How to Configure the Milesight DS3604

Milesight recently launched the new DS3604 E-ink Display. We have been busy testing this new device, as we do with everything we sell. We’ve compiled a short blog covering everything you can expect from this new device and how you can set it up to work best for your use case.

What is the Milesight DS3604?

The DS3604 is a configurable display device from Milesight. This device can be used when booking your meeting rooms, but it goes a bit beyond that. You can remotely set it to display that it is reserved, display your room names, dates, the period the room is booked for, it is completely customisable! This means when you look at this handy little sign outside the meeting room door, you have all the details you need to know whether it’s worth loitering for that one person who’s always busy or quickly grab a coffee!

The payload

First, let’s go over the different parts of the payload.

Let’s look at the example above from Milesight’s user guide: FB01000474657374FF3D02

We’re going to split this up to make it easier to read:

FB

01

00

04

74657374

FF3D02 

FB is the channel we’re sending to and 01 just says we’re updating text or QR code content. We’re going to focus on the “value” as this is the part we will be changing.

00 04 74657374

As you can see there are 3 parts to the value, we’re going to label them A, B and C 

A:00 B:04 C:74657374

Payload Part A: Using Toolbox

A: 00, this indicates we’re changing template 1, module 1. But We want to change anything or at least know which module 00 is. To do this we can use the Milesight app, Toolbox, to find the module numbers. Toolbox is useful for a variety of Milesight’s products, so if you are using any of their products I recommend checking it out.

You need to scan the device making sure you have NFC turned on, then navigate to “Setting > “E-ink Display Settings” this will display a template for your device. When you select a module, you will see a little red number that tells you what the module number is. The display counts up from 1, where as the payload is from 0, this means the module is whatever the little number is minus 1. In this case to change module 1 we need to set it to 0.

I advise noting down the different parts for your chosen template so you can send downlinks from wherever you want. This is accurate for all module numbers apart from the QR code, to change the QR code you change A to “0A”.

Payload Part B and C: The actual content

B: 04, this is the size of the text you’re sending in hexidecimal. B = 04 because “test” is 4 characters. You have to convert messages that are 10+ characters, symbols or spaces to the correct format, “AllIoT Rules!” for instance would be 0D instead of 13. 

C: 74657374, This is the text you want to display, or the value you want the QR code to show when scanned, to get this value you need to get whatever text you have and convert it from ASCII to hexadecimal. There are plenty of websites which offer this, just go to your search browser and type “Ascii to hex converter”. P.s. To get to “AllIoT Rules!” use 416C6C496F542052756C657321.

The last bit of our payload is FF3D02, this refreshes the screen so you can see your changes, you should leave this as it is.

Once you’ve got everything ready, all you need to do is send it as a payload to your device at port 85. 

And that is it, you can now configure and send your own payloads to change your Milesight DS3604!  

For more technical hints and tips, why not sign up to our mailing list? We frequently share our latest blogs and devices in our monthly newsletter.

Interested in getting started with IoT? Contact us today to discuss your requirements.

How does Air Quality affect our Health?

Air quality can affect a number of parameters in everyday life. From crop yield to water quality and buildings. It has a profound effect on our lives. But how does air quality affect our health? Find out more in our short blog.

There are many reasons to make air quality monitoring a top priority. Research has shown that poor air quality can have a significant effect on our health. It’s been reported by the WHO that nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air, this contributes to the death of around 7 million people each year1.

These alarming figures illustrate the seriousness of the situation and the stark reality that poor air quality is hard to escape.

How does outdoor air quality affect our health?

Outdoor air quality is closely linked to climate change and the effects of our use of fossil fuels.

Cancer Research recently published their findings on how air pollution can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked2. As part of the TRACERx Lung Study. The programme found that exposure to air pollution promotes the growth of cells carrying cancer-causing mutations in the Lungs. Particulate Matter, particularly PM2.5 (tiny pollutant particles) have been identified as causing inflammation to the lungs which can lead to cancer.

