Talk2M services provides remote access for machine monitoring

Talk2M (Talk to Machines) is a new Internet service from Belgian company ACTL, a provider of intelligent Ethernet gateways and industrial IP routers. ACTL's eWON range of industrial routers complies with a wide range of serial and Ethernet-based PLCs including those form Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric and Omron. As sole UK distributor of ACTL's eWON range, M.A.C Solutions is urging UK-based machine builders and systems integrators to take advantage of this new service.

Talk2M offers full integration of IT security standards by enabling an Internet communication tunnel between the user and the remote machine, without any IT network security changes at either end. This enables easy, fast deployment of remote connectivity links while circumventing complexities that may exist within site IT network infrastructures.

Dial-up drawbacks

In the past, machine builders have traditionally used leased-lines and dial-up modem connections to perform maintenance on remote equipment and machines. While modem-based polling offers direct connection, it is inherently a slow, point-to-point serial connection, rather than a fast, multifunction link. As Dave Hammond, Ethernet Product Manager at M.A.C Solutions, explains: "Modem-to-modem dial-up connections are still being used by some companies today, but are increasingly being seen as costly to install, complex to set up and costly to run. Moreover, they simply cannot provide instant, high-bandwidth remote connectivity for data acquisition, machine fault-finding and customer support.

"Rather than sending a service engineer to Brazil to solve a problem with the remotely installed machine, simply because it is not possible to support the site through a slow modem connection, companies should look to make better use of secure broadband and technologies that are now available. There are massive cost savings to be had."

Hammond therefore advises machine builders and systems integrators to look at their current methods for managing and maintaining remote machines, to see whether IT technologies can improve these methods.

According to Hammond, machine builders need to factor real-time, secure web-server support into their plans during installation of remote equipment. This requires that certain key issues be considered up-front: for what purpose is this link to be used, which communications infrastructure (broadband, PSTN telephone lines or mobile phone network) is available at the remote site and also how much data will be required across this link to achieve their goals? Hammond says: "Perhaps constant, regular communication is necessary for large sites where large amounts of data are being transferred. For other sites, perhaps occasional communication with only limited data is appropriate. Or maybe the remote machine only needs to relay the occasional alarm.

"Another important question is in which direction the communication is required. A fully bi-directional always-on VPN [Virtual Private Network] link, for example, means the user gets secure, remote access at all times, but this may be overkill and costly, especially if broadband is not available."

128-Bit SSL encryption

Security is critical for companies today and so such technologies must conform to the industry-standard 128-Bit SSL encryption, which Talk2M does. Hammond explains: "What our customers are moving towards today is using secure VPNs with Internet and wireless access to their remote machine data. This security is equivalent to the level of security associated with booking your airline ticket with your credit card over the Internet. In addition, with Talk2M, users do not have to invest in servers and software. They get free access to Talk2M, as long as they have eWON hardware at the remote site, of course."

On request or permanently, eWON makes a secure, VPN connection to the Talk2M web server using UDP or TCP https, passing outward through the site firewall. On the other side, the user also makes a secure VPN connection to the same server, by signing in to the Talk2M service, using free, VPN software called eCatcher. This server acts as a broker to interconnect the two VPN tunnels. The information exchanged during the communication is 128-bit encrypted, so that only authenticated users can connect to their eWON devices.

The Talk2M VPN-client eCatcher is freely available to download on the Talk2M website. The remote sites eWON devices are registered to a specific Talk2M user account and are accessible only to that user. Once a user has connected and signed in, a single click is all that is needed to establish communication with the chosen remote site.

Connecting to a remote location via mobile phone networks is just as straightforward. An eWON device containing an embedded GPRS or EDGE modem can either be permanently connected to Talk2M or remotely activated to establish a Talk2M VPN session by sending it an SMS text message. Remote sites require only standard SIM cards, which are inexpensive and can be sourced from any mobile phone provider.

For more information about Talk2M, visit www.Talk2M.com.