Multi-site monitoring with Eziwan

Objective​

This guide explains how to configure and manage monitoring of multiple remote industrial sites from a single Eziwan platform. Whether you manage 5 pumping stations, 50 machines at OEM customers’ sites, or 200 power distribution sites, the Eziwan platform gives you a centralized, consolidated view of your entire fleet.

By the end of this guide, you will be able to:

  • Organize your sites into logical groups for efficient navigation.
  • Deploy and configure routers and gateways at each site.
  • Create shared dashboards that aggregate data from multiple sites into a single view.
  • Manage access rights by site or group of sites for your teams and clients.
  • Configure consolidated alerts that flag anomalies at any site in the network.

For effective multi-site monitoring, each remote site must have a local Eziwan Gateway that:

  1. Connects to on-site equipment (PLCs, RTUs, sensors, meters) via Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, or OPC-UA.
  2. Establishes an encrypted OpenVPN/IPSec VPN tunnel to the Eziwan cloud—zero inbound ports, no ports open to the outside from the site side.
  3. Sends data in real time to the cloud platform.
  4. Provides secure remote access to local devices for maintenance.

Each gateway operates autonomously: if the cloud connection is lost, it continues to collect data locally and transmits it once the connection is restored. No data is lost.

Step 1 — Create Site Groups​

Groups allow you to organize your sites according to business logic: by geographic region, by facility type, by customer, by criticality level, or by maintenance contract.

Create a Group​

  1. Log in to the Eziwan Dashboard with an Administrator account.
  2. Navigate to My Fleet → Site Groups → Create a Group.
  3. Give the group a name (e.g., “Rhône-Alpes Pumping Stations,” “OEM Customers – Pro 2024 Line,” “Critical Sites – 24/7 On-Call”).
  4. Select an icon and a color for immediate visual identification.
  5. Click Create.

Assign Sites to a Group​

  1. From the list of sites, select one or more sites.
  2. Click Actions → Assign to a Group.
  3. Select the target group from the drop-down list.
  4. Click Confirm.
Sites in Multiple Groups

A single site can belong to multiple groups at the same time. For example: a site can be in the "Northern Region" group AND in the "Critical Sites" group AND in the "Premium Contract" group.

Step 2 — Add Routers and Gateways by Site​

For each new site to be monitored:

  1. Order an Eziwan Gateway preconfigured with the industrial 4G SIM card appropriate for your geographic region.
  2. Upon receipt, activate the site in the Eziwan dashboard by entering the gateway’s serial number.
  3. Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) automatically configures the OpenVPN/IPSec VPN—no manual intervention is required on the site’s network.
  4. The on-site installer connects the gateway to local PLCs and RTUs (Modbus RTU over RS-485, Modbus TCP, or OPC-UA). See the PLC Connection Guide for details.
  5. Verify that the site is "Online" in the dashboard (green LED, recent timestamp) before moving on to the next site.
Mass Deployment

For projects with more than 10 simultaneous sites, use the CSV Import feature in Eziwan to create and configure multiple sites in a single operation. A CSV template is available in Documentation → Templates.

Step 3 — Set up shared dashboards across multiple sites​

Multi-site dashboards allow you to view key metrics for multiple sites simultaneously on a single page.

Create a multi-site dashboard​

  1. Go to Dashboards → Create a Dashboard.
  2. Choose "Multi-site" mode (as opposed to "Single-site" mode).
  3. Select the site group(s) to include.
  4. Add the desired widgets:
    • Interactive Map: displays the status of all sites on a map. Green = normal, orange = active alert, red = site offline.
    • Summary Table: lists all sites with their key KPIs in columns.
    • Value Aggregation: sum, average, min, or max of a variable across all sites (e.g., total fleet consumption, cumulative flow rate).
    • Top Sites by Value: ranks sites based on a metric (e.g., “The 5 sites with the highest consumption this week”).
  5. Configure sharing permissions: access via Eziwan authentication, a publicly shareable link, or iframe integration into your customer portal.

User Access Management by Site​

Eziwan offers a granular access control system designed for multi-site organizations and OEM models with customer access.

