Lee Technologies, Inc. a leading provider of solutions which enable commercial enterprises and government agencies to avoid disaster and mitigate risk to their physical infrastructures, is alerting customers about the possible ramifications of not being ready for changes in daylight savings time, which go into effect March 11. Previously, daylight savings began in the U.S. on the first Sunday in April.

The traditional start/stop dates recently modified with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Starting in March 2007, daylight savings time will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. It formerly ended the last Sunday in October. (Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not participate in daylight savings.

While many systems have automatic daylight savings time (DST) capabilities, many computer, electronic instrumentation and security systems will need to be changed manually. Time change considerations include:

• Proprietary systems that may require a firmware update from the manufacturer include: Many fire panels, automatic transfer switches (ATS), UPS's and generator control systems. Older legacy equipment that is no longer supported will need to be manually adjusted.
• Building management, security and monitoring systems running on a commercial operating system such as Windows or Linux. Software patches from vendors are available for most systems. Microsoft Windows XP (SP2), Windows Server 2003, Windows Server SP1 and Windows 2000 need to be updated.

"If facility systems were to lose synchronization with the new time standard, there could be a period of one to three weeks, twice a year, where they would be out of sync with the actual time of day,ö said Bob Woolley, director of technical quality management for Lee Technologies. "We urge facility, data center and IT managers to inventory their equipment to determine what systems need attention in order to develop a plan of action that will ensure a smooth transition when the time change takes effect on March 11.ö

Examples of unwanted effects include:

• Building management systems that rotate or automatically exercise equipment by time of day could perform tasks at unexpected times.
• Security systems that control access by time of day may inappropriately deny or allow access.
• Logs and time stamps could be incorrect. System events will be difficult to relate to one another.
• In rare cases, serious issues may result if events are performed out of sequence.

Lee Technologies said it is preparing to assist its customers in evaluating exposure, determining the risk and coordinating mitigation efforts through its Mission Critical Assessment program. For more information, contact Lee Technologies at 1-800-955-4533.

About Lee Technologies

Lee Technologies' services and solutions enable clients to power, protect, monitor and maintain the physical infrastructure on which mission-critical facilities depend. From risk analysis, infrastructure assessments, design and construction management, integration and commissioning to monitoring, facility staffing and maintenance, Lee Technologies offers its customers a single source for eliminating downtime in their facilities.

Lee Technologies is headquartered in the Washington, DC Metroplex where it operates a state-of-the-art National Operations Center, and has offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle.