Use the feedback form or call SoftSwitching Technologies at 608-662-7310 (8am to 5pm M-F, US Central time zone). Please have the serial number of your I-Sense monitor handy or include it in the email.

Click on your model for additional support information.

Modem-only Models	Ethernet-based Models
(V1120A00, V3120A00 and V3480A00)	(V3480B02 and V6480B05)

Helpful Links

Frequently Asked Questions

General Power Quality

1. What is the difference between power reliability and power quality?
   
   Most utilities and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) measure power system reliability in terms of extended outages experienced on a power line. Disturbances lasting less than a minute are typically not counted as outages. Sensitive electronic equipment, widely used today in factories, offices, warehouses and residences, can be affected by disturbances lasting 1/4 second or less. Power quality deals with the area of short duration disturbances.
2. Can I completely eliminate the chance of power quality events?
   
   Power disturbances occur because of lightning strikes, storms, accidents, equipment failure and trees falling on utility lines. Such events can never be eliminated, even on the most reliable utility systems. Utility protective equipment normally operates to isolate the section of the line where a fault occurs, and very quickly restores power under all except the most catastrophic situations. As a result, most power disturbances are of very short duration, typically less than 1/4 second. Based on an extensive study by the Electric Power Research Institute, a consortium of over 300 utilities from around the world, less than 3% of power disturbances represent power outages. The rest are short duration disturbances.
3. How can I minimize my power quality events?
   
   The I-Grid only records power disturbances that occur on your power line. Based on the type and frequency of events measured, and on the cost of downtime at your facility, one can then decide on a power solution that meets your process and budget requirements. Visit www.softswitch.com for further information on power quality and reliability solutions.
4. How frequently do power disturbances occur?
   
   This can vary widely based on type of utility service, geographic region, presence of disturbing loads, and natural factors such as storms, lightning and ice storms. The Electric Power Research Institute reports in their Distribution Power Quality study that typical industrial sub-stations on radial distribution feeds experience approximately 25 power disturbances (events) per year that could potentially impact a customer's process. Only 3% of these disturbances were seen to be extended outages. Large power consumers connected to high voltage utility grids (>110,000 volts) will typically experience higher reliability levels, experiencing virtually no outages. However, short duration disturbances cannot completely be eliminated.
5. What impact do these power disturbances have on equipment and processes?
   
   It is well known that for computer systems and data networks, power disturbances can cause system lock-up, data loss and significant downtime. Even in the industrial arena, manufacturing today invariably has automation, computers and programmable controllers integrated into the process. Significant costs are incurred if the process goes down because of a power disturbance. These include scrap material costs, clean up time, long restart time, additional labor costs and opportunity costs. In some sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing, cost of downtime can exceed $1 million per event. The pain of lost productivity is however universally felt across all manufacturers and businesses.

I-Grid Website

1. What is the I-Grid?
   
   The I-Grid is the web based power disturbance monitoring and reporting system that has been developed by SoftSwitching Technologies. Low-cost I-Sense monitors record and report power disturbances over the Internet. Data from specific monitors can be viewed by I-Sense owners via the I-Grid web site from anywhere in the world.
   
   I-Sense owners can also generate summary and detail-level reports on their power quality data, and export data in a number of popular formats.
   
   By leveraging the power of the centralized I-Grid database, power quality events can be correlated across different locations and owners.
2. What tools are available on the I-Grid website?
   
   The I-Grid allows you to see detailed event analysis, including voltage waveform and RMS charts, for each of your power quality events. Continuous RMS voltage is tracked and collected into Periodic RMS events.
   
   Additionally, I-Sense owners can generate summary and detail-level reports on their power quality data, as well as export power quality data in a number of popular formats.
3. Do I have to own an I-Sense monitor to use the I-Grid web site?
   
   While the I-Grid website is intended for use by I-Sense monitor owners, multiple user accounts can be set up with access to I-Sense data via the I-Grid's permission and data sharing capabilities. Users who do not own an I-Sense monitor can see data shared with them by monitor owners.
4. Can competitors see my data? Is my information secure?
   
   Detailed power quality data from a specific I-Sense monitor can only be linked back to a specific location by the owner of the I-Sense. Other users of the I-Grid can only see the state that the power quality event data came from, unless explicitly granted permission by the monitor owner.
5. Is there a monthly/yearly subscription fee?
   
   Yes. Contact I-Grid support at igridsupport@softswitch.com or call (608) 662-7310 for annual service pricing. Each monitor includes an initial year of service. This service fee covers communication costs, data storage, website maintenance and technical support. I-Grid service also includes advanced summary and detail reporting as well as data export capability.
6. My service is about to expire. How do I renew?
   
   Service renewal can be purchased via credit card or purchase order via our online store. If you would like to be invoiced for your renewal, send an email to igridsupport@softswitch.com or call I-Grid Support at (608) 662-7310.
7. Can I download my I-Grid data?
   
   I-Grid data can be exported to Excel (tab-delimited), XML and PQDIF formats.
   
   The IEEE Std 1159.3 (PQDIF) translation of I-Grid data was developed in conjunction with EPRI Solutions
8. How do I sign up for the email notification service?
   
   When you register your I-Sense monitor, you will be prompted to fill in data that will provide you, and other designated addressees such as your utility, with event information.
9. What are the benefits of signing up for email notifications?
   
   Near real-time notification (90 - 120 second delay) of power quality problems that may cause downtime for IT and/or manufacturing processes.
10. How can I change the email address(es) to which the unit sends power quality event notifications?
    
    • Login to the I-Grid web site.
    • Choose Manage My I-Senses > Configuration.
    • Choose the I-Sense unit by serial number or name and click on the notification link.
    • Add/edit/remove email address(es) for notification as needed.
11. Is there any limit to how many email notifications can be sent?
    
    No, currently you can alert as many people as desired about a power quality event via email.
12. Can I get email notifications of power quality events in my area without owning an I-Sense?
    
    Currently, you would need to own an I-Sense monitor, or have an I-Sense owner include you in the email notification service.
13. Why is the "Worst Case RMS" value lower than what I see on the "RMS Voltage During Event" Chart?
    
    We follow IEEE guidelines (IEEE Std 1159-1995) for plotting rms voltage values: The time at which the event is detected is called time zero. The rms values are plotted at time zero, and at every half-cycle (8.3 ms) point thereafter. The stair-step nature of the chart is meant to show that we are sampling the rms voltage every half-cycle.

    For voltage sag events, the worst-case rms voltage is the lowest rms value recorded during the entire event. In this case, we also look at rms values between the half-cycle points. For an example event, click here.