Automated Logic's announcement marks a significant milestone in the evolution of building management systems with its latest software update for the WebCTRL® building automation system. WebCTRL v9 underscores Automated Logic's commitment to innovation and excellence in providing solutions that simplify the complexities of managing modern buildings.
With a focus on empowering facility managers, building owners, and operators, the new software release is designed to enhance user experience while offering deeper insights and control over building performance. Automated Logic, a major provider of innovative building-management solutions, is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, the renowned global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions.
Latest WebCTRL software
"Our latest WebCTRL software offers a suite of enhancements that reinforce our commitment to security, usability, and efficiency," said Axel Reichert, President, Automated Logic.
Axel Reichert adds, "With these enhancements, WebCTRL v9 seeks to boost operator productivity, allowing them to accomplish more in less time and providing them with better insights to help drive sustainability, comfort, and control in their buildings."
Features of the WebCTRL® v9 system
New features of the WebCTRL® v9 system include:
- User Privilege Improvements – Operators now have even more granular control and the ability to multi-select related privileges when setting up access management for various users or user groups, providing an intuitive and tailored approach to access management that aligns with specific roles and responsibilities within an organization. By enabling precise control over who can do what, and where, operators can minimize risks and ensure that each user has the access necessary to perform their duties effectively, without overstepping their bounds.
- Single Sign-on (SSO) – A new optional SSO feature allows operators to integrate with the SAML 2.0 or OIDC identity provider of their choice to access their WebCTRL® system, elevating the security posture of the WebCTRL system and enhancing usability. The optional feature works seamlessly with the traditional WebCTRL sign-in process, combining the ease of SSO with the robustness of WebCTRL's existing authentication framework.
- New Security Report – Users with administrator privilege can now view a summary of all security settings within the WebCTRL system and the SiteBuilder engineering tool in a single, easy-to-read report. The report can also be scheduled to run at desired intervals. This new feature streamlines the process of a security assessment, ensuring that operators can easily access, review, and adjust security settings as necessary.
- Enhanced Alarm Summary View – Users can now visualize and filter alarms across various locations within their system, providing them with a comprehensive understanding of where alarms are concentrated and how they are affecting the building's overall operation. Alarm counts by location allow operators to pinpoint areas with the highest frequency of alarms so they can allocate resources more effectively and address potential issues before they escalate. Filtering options, the ability to view alarms for a defined period, and the capability to search for an alarm source or location, also enhance the user experience.
- Improved Resource Management – Operators can add files to their WebCTRL system remotely and link to them easily. For example, technicians and engineers can quickly upload installation manuals, maintenance guides, or custom operation procedures that can be linked directly from graphics within the WebCTRL system, so that operators do not have to sift through external file systems to find relevant information when they need it.
- Multiple, Simultaneous Downloads – As protocol speeds have increased and network architectures have changed over time, controller downloads have also become faster and more efficient. In addition to simultaneous downloads from the WebCTRL server to BACnet routers on the IP network, v9 now allows up to ten simultaneous controller downloads to IP networks downstream of a BACnet router, allowing facilities staff to deploy controller updates more rapidly.
- REST API to read Alarm data – A new REST API is available, providing external applications with read-only access to WebCTRL’s alarm data. This functionality enables developers to design applications or integrations that leverage real-time data from WebCTRL to enhance operational efficiency and improve response times to critical alarms.
WebCTRL v9 includes additional security enhancements
In addition to the above new features, WebCTRL v9 also includes additional security enhancements, as per their ongoing commitment to customer security, added user interface improvements to streamline operations and make system management more intuitive, and updated engineering tools to empower users to maintain and optimize the WebCTRL system more effectively.