OmniSite pushes GuardDog cloud software for remote utility monitoring

OmniSite says its GuardDog platform gives municipal water and wastewater utilities a cloud-based way to receive alarms, track trends and diagnose problems at remote pumping stations. The company says the system is included with its devices and is designed to help crews respond before equipment failures trigger overflows.

Why it matters: - GuardDog is meant to give municipal utilities earlier warning of failures at remote sites. - Faster alarm handling can help crews intervene before sewage spills into lakes, streams or homes. - The system is aimed at smaller towns that may not have staff for complex monitoring software.

What happened: - OmniSite unveiled GuardDog as its custom-built cloud software for municipal water and wastewater monitoring. - The platform receives and acknowledges alarms, tracks trends and helps diagnose problems at remote pumping stations. - OmniSite said GuardDog comes with every OmniSite device and requires no custom software setup. - The company said GuardDog is available through the GuardDog 2.0 mobile app or a web browser on phones, tablets or PCs.

The details: - Tens of thousands of OmniSite monitors are deployed across the U.S. at municipal sewage and water pumping stations. - GuardDog serves as a secure cloud-based notification system and historian that consolidates monitor data in one place. - Customizable call-out lists let designated staff receive alerts by email, text message and phone call. - A map view shows which locations are in alarm in real time. - Alarm triggers can be set for each input channel of OmniSite equipment. - Historical records go back up to six months for trend analysis. - Reports export to Excel, Word or PDF in one click. - The standard service plan sends a report every 24 hours. - The elite service plan provides 15-minute reporting on analog values. - The Realtime reporting package can deliver 5-minute reporting on analog values or selected reports. - Utilities can combine multiple OmniSite products on a private GuardDog cloud. - OmniBeacon sends alerts for high level, power failure, low backup battery and weak cellular signal. - XR50 PLUS records pump runtimes, gallons per minute and pump cycles. - Crystal Ball PLUS monitors digital and analog sensor signals and can serve as a backup pump controller in municipal lift station applications. - GuardDog supports peer-to-peer control, a feature OmniSite first offered in October 2024. - Peer-to-peer control lets one OmniSite product trigger another for interlocked control across long distances. - Operators set up peer-to-peer control through a fill-in-the-blanks table instead of complex programming. - One device can stop pumps when another device triggers a high-level alarm. - In drinking water systems, the approach can support multiple water towers and pumps in alternation or zoned arrangements. - OmniSite began moving its back-end servers to multiple Amazon AWS regions in 2022 for high availability, high redundancy and a secure backend. - In January 2024, OmniSite started a multi-year effort to build GuardDog 2.0. - GuardDog 2.0 adds features for WINGs, OmniSite's device that combines camera surveillance, telemetry and a PLC data gateway. - OmniSite technicians can configure the GuardDog cloud interface through Configuration Services. - For OmniBeacon installations, clients fill out a short form, email a photo of it to support@omnisite.com and wait for the team to finish setup and testing. - Clients also have access to local representative support and web and phone app support. - OmniSite offers free in-person product training at its Indianapolis facility. - Ward said the training lasts 1.5 days. - OmniSite started in 1998 as Logical Concepts, Inc. in the garage attached to Tom Ward's family home. - Ward applied for a patent on the company's cellular technology in 2001. - OmniSite is headquartered in downtown Indianapolis and serves clients nationwide. - More information is available on the company's website, by phone at +1 317-885-6330 or on the company blog.

Between the lines: - GuardDog is as much a software layer as a product feature, tying together alerting, reporting and device control across OmniSite's hardware line. - The AWS migration and GuardDog 2.0 work suggest OmniSite is investing in the platform's reliability and longer-term expansion. - The emphasis on configuration services and training points to a market where usability matters because many customers may lack dedicated monitoring specialists.

What's next: - OmniSite plans to continue the multi-year AWS migration and GuardDog 2.0 development. - The company is also positioning GuardDog to support newer products such as WINGs and expanded remote-control use cases. - Municipal utilities can contact OmniSite for product details, setup help and training.