ENOSERV Continues to Add Functionality to PowerBase & RTS

Examples of improvements to PowerBase include:

• Crystal Report Files can now be uploaded to the PowerBase database. This allows users to replace only one file when updating or changing their reports instead of several files on several machines. This also guarantees that every user is using the same report.
• Screens have been added that allow the user to create tables without SQL programming.
• PowerBase now has the ability to talk to GE UR series relay settings files.
  

Examples of recent RTS improvements include:

• Added functionality to the RTS Tools program. One aspect of the RTS Tools program is to perform data modification in one step when processes have been changed within your company. The addition of functionality is generally guided by the customer.
• More RTS commands to give the customer more flexibility in writing customized routines.
• Ability to automatically retrieve settings from relays other than SEL.

>BACK TO TOP

GoToMeetings

If your company has a training issue or support issue, we at ENOSERV can interact with you real time via the internet. It is possible for us to demonstrate software functionality & also possible for us to take over your machine on the other end.

GoToMeeting makes it extremely easy to begin meeting online. Your meeting attendees easily join the meetings in seconds because no pre-loaded software is required and no configuration is necessary.

Real world examples of how this could be beneficial to you:

A PowerBase client needed help establishing links between PowerBase and SEL 5010. Ross Pinkstaff collaborated with the client to work through the proper steps involved in setting up the links. During the web meeting, they exchanged control of the client's desktop and were able to work together in real time, as though they were in the office together. In this way, the problem was solved without exchanging Emails and sending updated databases back and forth.

Dennis Loudermilk and Randy Caldwell used GoToMeeting to help with troubleshooting a test routine for the SEL-421. The problem was the 421 had thermal settings that were set up differently than the other settings and thus, would load erroneous settings in the RTS Settings Tab. GoToMeeting cut our troubleshooting time by 3/4.

Can I get Professional Development credits for attending the ENOSERV Client Conference?
Yes! If you attended the Client Conference in October, you can receive a certificate by E-mailing us. The certificate will state 18 Professional Development Hours (PDH’s) were earned during the conference.

TXU - Gregory P.

"RTS can rock n' roll."

I use a SMC test set. I’m the standalone technician for downtown Fort Worth. I’ve worked for TXU for 28 years.

Records
Recently we had a pretty catastrophic failure. We had a cascading event and the regional manager of TXU walked right up to me and asked “did the relays operate? What about the test reports?” I stated that we had every relay operate just fine and I had the reports right here. In the parking lot with my computer, I reported that on this day I tested this particular relay & here’s the settings. We could prove the relay worked.

RTS makes it so much better. When I first started doing this job, TXU had these folders, and this file cabinet full of folders, and they had all the relay settings on paper. And depending on who tested it, or depending on when they tested it…you had a nightmare to try to look that stuff up. Someone would get the folder to carry it out to the site to test with, and sometimes the folder wouldn’t come back or it would get rained on. You were like, why are we doing this? There’s got to be a better way! RTS stores all of those settings, and all of the results.

Performance
RTS is so much more efficient. I had a counterpart in Dallas who is really knowledgeable and old school, which I respect, and he could mechanically test those relays at lightening speed but he had memorized a lot of settings and referred to his own notes he kept in a vault for pickups, etc. He had dedicated a lot of time to that system. I challenged this coworkers one day. I stated that no doubt he was in the top 1% in our field, but let’s just check to see if this RTS is worthwhile to go to. So the challenge was on. I set up my system, he did the same & we handed each other a relay. We did several types of relays. #1, he had to sit there and write a report. #2 Every time he ran a test, he had to make a notation, and I was ready for the next relay. He was like “Wow! We got to have this.” We ended up getting him the software.

Before RTS, I’d go to a vault & get my testing equipment set up. In between my customer duties I would check 5-10 relays…whatever I had time for. If I was testing 5-10 & I didn’t get to do it for 3 days---I had to remember where did I leave off, dealing with paper records, etc. With RTS I can do the whole vault in one day. Boom. Print the report & put it on my managers desk. When I first did a few vaults it was like rowing a boat to taking a moon shot…that’s how big of leap it was. It brought me into the 21st century.

Routines
We run into zero relays that RTS doesn’t already have routines for in it’s library. Every relay that we have in our system is already in there.

For a novice technician with limited engineering support, RTS is great. For 80% of the relays I use, it’s plug & play. The other 20% that are complex, that’s where the RTS training class helped me.

Safety
One of the other things that people don’t realize: RTS has what I call “safety features” & intelligence that knows what isn’t good for the relay. One of things engineering managers don’t want you doing is tearing stuff (the relays) up. There are warning boxes in RTS that will ask the user if he is sure he wants to put 50 amps instead of 5 amps, for example. The software clearly is written by someone who has done some testing & is a technician. The developer realizes we are human and can make mistakes.

Complex Testing
RTS makes it easier to get into the more complex relays for novices. I don’t have a lot of engineering support. Engineers are usually busy with projects at my co. and it is difficult to commandeer them and then you only get them for one day maybe two & I have to squeeze them for information. We had those 87T’s from Basler that are fairly complex. It’s a transformer 3-phase differential. What we were doing before RTS…#1 we didn’t have the equipment to do the testing with, and #2 we didn’t have the automation. Therefore we outsourced and once a year I would get this bill from the outsourcing guys for an amount like $14,000 or $22,000. I wondered, what is so hard? After, I got RTS, I didn’t outsource that testing anymore. A company pays a very small price for RTS. It leverages whatever test set you have, makes it go three times as fast AND technicians can get into the more complex testing easily. From a managers standpoint or from a technicians standpoint, it’s a no brainer. Someone has read all of the instruction books for you. Someone has read all of the IDs & pulled out all of the settings. It tells you how to hook the relay up. I felt great that first year I didn’t have that outsourcing bill to take to my manager.

>BACK TO TOP



Working with Relay Manufacturers
ENOSERV is in the process of working with relay manufacturers to add more relays to the RTS Library. Recently, we have begun work on the Beckwith 3425A. Beckwith has pledged their support to help us in the effort to write routines in RTS for the benefit of our mutual clients. Going forward, ENOSERV will look to do the same with each relay manufacturer as dictated to us by our clients.


ENOSERV Knowledge Base
ENOSERV is building a Knowledge Base. You as a user can peruse the Knowledge Base for quick answers to common questions, explanations of common error messages, as well as tricks and procedures to maximize your productivity while using ENOSERV products. Check out the beginnings here.

>BACK TO TOP

What would you like to see in future editions of eNews?

Help us tailor eNews to fit your exact needs: Just email your ideas to sluster@enoserv.com and we'll see what we can do!

>BACK TO TOP