Browse the following to locate common Questions and Answers.

 #1: Do I need any special programmer for this hardware?

No. Any PC, laptop or PDA (Palm Pilot or Windows CE) device with a standard serial connector can be used. 

 #2: Do I need to purchase local cellular airtime in order to use ROM's MicroCom?

No. Part of the low annual fee that you pay ROM's covers the communication link used by the MicroCom units. They are treated as a "roaming" cell phone, so they can be installed almost anywhere that cellular coverage exists.

 #3: Does this work on regular analog cellular like a cell phone?

No. ROM uses the control channel of the cellular system, not the voice channel that others use.  

 #4: How does your unit work in a cellular fringe area or a hilly location where cellular reception is poor?

The cellular control channel works dependably in areas where regular voice channel cellular wouldn't dream of working.

 #5: How do you get the messages to me? Do you have an Operations Centre? 

Once ROM receives the message in our Operation's Centre (ROC), a redundant and fully automated system of computers immediately forwards the information in the formats you established. 

 #6: What is a MicroCom?

MicroCom is ROM's term for our small, inexpensive wireless remote monitoring and control devices. 

 #7: How are data packets and messages transmitted from ROM's MicroCom?

The MicroCom sends a message that piggybacks on the cellular control channel, contained in data packets of up to 100 bits, to ROM's Operation's Centre and displayed on our web site.

 #8: What is the control channel?

The advanced mobile telephone service analog cellular telephone system offers a total of 832 channels, half of which are assigned to each of two competing carriers in each market. Each cellular carrier uses 21 of its 416 channels as control channels. Each control channel set consists of a forward control channel and a reverse control channel. The forward control channel is used to send general information from the cellular base station to the cellular telephone. The reverse control channel sends information from the cellular telephone to the base station and the cellular system. The control channels are used to initiate a cellular telephone call.

Cellular control channels are more robust than the voice channels for several reasons. The control channels are digital by design and use majority voting as error detection for all messages sent over the reverse control channel. Each message is transmitted five times via the reverse control channel. If the cellular base station receives the same message for three of the five transmissions, it considers the message to be correct.

The frequency reuse plan for control channels is also different from the reuse plan for voice channels. It is 12 to 1 for control channels and 7 to 1 for voice channels, which reduces interference on the control channels. Most of the control channels operate at the maximum permitted transmit power and slightly reduce the voice channel transmit power. These factors help make control channel communication a reliable medium.

 #9: How can I be sure that my data is secure?

The radio used by the Microcom unit complies with EIA-553 and IS-41, the standards governing secure cellular communications. Each data packet is sent 5 times to ensure integrity. Three of the five must match in order for an acknowledgement to be sent from the cell tower. If an acknowledgement is not received, the Microcom unit will retry.

All traffic originating from a MicroCom unit is verified against and sent only to ROM’s system. Only authorized units are allowed to transmit data. All traffic is carried across the SS7 network, where every message contains a checksum and has a corresponding acknowledgement message. When the data packets are sent to the ROC they must be acknowledged. Unacknowledged data is retransmitted. ROM connects to our Microcom units via redundant pipelines. All connections are routed through our firewalls.

On the ROM web site, each customer must log in with a unique user ID and password to gain access to their units. Customers only have access to their own units. They can never see anyone else's data.

ROM's Operation Centre, called the ROC (rock), has redundant web, database and Transactional/supervisory servers that utilize hard drives that are mirrored to protect against hard drive failure and are protected by a UPS's. ROM's servers have multiple connections to the Internet using separate, non-related service providers. The ROC's servers are protected by firewall and supports 128 Bit SSL transaction security.

 #10: What does the ROM's service fee include?

Each service plan covers a certain number of reports, alarms and control commands per month, plus ongoing use, maintenance and enhancements to the Operation Centre. Excess communication with the MicroCom unit is billed as overage. 

 #11: How does it work?

Using our wireless cellular network, we can monitor and control equipment throughout North America. Our Microcom receives information from your equipment, and then sends it at prescribed intervals across our wireless network to our Operation's Centre, where the information is posted for you. Once you enter your user id and password, you can view the information or download it to your own database.

Alarm notifications are sent to you when ROM's Operation Centre is notified of the out of bounds status.