This isn’t the only potential health implication which can arise as a result of outdoor air pollution. Other conditions that can be caused by this include; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), heart disease and Dementia.

While there are lots of contributing factors to outdoor air quality, many of which are outside an individual’s control, monitoring PM levels with low cost LPWAN sensors can be a good place to start assessing outdoor air quality. Through careful monitoring, information recorded by deployed sensors can be used to identify trends and build up data to allow you to make more informed decisions as to how you can improve outdoor air quality. In order to maximise your project’s effectiveness, it is essential for data to be monitored before and after measures are put in place.

How does indoor air quality affect our health?

Indoor air quality on the other hand is more within our own control. We’ve outlined some potential implications which can come as a result of poor indoor air quality.

Mould & Dampness

Not only is mould unsightly, it can also cause harm to your health. Following the tragic news of the death of 2 year old Awaab Ishak, the implications of mould exposure are sadly very real.

The increased cost of energy is likely to increase the risk of mould inside buildings too. With cold weather comes condensation. Ordinarily putting the heating on would help to dry out the air indoors, but with significant rises to the cost of energy, more and more people are turning their backs on their thermostat.

The most common causes of mould are:

  • Humidity
  • Condensation
  • Rising damp
  • Poor ventilation

Caused by excess moisture, moulds emit spores which can cause a variety of health issues. For babies, young children and those with underlying health conditions including allergies or respiratory conditions such as asthma, these spores can be even more harmful. Monitoring indoor air quality is a simple, yet effective way to alert Landlords, Housing Associations and homeowners of high moisture/humidity levels which can be used to identify the dew point and the need for ventilation.

How does air quality affect our health in the office and schools?

The WELL building standard has helped to transform health and wellbeing in buildings. It’s estimated we spend around 90% of our time in enclosed spaces. During this time, we inhale pollutants which can be detrimental to our health and wellbeing. Elements such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Dioxide can all contribute to the overall indoor air quality.

We recently completed a project installing CO2 sensors throughout schools in Scotland. There have been numerous studies over the years about the effect CO2 levels has on our cognitivie performance. Read more about how using LoRaWAN® technology has helped to transform the overall performance and wellbeing in the classroom.

Why use IoT to monitor air quality?

LPWAN devices are ideal for monitoring air quality. With a long battery life of 5+ years, once deployed you can access recorded data from wherever you may be. Devices can be configured to your parameters. If readings fall outside of your set parameters an automated alert will be triggered from your software platform to notify you that an action needs to be taken i.e. open a window to improve ventilation. Data recorded by deployed devices can also be used as evidence of regulation compliance.

How can Alliot help?

While the impact of air quality can be serious for our health, IoT devices can be used to minimise the long-term effects and empower us with more intelligent data to make better decisions. Alliot offer a wide variety of indoor and outdoor air quality sensors and associated software. Whatever parameters you are looking to monitor, we can help you deliver projects of all sizes and locations. Whether you’re looking to monitor indoor air quality conditions in Social Housing across the country or optimise your office environments to improve staff wellbeing and productivity, our expert team are here to help. Contact us today to discuss your air quality monitoring requirements.

1 World Health Organisation 2018, How air pollution is detroying our health, accessed 30th November 2022, <https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-our-health>

2 Cancer Research UK 2022, Scientists reveal how air pollution can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked, accessed 30th November 2022, <https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2022/09/10/scientists-reveal-how-air-pollution-can-cause-lung-cancer-in-people-who-have-never-smoked/>

Smart Buildings Show 2022 – What to Expect from Alliot

Alliot Technologies at the Smart Buildings Show 2022

With just a week to go until the Smart Buildings Show, we wanted to give you an insight of what to expect from us at this year’s show.

Why Visit Alliot at the Smart Buildings Show?

