Re: Helper Woes

[mleuck <m.leuck@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday, January 25, 2021 at 9:08:42 PM UTC-6, Airdorn wrote:
> Lately it's been very hard to rely on help. IE, good help seems increasin=
gly hard to come by.=20
>=20
> Because of some tragic events, we had to cherry pick an installer to tran=
sition to a service tech role. This was about 2 years ago. It hasn't gone w=
ell.=20
>=20
> Latest example: The other day, this tech was tasked with hooking up a new=
 customer that had an existing Concord 4 system, something we generally don=
't deal with but not beyond our ability to monitor.=20
>=20
> Today I had a service call to go check that new customer's system because=
 it was acting strangely. What I found was shocking, and makes me wonder if=
 it's time to clean house and get some new help.=20
>=20
> The other tech has never dealt with a Concord 4, but he proceeded anyway.=
 He installed one of our generic summary-only communicators on the system a=
nd tested it. It worked fine. He used his phone to look up how to change th=
e master code on the panel. He was able to complete this because the custom=
er happened to know the existing code. Our tech then left the call.=20
>=20
> Today, I found the Concord 4 in a trouble condition. The previous alarm c=
ompany had alarm.com installed, which includes an integrated communicator t=
hat enrolls as a superbus device.=20
>=20
> I used my laptop with an EEPROM reader to discover the installer code, ac=
cessed programming, changed the installer code and deleted the alarm.com su=
perbus device. The thing works perfectly now.=20
>=20
> I'm dismayed that my fellow tech either didn't know or care (or both!) to=
 make sure any previous company comm is removed, and left a new hook up wit=
hout knowing the installer code and, thus, having full control over the sys=
tem.=20
>=20
> It hasn't always been like this. Us technicians used to kind of battle it=
 out constantly, in a friendly way, as far as to knowledge and know-how.=20
>=20
> My question is, is this my own unfortunate experience or are others seein=
g a general decline in quality and care about their tech work?


"I'm showing bus failure" was a typical questions from installers on Concor=
d systems usually because it required an alpha keypad to program (customer =
had fixed english keypads so the tech added an alpha to program then powere=
d up the panel). The panel has the ability to add a keypad to the programmi=
ng port for this purpose

The thing is the tech either ignored or paid no attention to the trouble di=
splay afterwards which is disturbing

The Concord and NX-series panels are the once I miss now that Interlogix is=
 gone

BTW why would you prefer installing a summary-only communicator when Alarm.=
com is so much better on that panel?