The Importance of Minus80 Monitoring
Reagents stored in our -80ºC freezers, cold rooms, and liquid nitrogen freezers contain many invaluable reagents, some of which are the result of years of work. It is therefore crucial that temperatures are monitored at all times. The company responsible for this monitoring is Minus80 Monitoring. The portal to access Minus80 Monitoring online is https://Myminus80.com. See your lab manager for the correct username and password.
How Minus80 Monitoring Alarms Work
Minus80 Monitoring has installed sensors that connect to the internet and transmit information regarding the status of our -80ºC freezers, cold rooms, and liquid nitrogen freezers. These sensors run continuously. Online you can view a complete history of anything from temperature fluctuations to the time of day and duration that a freezer door was opened. This allows us to see how effectively we are following the general rule that freezers and the liquid nitrogen freezers should only be open for at most a few seconds at any given time.
The Cook, Kuhlman and Strahl labs have sensors in the following pieces of equipment (click on the pages below to enlarge them):
Cook Lab
Kuhlman Lab
Strahl Lab
Interacting with the System
The Web Interface
The web interface can be accessed here https://Myminus80.com. Note you can view the complete history of the freezer’s status and see any alerts. Again, please see the lab manager for the appropriate username and password.
Responding to an Alarm
If the sensors detect that the temperature has risen too high, then Minus80 Monitoring will begin going through a lab call list, which contains the contact information of several lab members. Lab members can choose whether they want to be contacted via email, text, and/or phone. A lab call list is designed so that if one person does not respond, then the next person on the list is notified. Notices will continue until the alarm is turned off. Currently our labs’ call lists are set for five- or fifteen-minute intervals between each alert. Practice inserting your information into a call list.
If you receive a notification of an alarm, please respond to the alarm you received by replying to the text or email with any message, or pressing “1” if you receive a phone call. All phone and text notification will be sent from 434-264-5340. Save this number in your contacts to prevent ignoring it as an unknown number. This responsive action tells the system that you are aware of the alarm and have assumed responsibility to address the problem. It will pause the Minus80 Monitoring notification system temporarily, allowing the temperature to return to normal. The length of this pause before the alarms resume can be specified on the Minus80 Monitoring website.
Confirming the alarm stops the sequence of notifying others, but the system will start back over again if the temperature does not return to normal (and you have the Restart Confirmed Alarms box checked on the bottom of your notification screen). This is a safeguard feature; notifications will start over again at the top of the list in the event someone confirms receiving an alarm but the problem was not corrected. Please make sure to respond to any alarm messages so that the next person on the call list is not notified of an alarm that you have taken care of.
Once you have replied to an alarm, go investigate the problematic freezer, cold room, or liquid nitrogen tank. Fix whatever the issue is, e.g., close a door left ajar. Be aware that a common problem in the cold room resulting in an alarm is the door not closing properly because the outside latch, on the top of the door, is out of its socket, thereby preventing the door from closing all the way. In this case, simply push the latch back into the socket so the door can close completely.
Contact
For any further questions regarding Minus80 Monitoring, the company can be reached by email at support@minus80monitoring.com, or by phone at 855-646-8780.
Generally, our best contact for help is Britt Carter, our Minus80 North Carolina representative. His direct phone line is 919-302-0012 and his email is bcarter@minus80monitoring.com.
Alternatively, you may contact Laura Armstrong directly at 804-229-3410 or larmstrong@minus80monitoring.com.