Manufacturer Support Horror Story

Brian, I've been meaning to comment that you use the best/funniest article graphics!

Being a Lenel dealer we have not had this issue before that I know of. At least not with them sending me a bunch of product we didn't order. I have been told there are big changes coming this year for the good and hope this is true. Support has always been the biggest issue with Lenel and mainly being long hold times for tech support and especially video support. The good part about Lenel is their access control system. You install the hardware then the software and it typically runs forever. I know because a lot of times we have customers that only upgrade due to Windows versions no longer being supported and become a huge security risk. At that point they are so far behind on their support we typically sell them a new license instead of paying the cumulative support agreement fees. Lenel has to do something about their video. We will all find out what the Milestone partnership we be about next week. I am hoping for the best and expecting the worst. Lenel has just gotten too big for their britches over the last 10 years. I was talking to someone just the other day about this and how if they don't change their strategy their are going to lose a lot of their smaller systems they have out their. I know many integrators taking over Lenel systems with either RS2 or Genetec or any of the countless others. I came across a system called Imron a while back that was pitched to a potential customer of ours. Claimed it would do everything they needed. This facility will be at 1000 readers in the next 5 years. So I visited their website and they claim they can take over any Mercury panel and on the front page is a document on how to convert a Lenel database. In a discussion I started questioning if the "Access Control" market is slowly becoming like the burg of the 90's and the IP market spiraling downward this is what I was referring to. Everyone says trunk slammers aren't going to start taking over panels like the intrusion industry of the late 90's but products like this and other will allow that. The first problem I saw on their site was an shopping cart icon at the top and their main distributor was Anixter..Really. Others said well this won't happen because you have to be certified. Well I can walk into ADI right now and by a Honeywell PRO3200 board right off the shelf. Anyways I am rooting for Lenel to get their go to strategy in the right direction.

I know how the process of all that works and the different systems can take over this or that I just find it amusing they have the Lenel bit about their database on the main software page. RS2 also has theirs and it is called the "LENELENATOR". I thought I saw on a cut sheet they were a Mercury partner or made it seem like they are a Mercury partner and when you go to their website they are not listed. We are actually doing our first Casi to Lenel right now and have been working on the Softwarehouse boards in house to get that part all figured out. 

Mercury will continue to sign up as many OEM's as they can because they are in the hardware supply business. It's up to the system integrators to start protecting their customers and start considering non-Mercury options. Otherwise your installed based is an open target to all around you selling another "Mercury" flavored system. 

Hang on. You do not have to pay for unordered merchandise. The integrator would have been within their rights to just keep the products, although that's probably a good way to burn a bridge. 

Note, the title of this post was changed from the original title based on feedback from the integrator involved.