Bogen Multicom 2000

["Bob La Londe" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I hate proprietary distribution.  Any big system of any kind seems to be
proprietary in their distribution.  Intercom, phone, fire.  Doesn't matter.
Anyway, I had a contact with a client who seems to be having some problems
with Bogen and other intercoms.  I contacted Bogen and determined their big
intercom is yet another proprietary dealer only system, and the rep (Mark
Smale) for the company is not even interested in any other companies for
Arizona.

That's fine but it puts the big screw job to the customer as the closest of
the four who do service Arizona is 180 miles away.  Basically at the current
price of fuel, and the fact that because of proprietary dealerships they can
command any rate they want.  This puts the price of the simplest service
call in the $300 range.  Tighten a loose screw, replace a bad speaker,
whatever.

On top of that the customer has had difficulty getting timely service, and
the companies who have been performing service don't seem to be able to fix
their problems.

The customer is at the point of looking something other than Bogen because
of this.

Since Mark Smale basically told me to kiss his *ss, I have to recommend to
the customer that they try a different one of the four service companies for
their service work or go with somebody else.  That is a huge amount of
money.  Not just a few thousand either even on just one site, much less on
several sites.

Of course I could tackle it blind or try and chase down some manuals through
the secondary market... but I can see where I could get in way over my head
without ever being able to complete the first service call.

Of course Mr. Smale didn't endear me to Bogen when he attempted to one up me
on everything I said too.  Oh well, "Have a nice day sir."  Click.  I had
been considering Bogen for some of my other applications, but TOA makes a
better amplifier and I can buy those pretty competitively.  I guess I'll
just stay with TOA for my amps.

A.  The customer's option is look at budgeting to remove the Bogen Systems.
In which case, what systems would be available that would not leave them in
this boat?

B.  Stick with what they have and work their way down the list of four
companies who do service hoping to find one that will at least come in a
timely fashion and fix their problems the first time.

C.  Hope I can find a secondary source of manuals and take care of them.
Not likely.

P.S.  The only useful information (sorta) I got out of Mr. Mark Smale was
that Bogen expects a minimum of 100K every year out of their proprietary
dealers.  That basically shuts out most of us little guys.  Oh, well.  I
guess it must be working for them.

In My Opinion, "All small dealers should bear this in mind when picking
product lines.  Bogen does not want the business of small dealers."

--
The Security Consultant
Bob La Londe - Owner
849 S Ave C
Yuma, Az 85364

(928)782-9765 ofc
(928)782-7873 fax