We've all been there - called a support number for a product or service and got to the point where you know for a fact your blood pressure is at a boiling point because not only did the person not answer your question with anything but what was on their 'script' in front of them, but made YOU jump through all their hoops before giving you that scripted, and completely useless response. To say this is 'infuriating' is a giant understatement, and makes you lose faith in all humanity because it seems no one can think for themselves or get the slightest bit creative on what might help you in your time of need.

Thankfully, some people, and companies actually get what the word 'support' means and take the right steps to enable their people to understand what their products can 'do'. Those same, very carefully chosen people that are placed in support roles hold a strong desire to help their customers and are willing to be relentless in how they discover ways to help solve problems. Those rare people are the ones that aren't afraid to put ideas into action and are even exceptionally polite about it through the process. Imagine that - Faith in humanity saved in a single, easy, helpful, dare I even say enjoyable phone call.

When your work requires a plentiful flow of liquids stored in tanks, you need to monitor those levels to keep them from getting empty. Here’s how we helped a customer do that across their whole territory.

In Pennsylvania we have a great Customer who provides lubricants such as oils for gear assemblies and other industrial applications. Often, deliveries were initiated by a customer calling in to report an empty tank and requesting an immediate delivery, which could be on a weekend. While happy to oblige, our client needed a more predictable and efficient procedure for planning delivery routes.

Already using Emerson’s Rosemount^TM system to monitor their own tank levels, they needed to create alarms there—and they were looking to monitor and alarm client tanks as well. We were excited about the opportunity to add Emerson's DeltaV SaaS SCADA with Tank Protect and Alarm Expert services to the mix.

When we decide to integrate new features into our cloud-native DeltaV SaaS SCADA, we carefully analyze how features will benefit you in improving your operations.

Recently we had a customer looking for a cloud-based platform that could accurately monitor their tank inventory levels and their own customers inventory levels, which they are responsible for keeping full.

Building on their strategy to transform their business digitally meant understanding their business needs today to prepare for tomorrow. Our customer required accessible tank data to reduce site visits, increase safety, uptime, and profitability.

In 2011, IBM’s Watson took on two of Jeopardy’s top winners in a contest of knowledge and speed. After three exciting days, Watson had more than tripled the winnings of either human. Let's apply that to oil and gas production data insights enabling you to triple your 'winnings' - by gaining more production, more profits and more sustainability.

In the digital oilfield that lives on data and is powered by computers light years past Watson, end users are starting to get answers to questions they never dreamed of asking before.

Instead of competing with computers, many oil and gas producers are teaming with AI (artificial intelligence) so that everyone wins. And keeps winning.

Do-it-yourself field automation sounds great until you realize all the mind-bending decisions involved. I think of this when I go to a favorite restaurant; a fast-casual place where you line up in front of a massive menu board loaded with salads, sandwiches, soups, potatoes, sides of all sorts, and pretty much any other causal type of food you could possibly want or crave, but I have to say their menu is pretty huge.

It’s obvious whenever the person in front of me is a first-timer. Eyes wide, hands shaking, and lips moving without a sound. I can't help but wonder if they're okay or getting ready to have a meltdown from menu overload. Only because I felt that way on my first couple of visits.

After you absorb all that content it's easy to see the big picture and navigating their giant menu is meant to be more of an opportunity to get pretty much anything you may want, not the overwhelming first-timer experience I often witness.

In the Eagle Ford plays of deep south Texas, we have plenty to worry about: heat, dust, the occasional rattlesnake, and H2S for starters. Life certainly keeps us on our toes!

What our customers like about having their remote monitoring data readily available through Zedi Access™ is that it shortens their list of things to worry about. Considerably.

If automation for you conjures up images of complexity along the lines of The Matrix or other elaborate theory, I have some good news. It doesn’t have to be that complicated.

As an example, I love looking at all the ways the actual data from creating automation can improve the bottom line and generally make life simpler. Or the way something simple like automating tank levels with alarms can actually save lives - the possibilities are endlessly beneficial, but not nearly as complex as you may think (or have to worry about anyway).