We are currently working on cutting over an existing Lenel system to Genetec. They are utilizing MR-1502, MR52, and MR16IN boards. Can I expect all boards to work fine withing Genetec, or will I run into fun firmware issues, incompatibility, or oddly labelled Mercury equipment that will not be compatible?
All insight welcome!
For Genetec, are you using a Cloud Link appliance or a SV-series appliance?
Should work fine, the cloudlink can be used to update the firmware to an appropriate version.
Barring an exceedingly old group of boards that might need a firmware update and assuming that you or the team that is doing the conversion understands Genetec, there should be very minimal issues overall. If all they have is EP1502, MR52s and MR16INs, all of those boards are compatible, so worst-case is they will need a firmware update, which as UD#2 said can be accomplished from the CloudLink.
Are you planning to migrate your Lenel database into Genetec? Have you spoken with an SE about this? We are going to begin doing the same and have been utilizing our SE to help line things out. We are using Genetec Professional Services to migrate the database. This option is not free but will ensure that we are able to seamlessly transition from Lenel to Genetec including card holders, credentials, fields, etc. It is slated to cost us around $4600. Not programming all of that information in manually for such a large location would definitely cost us more than this.
[IPVM Note: Genetec Employee]
Since Security Center Synergis already supports Mercury hardware (all EP panels and MR modules), the process of migrating from a Mercury-based system like Lenel OnGuard to Synergis is quite straightforward. You can retain all of your existing field devices and it will be compatible with Synergis – even without a firmware flash.
Either Synergis Cloud Link or Streamvault appliances can be used for your migration. These appliances replace the need for expensive off-the-shelf servers at your remote sites. Synergis Cloud Link directly manages Mercury hardware and securely buffers events back to your main server, whether on-premises or in the cloud. The appliance also adds additional reliability and resilience to your system with advanced capabilities like peer-to-peer communication.
As noted above, Genetec can also help with the database migration as well as migrating data like cardholder information, access rules, schedules and door & zone entities. We recommend reaching out to your Genetec Regional Sales Manager or Sales Engineer to help guide you towards the best migration approach.
We have done several conversions to Genetec over the years and the process is just as Derek described above. Our first conversion was done with the predecessor to the CloudLink (Synergis Master Controller) and that college was so pleased they participated in a case study.
If you want to streamline the migration, but don't want to pay professional services, consider adding the license for the Import Tool, which will allow you to import cardholders in one large (or several smaller) batches. Sure, that doesn't handle all of the rules programming, but I would rather have my technicians program the system than to migrate suspect data from a legacy system. The cardholder setup is the most tedious part, in my opinion, so this $1,000 (MSRP) utility is well worth the expense.
Thank you all. I have heard answers to all the questions I have at this point. This forum is awesome!
First thing to ensure is that you have considered the purchase of reader licenses. (If you purchase your controllers from Genetec, reader licenses are included)
otherwise you you may need to flash firmware on the controllers, depending on version
good luck
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