Available Roles​

RoleScopePermissions
AdministratorEntire organizationCreate/delete sites, manage users, billing
Group ManagerA group of sitesRead and write access to sites in the group, alert management
TechnicianOne or more sitesRead access, remote access, and alarm acknowledgment
Observer (Reader)One or more sitesRead-only access, dashboards, data export
End CustomerSites belonging to an OEM customerAccess limited to their own custom dashboard

Invite a user​

  1. Go to Settings → Users → Invite.
  2. Enter the user's email address.
  3. Select the role to assign.
  4. Select the sites or site groups to which the user has access.
  5. Click Send Invitation.

The user receives an activation email. They can log in using their email address and password or via SSO (SAML/OIDC) if your organization has set up the integration.

Consolidated Multi-Site Alerts​

Centralized alert management is one of the key benefits of multi-site monitoring.

Create a multi-site alert rule​

  1. Go to Alerts → Rules → Create a Rule.
  2. Define the scope: all sites, a group of sites, or a manual selection.
  3. Choose the variable to monitor and define the condition (e.g., "Pressure > 6 bar," "Level < 20%," "Site offline for > 5 minutes").
  4. Configure the notification channels:
    • Email (multiple recipients)
    • SMS (mobile recipients)
    • Webhook (integration with your ticketing tool: Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, Jira Service Management)
  5. Set the on-call time windows: enable the alert only outside of business hours if necessary.
  6. Enable the rule.

Active Alerts View​

The "Active Alerts" view displays all unacknowledged alerts across the entire fleet in real time, sorted by severity and date. The on-call operator can see at a glance which sites require attention.

Examples of multi-site deployments​

10 Pumping Stations — Water and Sanitation​

A water authority manages 10 pumping stations spread across an area of 300 km². Each station has an Eziwan Gateway connected to the pumps, flow meters, and valves via Modbus RTU. The multi-site dashboard displays:

  • The status of each pump (on/off/fault)
  • Instantaneous flow rates and daily volumes
  • Reservoir levels
  • An automatic alert in the event of a pump failure or critical level

The on-call manager receives a text message within 30 seconds in the event of an anomaly and can check the situation from their smartphone without having to go anywhere.

50 machines at OEM customers' sites​

An industrial machinery manufacturer equips every machine it sells with an Eziwan Gateway. From its headquarters, its after-sales service team monitors the entire customer fleet:

  • Detection of performance deviations before a failure occurs (predictive maintenance)
  • Tracking operating hours for billing maintenance contracts
  • Remote access to PLCs for diagnostics and parameter updates without on-site visits
  • A customized “customer” dashboard accessible in read-only mode by each end customer

Best Practices​

  • Site Naming Convention: Use a consistent naming convention (e.g., TYPE-RÉGION-ID → POMPE-RHONE-001) to make searching and filtering easier.
  • Document the registers and units in each site’s configuration so that the data is immediately understandable to all operators.
  • Test alerts regularly: Simulate an alert condition to verify that notifications reach the correct recipients.
  • Use alert templates by site family to avoid having to reconfigure each rule manually.
  • Document the on-call procedure and make it accessible from the Eziwan dashboard.
  • Audit access rights quarterly: Deactivate the accounts of users who have left the organization or whose scope of responsibility has changed.

Frequently Asked Questions​

How many sites can be monitored from a single dashboard?​

From a few sites to several hundred: the views by group (region, industry, criticality) and summary maps ensure clear readability regardless of the scale of the facility.

How can I restrict a technician's access to only their assigned sites?​

Through RBAC: Each user is assigned to one or more site groups with a specific level of permissions (read, use, administration). A service provider can only view the scope delegated to them.

Can you share a dashboard with a client or an elected official?​

Yes, through read-only shared views limited to selected sites and metrics—useful for delegated operational reports or monitoring committees.

How can you avoid an avalanche of alerts when managing a large fleet?​

Consolidate at the group level: thresholds with time delays, aggregation of alarms caused by the same issue (such as a regional operator outage), and routing by on-call team. The goal is one alert = one action.