The Smile IT team have kept the ball rolling into February, and it looks like there are no signs of slowing down. As businesses get back into the swing of things, our team has been actively working on a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing our clients’ communication, safety and security capabilities. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at the top projects of February:
Fibre Splicing
After a major outage due to a recent lightning storm, one of our valued mining clients began to experience poor TV signal in multiple zones across their entire camp site. After some remote investigation by our technicians, we identified degraded fibre links and damage caused to other local equipment that required replacement.
A team was deployed to site, armed with spares, ready to replace any faulty equipment. The first port of call was conducting some further testing on the fibre links. Results found that a particular link was performing far below the minimum spec required. Our team decided to re-splice the fibre cables and install a new FOBOT to resolve the performance issue.
Following the fibre-splicing project, the team replaced all faulty hardware in the communications room, as well as any damaged coaxial network taps. The result of these efforts was near instant, stabilising the network and bringing link performance back up to acceptable levels.
Eco Tourism Sensor Upgrade
It’s a little-known fact that Smile IT provides an integrated monitoring solution for a number of our remote clients.
These solutions monitor a variety of key assets such as Water Tank Levels, Weather Station Data, Soil Moisture Status, Fire Alarm activity as well as provide the ability to remotely engage the fire mitigation processes.
A variety of sensors submit data to our customised dashboard which provides full visibility to a wide range of monitored assets. The platform is configured to trigger alerts to key recipients when designated events occur (such as excessive water loss or a triggered alarm). The platform provides customers with full remote insight into the real-time status of properties that are sometimes inaccessible due to bad weather.
Our team recently conducted a routine maintenance visit with a tourism client in the Scenic Rim to ensure the existing infrastructure is properly maintained and operable. As part of this visit the team upgraded the Water Tank sensors from a ‘Line of sight’ solution to an industrial ‘Pressure Sensor’ solution which allows for a more precise accounting of water capacity. These sensors are not subject to the impact of debris and humidity which can alter the accuracy of data. Obtaining accurate readings and notifications of water supply and usage is critical to this client both from an operational and infrastructure protection objective.
If you would like to learn more about how Smile IT can assist you with an increased remote monitoring capability, reach out to our team for a chat here.
Fire Suppression Solution at Mine Site
The installation of a fire monitoring and alerting system at one of our mining client sites is one of the projects we were most excited to dive into in February. Due to the complexity of the solution, our technicians will complete installation in multiple stages over the coming weeks.
An overall summary of what will be delivered includes the installation of cables at three different locations, and connecting the fire panel to the network point.
A new LAN will be established for the fire panel to ensure seamless connectivity and data flow. Following this, the relevant switches and routers will be set up with VLANs to segment the network.
Automatic IP addressing will be set up, and IP addresses will be allocated to ensure each device on the network can communicate with each other effectively.
The next phase involves collaborating with the Fire-Elec to implement IP-based alerting, allowing the relevant parties to be notified in the case of a fire. Our technicians will then set up the monitoring dashboard and alerting rules.
As effective monitoring of the system is as important as the initial installation, a separate solution will be implemented to continuously check the network’s performance and health. The final stage of the project involves rigorous testing of the new system.
Managed Services Plan Upgrades
As cybercrime reports continue to increase across Australia, Smile IT has taken proactive steps to upgrade our Managed Service Plan offerings to ensure our client’s assets and data are well protected. Recognising the need for advanced cybersecurity measures, we enhanced our service plan offerings to also include:
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Detects and responds to threats on endpoints, ensuring a swift and effective response to potential cyberattacks.
- Continuous Vulnerability Scanning: Continuously scans for vulnerabilities, allowing users to identify and address security risks before they’re exploited.
- Phishing Simulations and Training: Simulated phishing attacks and access to training content, helping employees better recognise and respond to threats.
- DNS Filtering: Blocks malicious websites and protects users from accessing harmful content.
- Pre-paid Incident Response Hours: Ensures our clients have the support they require if a cybersecurity incident occurs.
These enhancements reflect our commitment to staying ahead of the curve and providing our clients with robust cybersecurity protection in line with ‘Essential Eight’; the national standard and best practices recommended by the Australian government.
In addition to the security uplifts, we have also improved our offering to better service and support our customers. This included the addition of 24/7 infrastructure monitoring for all customers, as well improved reporting capabilities to ensure maximum visibility into all network activities.
Contact Brisbane’s Favourite IT Support Company
If you have tech problems similar to the four projects above, get in touch with Smile IT. As a leading managed IT services provider, we’re here to help!
When he’s not writing tech articles or turning IT startups into established and consistent managed service providers, Peter Drummond can be found kitesurfing on the Gold Coast or hanging out with his family!