Re: Brinks & Broadview Takeovers

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 8, 12:39=A0am, mleuck <m.le...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> Assuming you have a replacement board, I did everything in your list
> above (except Paradox who has almost no installed base in my area) as
> well as Moose, Napco, C&K, ITI and some crap Scantronics crap,
> sometimes I didn't know what the existing panel was and in many cases
> (such as Moose) replacement boards were either hard to come by or
> didn't exist anymore, same with older Napco stuff.
>
> Now it's easy to say replace the panel and keypads except in many
> cases it's an old lady who loved that junky Moose Z911 system.....

RHC: Ah yes....good point !.... I come across these sorts of
situations as well. For me, the only solution to these situations is
to sell the client a new board and keypad(s). If they don't want to
spend even that cost, then I walk away...simple as that. It makes no
business sense to takeover an oddball panel that you are going to have
to service and support...it's more trouble than it's worth. Besides,
it's a pretty good indicator of how much the client really values the
alarm system, and can be an indicator of how long the monitoring will
stay in place as well.

I realize that working within the confines of a large company as you
do, you may not have the luxury of "walking away"....so , yes, I
definately see your point !!
>
> > Three, you DO have the installer code and the board is not locked =3D g=
o
> > in and / or default, then reprogram
> > =A0Four, you Do have the installer code and the board is locked =3D go =
in
> > and unlock, then reprogram and / or default
>
> > Am I missing something here...where does the installer have to spend
> > time banging on =A0the keyboard other than on normal reprogramming ?
>
> Thats one way to get the installer code, obviously you don't do it at
> the customer's house, I've cracked several DSC boards by entering in
> code after cide, it would take a couple of hours but when one code
> could get me into several hundred Ranger American system's it was
> worth it at the time

RHC: Ah, as you know, the only way to do it in other than a "hit and
miss" way is with the proper technology and the proper backdoor
approach (a la Jim Rojas....)
>
> > ML: Actually that $50 IS a big deal, most installers don't carry extra
>
> > > boards so they leave, order the replacement board then come back so
> > > that often doubles or triples that $50.
>
> > RHC: I know in a small business situation, a clear case can be made
> > that the installer is not working very efficiently. Anyone going on
> > site to do a takeover WITHOUT a replacement board is asking for
> > trouble, and the resultant huge waste of time. In a large
> > organizations such as yours, it's far harder to organize that, but
> > it's still a waste of time unless you do.
>
> See my above statement, many systems were no longer made or hard to
> come by BUT even if it was a common system in many cases the takeover
> is a panel the incoming company doesn't normally deal with so they
> don't have spare parts. And in some cases they expected a quick
> takeover but when it turned into something more it apparently wasn't
> worth doing from what I've seen.
>
> My guess is I did over 5,000 takeovers in 7 or 8 years

RHC: Yeah, the older stuff gives me a problem as well. However, since
I ONLY do DSC and Paradox, I have managed to accumulate dozens of used
and serviceable boards of all different types (other types are
referred to reliable small companies I know that handle that make of
panel). That changes the picture for me. But I can certainly see the
difficulties you must have within a large company, so lockouts could
indeed be a reliable means of preventing takeovers in some situations.
Thanks for the big company perspective.....:))