Product category:
Other analytical instruments
News Release from: Waters | Subject: Connections Insight; Acquity and nanoAcquity UPLC
Edited by the Laboratorytalk Editorial
Team on 15 March 2006
Intelligent device service platform
extended
Waters has announced improved capabilities for the Connections Insight intelligent device service platform.
Waters has announced improved capabilities for the Connections Insight intelligent device service platform Since August 2004, Waters' Connections Insight has shipped as a value-added service with the company's award-winning Acquity UPLC and nanoAcquity UPLC systems
This article was originally published on Laboratorytalk on 2 Aug 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Enabling technology for E-lab notebook
Diosynth selects Waters NuGenesis Scientific data management solution for its internal E-lab notebook initiative
Apotex selects scientific data management system
Company plans to reduce cycle time in new product development by standardising on data management platform, which will be deployed at up to 15 sites worldwide
Connections Insight currently provides users with several capabilities: real-time system monitoring and alert notification, predictive maintenance technology, and the ability to contact Waters directly from their Acquity UPLC systems with the click of a mouse.
All of these capabilities increase system uptime and proactively address service issues before they occur and escalate.
Laboratory staff can maximise systems uptime, reduce mean-time-to-repair and control maintenance costs which all contribute to laboratory productivity.
Further reading
Taking liquid chromatography a stage further
Claiming to be the first end-to-end ultra performance liquid chromatography system offering specially designed column chemistries, hardware, software, and documentation
Expanded chromatography control with this software
Acquires data and controls the operation of and processes data from Waters brand instrumentation as well as Agilent photodiode array detectors, liquid chromatographs, and gas chromatographs
Training catalogue in eight regional versions
Courses for LC and MS technologies cover five major areas: laboratory informatics, instrument operation and maintenance, MS technologies, compliance and general chromatography
Waters says that it continues to enhance its worldwide services capabilities through two developments - performance status reports; and real-time remote troubleshooting for real-time problem resolution.
Customers can now receive emails automatically on a monthly basis notifying them about the performance of their UPLC systems.
These reports include performance and usage information for the following components: instrument counters, auto-sampler injections, lamp hours, volume of solvent delivered, lamp ignition, column usage (that is, injections per column) and estimated performance maintenance visit to avoid costly and time-consuming system downtime.
This capability ensures that users can effectively monitor the critical parameters of their systems so that they can more effectively plan for on-going maintenance.
This service will be demonstrated in the Waters booth (1833) at Pittcon 2006.
Based on customer permission, Acquity UPLC users can grant Waters support engineers the ability to login and remotely diagnose system performance and operational issues in real-time.
When permitted, Waters' service personnel will perform the required diagnostics in compliance with the users' security guidelines, and IT policies and procedures, thus ensuring the safety of their data.
This service allows for the remote resolution of system problems without the need of an on-site engineer.
Peter Boler, director of marketing, Waters Global Services, said: "Today's announcement of new Connections Insight capabilities augments our industry-leading services portfolio".
"Since the fall of 2004, customers with active Connections Insight accounts have realised significant productivity gains".
"Our internal reporting shows that 25 percent of the system alerts received by our Support team are resolved without the need to dispatch a service engineer".
"In those situations calling for an on-site visit from a field engineer, our customers are back on-line faster because Connections Insight transmits performance information in advance for a more accurate diagnosis".
"The end result is increased system uptime, better cost control and higher levels of productivity," he said.
Waters Connections Insight operates within a company's existing security infrastructure and is fully compliant with existing firewalls, proxy servers and security policies.
By making use of the existing network infrastructure, there is no need to make any changes to established procedures to support remote monitoring and diagnostics.
Connections Insight-enabled systems support DHCP, meaning fixed-IP addresses are not required.
The Connections Insight Service Agent communicates with the Waters' technical support centre via transmissions that require password authentication to validate the identity of devices exchanging information with the enterprise.
All communications are encrypted using 128-bit Secure SocketLayer (SSL) protocol and are initiated from behind the firewall of the customer's site.
Connections Insight does not provide visibility into a customer's business-sensitive data.
Performance information is stored in a database accessible only by certified Waters' support engineers with special authorisations and permissions.
Waters Connections Insight has been available on Acquity UPLC and nanoAcquity UPLC systems since the fall of 2004.
The capabilities announced here will be available by the end of June 2006, and will occur automatically for existing users.
• Waters: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Laboratorytalk email newsletter
• Laboratorytalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