We know that traditional Building Management Systems have helped to transform the Smart Building industry, but what if you could take this to another level? This is where IoT comes in. We work with many partners to create bespoke wireless solutions which are simple to install, cost effective and cause minimal disruption to your existing infrastructure.

What to Expect?

Joining us on stand C2 will be MultiTech who will be demonstrating their brand new gateway with BACnet capability. Visit us to meet with MultiTech representatives who will be on hand to discuss the latest innovation and how it can be used to seamlessly integrate LoRaWAN® with your existing BMS systems. On the stand, we will also have a range of MultiTech’s LoRaWAN® gateway solutions which are designed to support LoRaWAN® solutions of all shapes, sizes and applications.

As our main sensor partner at this year’s show, Milesight will be showcasing a range of their latest devices including the new iBox CoWork kit, specially designed to enable you to quickly demonstrate a smart solution out-of-the-box. Visit us on stand C2 to see the latest indoor environmental and condition monitoring devices.

Join us next week to discover how you too can benefit from retrofit IoT solutions, designed to seamlessly integrate with new or existing building management. Whatever your requirements, our expert team are on hand to help you every step of the way.

Alliot to Supply Milesight LoRaWAN Range


We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Milesight! With a brand new range of LoRaWAN® Gateways, Sensors and software now available.

Designed to optimise environmental conditions, enhance efficiencies and leverage the top trending tech, discover Milesight’s LoRaWAN® offering today with Alliot.

LIVE WEBINAR – 13th JULY

Milesight is a fast-growing AIoT solution provider committed to offering value-added services and cutting-edge technologies. Join us on Wednesday 13th July at 10 am when our Sales Director, Craig Herrett will be joined by Ana Huang from Milesight to take a look at their value proposition in the IoT and communications industries and how the Internet of Things and artificial intellgence have become a core part of the business.

Register now to get to grips with the range and discover a new host of possibilities in our next live webinar.


Whatever vertical you operate in, there’s something for everyone in the Milesight range. Get in touch today to discuss your IoT requirements. Our expert team are n hand to help you every step of the way.

[LIVE EVENT] Plug & Play Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

You’re invited to join our exclusive live event! Discover plug & play indoor air quality monitoring in the Alliot powered by myDevices live event with Synetica.

Air quality has become increasingly important in areas such as schools, offices, buildings and other high-risk environments. Join us on 22nd February at 4 pm GMT | 8 am PT to discover how our plug & play solutions enable you to monitor and report on the critical air quality parameters such as temperature, humidity, particulate matters and VOCs.

Throughout this interactive session we’ll be taking a look at Synetica‘s Enlink indoor and outdoor air quality sensors and how you can quickly deploy commercial solutions with Alliot powered by myDevices.

You’ll see first-hand popular use case applications across various industries and get a feel for the powerful myDevices platform through a live demo. You won’t want to miss it!

Can’t wait? Get in touch to discuss your indoor air quality monitoring requirements today.

WEBINAR: IoT for Building Management

Discover IoT for Building Management with Alliot Technologies and Wattsense in our short 30 minute webinar. Throughout the webinar, we’ll introduce you to the future of Smart Buildings and how you too can improve your building management with Wattsense.

We’re delighted to invite you to our live webcast on Tuesday 8th February at 11 am when our Sales Director, Craig Herrett and Wattsense’s Account Manager, Romain Philipon will be hosting a live demo, inveiling the key to the future of Smart Buildings.

Throughout this interactive session, Craig and Romain will be covering the various use cases of the Hub and Box devices. Along with resolving the potential pain points, differentiating between the two products and a live Q&A session.

 

Smart Buildings Webinar Agenda

  • Why Alliot & Wattsense?
  • The Wattsense Range – Differentiating between the Hub & Box
  • Live Demo
  • Q&A

Get in touch to discuss your Smart Building requirements today.

