Re: Why Don't You Like DSC? (Addressed to those that don't.)

["Frank Olson" <feolson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"Robert L. Bass" <robertlbass@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:-MGdnf3vgND1ThnfRVn-3w@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>> The main difference between the downloading
>> you do and the downloading Mark does is well...
>> you work with DIY's...  Mark works with licensed,
>> bonded, and insured alarm *installers*
>
> He also more than likely works with unlicensed (many places don't have
> licensing requirements) ,

Texas does.  So does Florida for that matter.

 unbonded (most techs in the trade are NOT bonded),

In Texas and Florida that's a different story.


> uninsured (plenty of small alarm companies are uninsured) alarm
> *installers* (ie, people who are paid to install).

In Texas and Florida you're required to have insurance.


>
>> who know how to program the system they're
>> working on...
>
> And yet,,, strangely enough... they somehow need him to download for them.

Nope...  They don't "need him" to do anything.  He's there to provide
support though.


>
>> Mark also happens to be licensed, bonded,
>> and insured...  What's your "status" again??
>
> How would you know?

Ummm...  Little State called "Texas" requires it.  Last time I looked,
Mark's working there.

> Did you pay his bond?

Of course I have.  Who else is going to??  Surely not Monitronics...  ;-))


> Have you seen his insurance policy?

Yes.  As a matter of fact I sold it to him.

> Have you ever been to Texas?  (don't answer that).

I will anyway...  I have...  several times.  I just finished a major
renovation at Monitronics...  Took out all the Moose panels and replaced
them with Vista 10SE's...


>
>> This makes absolutely no sense...
>
> You seem to have that problem a lot.

Nope.  I find that if you tell the truth all the time you don't have to
constantly worry about some guy dragging up something you've said in the
past.


>
>>>> Some people here are obviously those that
>>>> are actually doing the installations themselves
>>>> and are onsite throughout the install...
>>>
>>> There are people here who install for a living.  Others mostly just
>>> download from behind a desk.  Some of us do tech support and/or sales.
>>
>> Ummm....  What "tech support" do you offer again??
>
> More than you, him and most of the IB combined.

Uh-huh.... Then why do your customers come here looking for help??...


>
>>>> Having a lap top on site and downloading the
>>>> panel, setting up the discriptors, sending signals
>>>> etc. is ideal.... If you are not willing to give a
>>>> lap top to all twenty installers...
>>>
>>> I usually employed only two techs (small company).  Someone carried a
>>> laptop on every installation and service call.  It was one of the job
>>> tools.
>>
>> Uh-huh...  And how many "tens of thousands"
>> of installations did *you* do??
>
> I never said I did tens of thousands of installations?  I'll wager I've
> done many times more than you though.

Sure...  Let's see...  What parameters should we set for this wager??  How
about "unlicensed installs and service don't count".  How about that??  That
means everything you installed/serviced from about 1985 to 2001...  Sixteen
years...  I've been *in the trade* since '84...  It's now 2005.


>
>>>> Downloading a panel without ever seeing the
>>>> job, in my opinion is a sin!...
>>>
>>> I wouldn't go that far.  Leuck can be pig-headed
>>> but don't call him a sinner.  :^)
>>
>> Downloading a panel you've never seen is OK
>> as long as there's a qualified technician on site
>> to verify everything's alright.
>
> How would you know if the technician is qualified?

Because he's your technician...  scratch that...  On second thought, you
wouldn't want *your* technicians to do anything without your devine
presence...


>
>>> Mine, too.  It helps to know just in case the laptop ever fails.
>>
>> So... in 1985, your technician carried a laptop??
>
> Are you completely stupid or just dumb?

Just dumb I guess...


>
>>>> The CS people know keypad functions to
>>>> help over the phone for identifying troubles,
>>>> changeing codes etc.
>>>
>>> Same here, except if a client wanted code changes and was uncomfortable
>>> doing the keypad programming we'd do it for them (for free) from the
>>> office. It's good customer service doing little things like that as a
>>> courtesy.
>>
>> Most alarm companies provide this service.
>> Yours was nothing "special".
>
> Who said it was special?

