga swings, she swiftly manages Temperature@lert's new media accounts while building client and affiliate relationships. For this airborne gal, she likes her temperature like she likes her aerial yoga, a warm 78 degrees.

Temperature@lert has tons of users (30,000 devices worldwide), but converting them from user to consumer varies across all verticals. It seems more important now than ever to know your user in order for them to become your consumer. There’s no simple wax-on, wax-off technique nowadays and it’s definitely time to consider how to warm up your users.

First let’s define user and consumer in the easiest manner:

User: Purchased and uses product or service.
Consumer: Purchased and consumes product or service.

The definitions most certainly seem the same; however, there is a major difference. Users just use your product or service but have not become loyal to your brand. Therefore, a consumer is someone who not only uses your products and services but also actually consumes your brand. What is this consumption of brand? Well that’s brand loyalty. But getting brand loyalty with all the noise from media bombardments have made it slightly more difficult. No longer can you focus on just traditional marketing or just new media; you need both and you need them tailored to each vertical.

In order to warm up your users, you need to get to know them first. Human nature dictates that most people desire to be noticed despite how big or small their order is. At Temperature@lert we treat all our users equally, because it wouldn’t be fair for someone to cut in line. However we always make sure to take care of all our users in a timely manner whether it’s e-mail correspondences or answering tech support tickets. We even check our work e-mails at night and on the weekends, that’s just our Temperature@lert team motto.

When dealing with users in different verticals, you need to know what they want, what they need, and how to provide solutions quickly and effectively. In order to do this you just need to pay attention. Notice if there are trends going on with new medical policies in your bio-pharmaceutical vertical. Notice if there’s a more recent release of server software in your IT/Data Center vertical. Notice if there’s been a recent spike in non-proper food transportation monitoring in your commercial refrigeration vertical. By noticing such details, your users will appreciate the fact that you’re making the effort to assist them.  

Knowing what they want and need is one thing; knowing how to reach them is part two. Certain verticals or users tend to only check their email on Wednesday afternoons around 3pm, others prefer Monday evenings around 5, while others might like Tuesday mornings at 11am. Look at the analytics and make a plan, do some A/B testing, and find out what works in each vertical then maximize it to your advantage. After all, you don’t know if something works till you try it. Never forget that there are users who still prefer the traditional methods of advertising, give them a call or send them a mailer. Knowing how they want to receive the information makes all the difference.

Marketers don’t need to catch up to consumers; they need to convert users to consumers. Reach out and show them you care and you’ll soon be surprising your users by having solutions for them before they even need to request it. That’s how you create consumers with true brand loyalty. Temperature@lert firmly believes in averting disasters before they can happen, so turn your user into a consumer by showing your loyalty to them and they’ll warm up to you.