Lenel Partners Angry, Lenel Does Not Care
Author: IPVM Team, Published on Sep 01, 2016
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Comments (32)
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Even Lenel's silent reaction can be can be summed up by the integrator's comments.
John, Lenel will probably tell you that you need to first pay them for their comment as well as a recurring maintenance fee to allow their their copyrighted comment to remain posted on IPVM as well as paying for a proprietary ASCII integration piece. Without it you're only going to get a response in binary.
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Vasiles Kiosses
Interesting to read this article being an end user. Could it be that on one side we have the Lenel Onguard/Mercury team and on the other the merged Lenel/GE team. are we hearing complaints on both sides overall? How would you compare a similar situation with the other Security giants who are buying up companies and trying to merge them together.
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Ross Vander Klok
One thing I did not see mentioned, at least not as often as I would have thought, is their outrageous licensing costs. $250 for a camera license! $1,150 per master station for Aiphone units? AND $250 for the camera license for the camera included in the Aiphone station bringing the cost for licensing alone to get an Aiphone unit into OnGuard to around $1500.
When you have to pay $1500 before paying for equipment and installation something is seriously wrong. Most of our Aiphone stations have multiple master stations which means it could be up to $3500 + JUST for licensing the master units! Ridiculous.
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Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Obviously there is a cost associated with making any system changes, however unhappy Lenel customers are in a much better position if they are on the Mercury open hardware platform than if they had invested in a proprietary system.
As a long-standing Mercury OEM, we have had numerous opportunities to assist customers who found themselves dealing with the issues addressed in the article. In most cases the hardware infrastructure remains intact and this is strictly a software swap with an automated database conversion to minimize having to reconfigure the system and re-enter cardholder information.
My point is the cost of changing does not always mean starting over. As far as losing their capital investment, we have seen customers convert to a better software solution, greatly improve their support, and lower their annual costs for less than they would have paid for Lenel's annual maintenance renewal.
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Undisclosed Integrator #3
Lenel is the most arrogant and obnoxious company in the security industry. They have been like this since day one. Great article guys.
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Undisclosed Integrator #4
It is nice to see that our experiences with Lenel are not unique. I hope this prompts them to take action. Our RSM has been great, but everything else from ordering to support is a nightmare.
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Undisclosed Integrator #5
I can't remember the last new Lenel install I have done it's been at least 4 years but the existing Lenel customers are too big to convert and our sales guys rely on the R&R from the licenses. Lenel's big customers will continue to pay but I don't see any real growth and I am surprised that UTC and its shareholders are fine with that. The only growth I see is forcing GE customers to convert. I also have lost a customer because of the dismal ONSSI OEM Skypoint.
But maybe we should ask.
Why Lenel?
What do they offer anymore that other Vendors do not?
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Jonathan Pine
Though we are in absolutely no position to judge the quality of Lenel Products, we do receive requests to repair them -- as well as other Mercury manufactured devices. We have in fact developed repair capability on the following Lenel products -- so if we may be of service, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please note our prices below:
2 door intelligent controller, model LNL 2220 - we repair at $325 vs Lenel at $650
Intelligent single door controller Model LNL 2210- - we repair at $300 vs Lenel $450
Advanced Intelligent Controller LNL 3300 - we repair at $325 vs $650 Lenele
Single Door sub controller LNL-1300 we repair at $285 vs Lenel $345
Dual Door ...... LNL 1320 we repair at $285 vs Lenel $350
Input Board with 16 inputs LNL 1100 - check out our $325 vs $450 Lenel
Output board with 16 relays LNL 1200 - we repair at $285 vs $400 by Lenel
Roller S for standard with 3mb memory LNL 1000 - we repair at $285
Roller E for Exand up To 8MB LNL 2000 - we repair at $285
Plus -- you wait no longer than 10 days. Or you can wait weeks and weeks for Lenel to repair -- or even not repair.
We do not charge if we cannot repair a Lenel board and provide a 90 day warranty,
just send a request to rma@renovatechnology.com.
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Charles Baker
Interesting article. As an integrator our experience with Honeywell Prowatch was very similar. There is limited/poorly-trained technical support, limited field support, and a pervasive attitude that "you are lucky to be selling our stuff, so how much more will you be selling this year?"
I suspect we are experiencing the difference between newer and more customer-oriented products/companies vs. older staid organizations that have been able to "rest" on their installed base and the cost to convert.
The fall-out will be interesting.
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Undisclosed Integrator #6
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Undisclosed #7
Lenel's customers are not the only ones dissastisfied with them.
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Don Johnson
I agree on Some aspects of the report but Not all. Some of the issues you are complaining about seem to be more the Techs installing the equipment and Software not knowing what they are doing. Seems u do not completely understand the full scope of it. Network, OS systems, proper sequence to install etc. I have been installing Lenel for 16 yrs and find it the Best overall system. As far the complaint it hasn't changed look at Prowatch it is the same as when I installed it in 2000 at a Post Office. I am certified on Lenel, ProWatch, S2, Genetec, ONSSI, Completview, etc and Strongly prefer Lenel over all the rest. As far as Facilty Commander you knew it was going and the options to integrate into OnGuard works great!
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Ross Vander Klok
Is there anyone from Lenel that is an active member of IPVM? Or is there any way to get their take on all of this? Have you IPVM folks tried to reach out to them to respond or even to let them know what is being discussed here?
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Ross Vander Klok
Thanks for the reply John. My concern is that as soon as we complete our worldwide three year project to switch everything over to Lenel we will immediately have to start switching out to something else. Even if they reached out to us offline (I am not hiding my name here) it would go a long way to allay our fears.
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