You did...  You frequently have to "pat yourself on the back" for your
"customer service model", your "business model", your "technical
knowledge"...

Yet what have I seen of all this??  I see *your* customers having to
frequently post questions in the Newsgroup because they can't get ahold of
you...  Yep...  that's some good "business model" you've got going there...


>
>>>> It is just plain faster and less hassle...
>>>
>>> That depends on the panel.  With Napco I can make a few mods to the
>>> client's account, select "one-step" download and go on to another task
>>> in less time than it takes to walk someone through keypad programming.
>>> If they're having problems I can read the panel history and know in two
>>> or three minutes what they're doing wrong.  That's far faster than you
>>> can dispatch a tech even to a nearby job site.
>>
>> But what if you're entertaining on the Lanai??
>
> Lanai isn't normally capitalized.

In your case I thought it had to be...


>
>> Out riding your uni-cycle??
>
> I don't have a unicycle.

:-))


>
>> On vacation in Bahia??
>
> VoIP.

It obviously isn't working...


>
>> In Tampa visiting your friends at UL about the listing for your help
>> file??
>
> I worked for Edwards; not UL.  I never had to "visit" UL.  Try to organize
> your stupidity a little better.

Where did I say you "worked for UL"??   Duhhhh!!


>
>> What if they just can't get ahold of you??
>
> They can call you.

Sure they can...


>
>> Your message centre is full, you're not responding to emails...
>
> Correction: I'm not responding to *your* emails.

I'm not the only one on your ignore list...  I understand a lot of your
customers have made it there too...


>
>>>> It may appear more technical but the customer
>>>> doesn't care. They just want their code changed.
>>>
>>> Walking someone through keypad programming may seem better -- until you
>>> walk them through over-writing a code that they need.  The client rarely
>>> knows which user number is assigned to which person.  He may know the
>>> code but get the sequence wrong.  If you walk him through it by phone
>>> and don't check by PC, you may be setting him up for a false alarm when
>>> someone else comes home and finds his code no longer works.
>>
>> That's why you hand the customer the instruction
>> book with the people's names...
>
> The instruction book gets lost most of the time.

You must have some pretty dumb customers.  I've had people pull out the
instruction manual for the 20 year old fridge in their garage.

> Other times people forget to enter new names in the list as changes are
> made.

People rarely add new names to a home security system unless the kids become
responsible enough to work the system (or Grandma's moving in).  Then it's a
matter of looking in the book (or calling our central station) to find out
which slot the new code should go in.

> Business clients may have dozens of user codes.

All ours are responsible enough that changes in employees are immediately
reported (updated keyholder/reference list) which always prompts the
operators to ask "have you added/deleted the appropriate code?"  You see,
Robert, customers with security systems need service with emphasis on the
word "security".


>
>> (not their particular code numbers) next to
>> each code location.  It also helps to keep a
>> copy of the list in the customer's monitoring
>> centre file...
>
> That's a wasteful duplication of data entry, the kind of thing that leads
> to errors.  The list is kept with the downloader.

We've never found it so...  A properly organized station with professionally
trained and supervised operators that follow established procedures doesn't
make for "errors".


>
>> so your staff can access it 24 hours a day
>> (and so can the customer)...
>
> Most central stations do not provide 24 hour database access to end users.

I don't have experience with "most central stations".  I only have
experience with *one*.  I hear rumours about the lack of service, proper
contracts, etc. with *other* stations...   But these are largely unfounded.
When asked to provide direct examples of bad customer service you can't.
You often turn to "vague generalities" often couched in flames against
people in the industry you don't even know.


> Many don't provide any tech support at all.


I don't think that's true at all.

> Most small alarm companies don't have 24-hour staff anyway.

That tells me you never worked for a small alarm company...