System, method and control unit for generating a message as e-mail via Internet and/or intranet

A system operable to generate a message related to a control unit, said system comprising:

• an automation system operable to perform automated functions;
• a control unit connected to the automation system, said control unit comprising,
• a fault detector operable to detect a fault condition in said automation system;
• a message generator operable to generate a message in response to said detected fault condition;
• and
• a transmitter device operable to transmit the message;
• said system further comprising;
• a data transmission system connected to the control unit operable to receive the message from the transmitter of the control unit and transfer the message to one or more recipients in the form of an e-mail message, receive acknowledgment from the recipient and transfer the acknowledgment to the control unit;
• and
• a comparator operable to compare a message identification of the message and the acknowledgment of the recipient.

A control unit operatively connected to an automation system and a data transmission system, said control unit comprising:

• a fault detector operable to detect a fault in said automation system;
• a message generator operable to automatically generate a fault message indicative of said fault, wherein said fault message comprises at least a message identification specifically identifying the message;
• a transmission device operable to transmit the fault message via the transmission system to one or more recipients, wherein the recipients are specifically addressed to receive the message;
• and
• a receiving device operable to receive an acknowledgement generated by said recipient(s), said acknowledgement comprising at least an acknowledgment identification specifically identifying the message which it is acknowledging.

A method for generating a notification message in response to an event occurring within an automation system, the method comprising:

• detecting the event in the automation system;
• automatically generating, in a control unit, the notification message in response to the event;
• placing the notification message in a data transmission system and sending the notification message to a predefined recipient;
• automatically generating an acknowledgment in response to receipt of said notification;
• sending the acknowledgment through the data transmission system to the control unit;
• and,
• recording whether said notification message has been acknowledged.