Creating an Intelligent Building Management System with IoT

Our wide range of sensors can be applied to an endless variety of applications. In fact, sometimes it can be a little overwhelming deciphering what sensors to apply to your project. To help, we’ve created a case study to demonstrate how you may apply some of our LoRaWAN devices to create an intelligent business management system.

We often find that our customers know what issues they want to solves, but don’t always know how to address these. Our expert team are on hand to assist your with the planning, design and implementation of your IoT projects.

One of the beauties of LoRaWAN is that it can be implemented with minimal cost and disruption. LoRaWAN operates on its own network meaning you don’t have to disrupt any of your existing infrastructure. It also offers a scalable solution to enable you to expand your measurement points as/when your project expands.

Smart Buildings with Alliot

When creating this case study, we began by thinking about three key factors you may wish to address when creating an intelligent building management system, for this purpose we selected:

  • Workplace safety
  • Creating optimal working conditions for staff members
  • Optimising overall efficiencies

These three objectives are often at the forefront of many building/facilities managers agendas. Many want to improve the overall environment of their buildings for staff well being, as well as making savings by improving operational efficiencies. Whatever your objectives, we know that in order to be commercially deployable, your solutions need to offer a positive return on your investment.

The next step we made was to apply the objectives to our chosen application of intelligent BMS’. We put ourselves into the shoes of an office worker (we can just about recall being in the office!) and looked at the journey in and around the building. This lead us to select the following products.

  1. Elsys Desk Sensor: Monitors desk occupancy, temperature and humidity to create optimal working conditions.
  2. Netvox R72615A CO2 Sensor: Improve staff productivity by monitoring CO2 levels.
  3. Kerlink Ifemtocell Evolution Gateway: Transfer data from your sensors to your selected platform.
  4. Kerlink Wanesy Platform: Visualise your recorded data.
  5. Tekelek Waste Bin Sensor: Optimise waste collections.
  6. Kentix SmartXcan: Monitor the body temperatures of employees and visitors to create a COVID-secure workplace.
  7. Netvox R718CK2 Thermocouple Sensor: Remotely monitor your Legionella risk and automatically maintain records.
  8. Robeau Smart Water Meter: Make savings based on water usage and remotely detect leaks.

Find out more about how we applied the above devices in our BMS case study.

For assistance with designing your intelligent building management system solution of for information about creating a bespoke proof of concept kit contact our expert team today.

Get Smart with Water

Having just launched the Strega Smart Water Valve, we’re taking a look at the various use cases this new product brings. Read on to discover more about our latest product and how you too can begin to minimise water waste.

Strega Smart IoT Water Valve

Developed by Strega, the Smart IoT Water Valve is a battery operated shut off valve that can be easily integrated into existing solutions without the need for any additional cabling. That’s right, you can remotely control your entire irrigation system without having to disrupt your existing set up!

Compatible with all leading IoT platforms, the Strega Smart IoT Water Valve is available in a wide range of sizes to suit existing pipe work. Once installed, the valve utilises LoRaWAN® technology to send data to the gateway which is then reported to your selected platform.

Example Use Cases

The Strega Smart Water Valve has a range of use cases. On the one hand there’s people who would like to minimise the risk of costly water damage from leaks in Smart Buildings and Smart Housing. On the other hand, there’s the people who want to minimise water waste. We’ve seen a varying demand for this product including Smart Agriculture, Smart Irrigation and Smart Golf Courses where users want to ensure they are only watering areas when needed. The use cases are virutally endless!

What are the Variant Options?

All Strega Smart Water Valves come with integrated tamper, pressure and humidity sensors and have an ultra low power consumption to provide 10+ years battery life. For easy installation, the valve can be purchased as an all-in-one version with the emitter attached of for harder to reach areas, you can opt for the emitter to be separately connected.

The Strega Smart Water Valve offers a fast, no fuss solution enabling you to remotely control entire water systems in no time. If you’d like more information on how we could help you to develop your IoT water solutions get in touch.