Newpoint Technologies And Clearbox Systems Join Forces To Launch The Innovative nControl Product For The Monitor And Control Of Small Remote Sites

April 7, 2008

Newpoint Technologies, Inc. and Clearbox Systems Pty. Ltd announced the introduction of the new nControl product to allow management of small sites that previously were cost prohibitive to effectively manage remotely.

nControl is an innovative, cost effective entrant into the market specifically designed to be the complete solution for small remote sites. Usually, these sites are unmanned and as such, it is expensive and time consuming to dispatch technicians to the site to resolve problems, but previously there were no cost effective solutions available on the market to remotely monitor and control these sites.

“The partnership between Clearbox and Newpoint with the introduction of the nControl product will allow customers to manage sites that were previously too small to economically monitor and control remotely.” stated Wally Martland, President of Newpoint, “Operators will be able to easily and rapidly remotely manage and recover these sites without incurring the high costs of dispatching technicians to recover routine failures, providing an immediate return on their investment.”

Each nControl module consists of a low power, industrial CPU with dual isolated serial and Ethernet ports. A removable SD card allows software and configuration to be moved from module to module, making replacing units or deploying new sites very quick and easy. The SD Card also houses the powerful Newpoint CompassTM Software Suite. nControl’s low power design (<10W) and broad input voltage range makes it an ideal choice especially in sites that have power constraints.

CompassTM provides an extensive driver library which includes support for over 700 different devices ranging from transmitters, microwave radios, UPS and power generators, to standard earth station equipment. Compass also has an SNMP manager which allows the nControl unit to monitor SNMP compatible equipment such as routers, bridges, and firewalls. The Compass SNMP Agent allows datafrom the remote site to be made available to other management applications. nControl neatly integrates with existing Compass installations by supporting Newpoint’s centralized system administration and management software.

“By combining a small, resilient module with the experience and stability of Newpoint’s Compass software suite, nControl offers exciting new possibilities for operators of smaller sites. This new approach means that for many customers, monitoring and control can reach further out into a network than was previously feasible because of cost constraints.” said Paul Solomon, President of Clearbox Systems.