Question:
******
Hi Ken,
Would you be kind enough to clarify paragraph number 9 on your contract care of equipment i just had a customer call me to say he wasn't paying to have his main system battery replaced because he feels its normal wear and tear. He states that your contract states we are responsible to cover this. This is a first for us we have been using your contracts for years.
Thank you
Anthony Ariniello
Perfection Detection Security
********
Answer:
******
Ordinary wear and tear can certainly cause issues between alarm company and subscriber. Sometimes it's better public relations to make the repair to keep the subscriber happy - and current in payment. However, in your case, both you and the subscriber have overlooked your responsibilities under the Monitoring Contract. You are responsible only for the communication software, and that most certainly does not include batteries.
Your subscriber should have signed a Service Contract which covers the entire system. To avoid confusion the Service Contract specifically provides
"Foil, batteries, contacts, and obsolete components are not included in this service contract and will be repaired or replaced at Subscriber's expense."
************
Question:
**********
Ken
We are being requested more and more to provide alarm systems that are not monitored by a central station, but instead send text messages or email alerts to select individuals of the customer choosing, when an alarm occurs. We have developed several different lesser cost monthly programs to accommodate these requests, but we need some guidance on the contractual piece.
The standard monitoring contract will not be well received by the customer base as it is too specific to a 3rd party monitoring center. I would assume though that we may need some sort of liability release indicating the customer is taking responsibility for their own monitoring.
One other thing to consider is that we may need to install some equipment such as an SMTP mail server to facilitate the automated email messaging piece. and our IT department is looking into whether we should do it ourselves, or if we should outsource it. Either way, it could potentially fail, as could the customers broadband connection, and end up not delivering the emergency email as intended.
Do you have a standard monitoring agreement that addresses one or both issues?
Thanks
Jay H
******
Answer:
Sounds like you need the Remote Video Monitoring Contract, which may require some modification to customize it to your requirements.
***********
COMMENT ON DVRs
*******
Ken:
Bart misses the point on my comments as to the life time of a DVR.
First he says I cannot backup my comment that a DVR average lifetime is 5
years. Every manufacturer of a DVR of commercial quality publishes a figure called MTBF this is the number of hours that the product can be expected to last on average. In the DVR world this number usually references the electronics only not moving components such as fans and hard disk drives.
In 5 years there are approximately 43800hrs (365*24*5=43800). Of
the manufactures I checked all well exceeded the 5 year mark for MTBF for
the electronics. This is important because it is the electronics and not the hard drives that will typically determine if a machine is worth repairing. Just like a car, just because the machine needs a repair does not mean its life has ended. Repair cost relative to replacement cost is only part of what constitutes the life of the machine. Just like any device
the lifetime is a product of 4 basic considerations.
1. Is the unit out of warrantee? Many DVR manufacturers offer extended
warrantees of 5 years.
2. Are parts available for repair. Again here most manufactures and repair
centers say that they are able to get parts for about 5 years to support
their products. Some manufactures of high end products will promise that
the machine will be repairable for 10 years from purchase.
2. Does the cost to repair exceed the point where replacement makes more
sense?
3. Does a new machine offer a considerable advance in technology or features that makes replacement a better alternative?
Bart's comment that he has heard horror stories of DVRs being" more
often down when the customer needs the video then it is up" Why would a
company continue to use such faulty equipment? I certainly hope they have and use your contract! But why is the DVR down, was it a Hard drive
failure? Was it switched out of recording mode? Was the DVR protected by surge protection and a UPS? Was it damaged in the intrusion? This further supports my point about offsite monitoring as an addition to the onsite DVR.
But has nothing to do with the life expectancy of the machine. Health monitoring of the DVR would certainly go a long way in providing more reliability of the device, by making someone aware of a failure or pending failure, and having the opportunity to maintain the machine and extend its useful lifetime.
Mark S. Fischer VP/CTO
Nationwide Digital Monitoring Co.
(800) 221-0826 X 133
(516) 223-0767 Fax
http://www.nationwidedigital.com
*********
Ken:
re: "five year dvr life expectancy"
First, five years is very optimistic. Three years is a more
reasonable life expectancy for mass-produced DVRs because
manufacturers are constantly using cheaper components to control
costs and remain competitive with cheap imports.
Due to high failure rates in what I consider "proprietary" DVR
systems (those with embedded Operating Systems that are not
easily field-repairable) coupled with long return-it-to-the-
factory repair times and other tech support issues, we started
building our own DVRs about 1.5 years ago. Since our DVRs are
built on the Windows platform using all Industry Standard
computer parts, we are able to put DVRs in the field that, in
most cases, can be repaired in less than an hour and that we can
connect to remotely to resolve software or configuration issues.
4-8-16-32 channel versions in rack-mountable 4U cases that make
the pretty little proprietary systems look like toys. I would
highly recommend that security dealers with adequate computer
and networking experience look into building their own self-
branded DVRs. It's a great way to keep a lot of revenue in your
own pocket while putting a rock-solid, highly-reliable video
server in the field. And customers love them because everyone
knows how to use a mouse and operate Windows. The main caveat
is to resist using cheapo computer parts. It will bite you on
the fanny every time.
sincerely,
"anonymous" manufacturer (since I don't want folks to think I am trying to
use this forum to market my DVRs).