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Reserve Your Seat TodayYour generator is your last line of defense when commercial power fails. If it runs out of fuel unnoticed, starts failing silently, or burns through its runtime while no one is watching, you may not know anything is wrong until the site goes dark.
A remote generator monitoring system gives you continuous visibility into generator status, fuel consumption, run time, and fault conditions, all reported to your NOC or directly to your technicians' phones, without requiring a site visit.
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Your generator produces a lot of monitoring data. A well-configured setup collects the values that actually matter for preventing failures and optimizing maintenance.
| Parameter | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Generator running status | Know immediately when your generator fires up due to a commercial power loss |
| Run time accumulation | Correlates directly to fuel consumption; helps you schedule fuel deliveries before you run dry |
| Fuel level | Direct measurement from a tank gauge sensor, outputting analog voltage or current |
| Oil pressure | Low oil pressure is an early warning of mechanical failure |
| Engine temperature (low and high) | Low temp on startup and high temp under load are both failure indicators |
| Failed start attempts | Alerts you to a generator that tried and failed to fire, before you need it |
| Excessive speed | Overspeed conditions can indicate governor or load issues |
| Generator voltage output | Confirms the generator is actually producing power, not just running |
Most of this data comes directly from your generator's alarm contacts. Some require an RTU with analog inputs for sensor readings like fuel level and voltage.
We hear this scenario more often than you'd think. A rectifier fails at a remote site. The generator fires up automatically. No alarms reach anyone because monitoring isn't in place. The generator runs for five straight days, burns through its fuel, and the site finally goes dark when the battery plant runs out of charge too.
If monitoring had been in place, the rectifier failure would have triggered an alarm on day one. The generator runtime counter would have flagged fuel consumption well before day five. A fuel truck could have been dispatched days earlier, and the site would never have gone offline.
Remote generator monitoring gives you enough lead time to actually respond, whether that means dispatching a fuel truck, calling a technician, or rerouting traffic before the site fails.If budget is a constraint, our guide on implementing proactive remote monitoring on a budget walks through where to start without overcommitting.
A NetGuardian RTU installed at your generator site collects discrete alarms from generator contacts and analog readings from external sensors, then transmits that data over your existing transport to a central alarm manager or directly to your team.
At DPS Telecom, we've deployed 172,800+ remote monitoring devices across more than 1,500 organizations, many of which include generator monitoring as a core part of their site visibility. The configuration approach below reflects what we've seen work consistently in the field, and our step-by-step guide to deploying remote monitoring solutions covers the full process if you're planning a new installation.
The data path looks like this:
For generators with Modbus RTU interfaces, NetGuardian RTUs can pull the generator's onboard controller directly, pulling structured data like runtime hours, voltage, and fault codes without needing additional wiring to individual contacts. Our RTU guide covering prices, functionality, and capacities walks through which models are best suited for different site configurations.
Two of the most useful metrics for managing remote generator sites are run time and fuel level. Both are straightforward to collect.
Run time tracking: RTUs with timer/counter firmware functions can count how long the "Generator Running" discrete input stays active. Over time, this gives you a cumulative run time total. If your generator consumes roughly one gallon per hour and your tank holds 100 gallons, a 90-hour run time counter tells you a fuel visit is overdue.
Fuel level via external sensor: If your tank doesn't have a generator-native fuel output, you can install a machine-readable gauge on a propane or diesel tank. These sensors output 0-5VDC or 4-20mA, which connects directly to a standard RTU analog input. You can configure threshold alarms at any level, such as alerting at 25% remaining.
Generators from Kohler, Cummins, Generac, and other manufacturers increasingly support Modbus RTU as a native communication protocol. This allows an RTU to query the generator's internal controller for structured data rather than relying solely on dry contact outputs.
DPS Telecom's NetGuardian RTUs support Modbus natively, as do our T/Mon LNX alarm master stations. If your generator monitoring needs also require SNMP reporting to an upstream manager like SolarWinds, Castle Rock, or another NMS, our equipment handles that translation, including a dedicated Modbus to SNMP converter for sites where that's the right approach.
For sites where the generator manufacturer uses a less common protocol, our engineering team has developed custom protocol support on request. T/Mon currently supports 30+ protocols, most of which were added specifically because a client needed them.
For organizations managing dozens or hundreds of sites, fleet-level generator visibility matters as much as monitoring any individual unit.
At DPS Telecom, we've worked with telecom operators, electric utilities, county government agencies, and transportation authorities who need a single view of generator status across all their sites. Our T/Mon LNX alarm master can aggregate generator alarms from all your sites into one interface, with geographic map views showing which sites have generators running and which have active fault conditions. U.S. Cellular used this kind of setup to monitor remote generators and T1 cell sites across their network.
You can also configure escalation policies so that a generator alarm at an unstaffed tower site at 2 AM reaches the right on-call technician, not the entire team.
Talk to an Engineer | 800-693-0351
Most generator monitoring setups use a combination of discrete inputs (for contact closures like "Generator Running" or "Low Oil Pressure") and analog inputs (for fuel level, voltage, and temperature). An RTU with at least 8 discrete inputs and 2-4 analog inputs handles most single-generator sites.
No. Generators with dry contact outputs can be monitored with any standard RTU. Modbus support allows richer data collection from the generator's internal controller, but it is not required for basic alarm monitoring.
Yes. Machine-readable gauges for propane and diesel tanks output 0-5VDC or 4-20mA signals. These connect to any RTU analog input and can trigger threshold alarms at any fuel level you configure.
NetGuardian RTUs store alarms locally when the network path is unavailable. When connectivity is restored, the RTU forwards stored events to your alarm master, so no data is lost. For sites at higher risk of transport failure, we can configure redundant transport paths.
Yes. All NetGuardian RTUs support SNMP v1, v2, and v3. If you already use SolarWinds, IBM OpenView, or another SNMP manager, our RTUs can report generator alarms directly to your existing platform.
DPS Telecom has been building remote monitoring equipment since 1986. Our clients include organizations managing a handful of tower sites and those managing 1,000+ remote locations. We design generator monitoring configurations for both.
What makes the difference in real-world deployments is that we configure each system specifically for your generator types, your transport infrastructure, and how your team actually responds to alarms. We don't ship a box and wish you luck. Our application engineers work through your requirements before any equipment ships. For a detailed look at how to approach that process, our generator monitoring best practices guide covers configuration decisions we see come up most often.
We also offer a 30-day loaner program (you pay shipping only) and a money-back guarantee, so you can validate the solution before committing to a full deployment. If you're preparing a bid or spec sheet, our generator monitoring pricing and specifications reference has the detail you need.
