KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ********************** Need advice for office management software / more on Managely and Alarmbiller September 8, 2023 *************************** Need advice for office management software / more on Managely and Alarmbiller *************************** Ken I read your newsletter and I see the grips cried about Managely and Alarmbiller and I share the woe as I am struggling with Alarmbiller. Bold Group, who creates Mangerly and AlarmBiller pat themselves on the back and send self-serving emails saying things like "Bold Group remains committed to keeping your voice and needs at the center of everything we do. To help us do that, I’m happy to introduce you to the members of our 2023-2024 Customer Advisory Board. " Customer Advisory Board - pretty funny. What does that do for me? It certainly is not "Keeping my Voice and needs at the center of everything they do". But, I am a giving guy and in an effort to assist them in their effort to hear my voice, I offer my voice and tell them that if they want to improve their product and keep their customers they only need to provide a complete user manual and a support call-in line. Instead, they make you jump through hoops in an effort to get support but in the end, you are ignored anyway. A call-in line and a user manual may be enough to make me have second thoughts about going through all the effort a jump-ship transition will take. I see that you encouraged readers to use vendors listed on The Alarm Exchange. The only vendor I know of on The Alarm Exchange who offers an invoicing product is Biller-genie. Unfortunately, Biller-genie does not appear to be a complete office management product as it needs to be married to another product like Quick Books. I feel Biller-genie misses the mark at being an all-inclusive product for alarm company management. While I have not taken advantage of their Do-it-yourself 30-day try it and see offer. I do not see the ability to create proposals and work orders and maintain details regarding system hardware and setups discussed on their promotional website. I absolutely must jump ship from Alarmbiller but I do not feel that the one product offered on The Alarm Exchange is suitable for our purpose and we are looking towards other options. One which we feel might fill the bill is Cornerstone, which I see is not on The Alarm Exchange. BUT - I felt that way about the Alarmbiller. Sales Pitch as well and 3 years later I am still very disappointed and my office staff is frustrated. I wonder if the Kenny Kommunity has any recommendations, suggestions or warnings regarding Cornerstone or any of the other available products for office management. Jersey Jerry ************************* More on Managely software ************************** Ken We had issues with Managely as well. Their product was not completely implementation ready. We have been using their alarmbiller product for several years now which works OK and were hoping Managely (which is termed as newer advanced version of alarmbiller) would improve on it. But it is the same alarmbiller software with a modern looking User interface but not completely developed for final implementation. We went several months going back and forth, after which I wanted out. They sent me a bill for the implementation and sent it to collections. After I spoke with them and their non-responsive staff, I was finally able to talk to a good sales manager who waived the implementation invoices. We still use Alarmbiller which does the job but leaves a lot to be desired. I hope they improve. Please post name withheld ************************** Ken, I have been following along with the conversations about software. Having run both a security company and IT company for almost 20 years now, I felt I may have a little to offer on the topic. We have always tried to keep innovative with our software. For many years that required having a lot of different pieces of software. We have spent the last few years on a mission to simplify this for ourselves. Throughout this process, we have gained experience with several of the players that advertise toward our field. We had been using Service Fusion to manage our service tickets for several years. It works great for ticketing but was lacking in many other areas we consider essential to business, mainly reporting is just completely absent in this solution. We were spending more time managing spreadsheets outside of the software to give us the reporting we needed than we spent in the software managing tickets. We tried to onboard with Sedona back in 2021. That was a terrible experience. We did not even complete the onboarding processes. What I have learned since, is the company was going through a major internal reorganization at the time. That may have certainly worsened our problems, but from being a regular reader on this forum I know our experience was not isolated. We thoroughly researched building our own software and can say that is realistically a 12-month and $150,000 proposition at minimum. That is based on upfront estimates. With changes orders, cost over-runs, and added API coding it could easily go much higher. This was not practical for us. We went to ISC this year with the goal of finding a partner we could rely on to take our business to the next level. We use ConnectWise for my IT business and were excited to see them at ISC. We looked at them as a possibility for the security business as well. Honestly though, I did not feel the software met the needs of a highly reactive service industry like that of commercial fire and security. I love the company and the software is great for our managed service business so they could be a fit for some. At ISC we were fortunate enough to connect with Renata Nanatz from Simpro. We spent a good deal of time picking the software apart at their booth and found it met most of our needs. We started the implementation process with them in April and went live on August 1st. From the sales dept to onboarding and implementation, the entire team at Simpro has more than exceed our expectations at every touchpoint. The software is built for service organizations and thus had an exceptionally smooth implementation process as it fits so naturally with how we already operate. To anyone considering a software change, I would highly recommend Simpro. Shane Sullivan ************************ Response ************************** The Alarm Exchange lists software companies [who should get together with Biller Genie for money processing. See the posts in The Alarm Exchange under Technology and Services that increase or preserve your RMR. Note there a few new vendors who have been listed. Managely by Bold Group, Innovative Business Software and Workhorse recently joined The Alarm Exchange. I know that Managely is acutely aware of the comments on this forum and I believe it is working toward solutions. Simpro and Alarmbiller are not listed on The Alarm Exchange. I have spoken to Mangely and I can assure you, all of you, that top management is acutely aware that there are problems and they are working hard to solve those problems. I can also report that Managely by Bold has requested listing on The Alarm Exchange; so its now listed. That listing comes with some responsibility for accountability. At the very least dealers are entitled to honest and timely feedback and customer service. That is a minimum requirement to maintain the listing on The Alarm Exchange. If any of you aren't satisfied with customer service let me [us] know and I will try and coordinate and facilitate better customer service. I am sure now that Managely is aware of the problem we will be hearing from them shortly with explanation and progress report on correcting problems. If there are other software outfits let us know. I can’t vouch for the sufficiency of any of them but can confidently state that if they don’t at least address your concerns they will be bounced from The Alarm Exchange and for that reason alone I suggest you stick with the vendors listed on The Alarm Exchange. You will have a chance to compare software when Fieldhub, Innovative Business Software and Workhourse present in the Software Webinar Series; see schedule below. **************************** WEBINARS SCHEDULE and REGISTRATION: SOFTWARE // CENTRAL STATIONS ********************** SOFTWARE WEBINARS: With all the discussion, and dissatisfaction, about management software our first webinar series is by software providers offering comprehensive software programs for the alarm industry. ********************** Title:Fieldhub:All In One Operations and Accounting Software For Security and Fire Integrators When: October 3, 2023 noon ET Why attend: FieldHub is a comprehensive software program that integrates proposals, planning, warehouse inventory management, scheduling, field technician mobile applications, invoicing, accounting, tracking systems and devices, creation and linkage of a central station account, and much more Who should attend: managers and owners Presented by: Miles Fawcett, Founder and CEO of FieldHub Inc. 202.417.8196; miles@fieldhub.comwww.fieldhub.com Hosted by: Ken Kirschenbaum, Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Register here:https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2290942861013931612 *********************** Title:Innovative Business Software: operating software for central stations When: October 5, 2023 noon ET Why attend: Innovative Business Software is central station solution to smooth operation and integration Who should attend: managers and owners Presented by: Jen Kolind, President and CEO of Innovative Business Software Inc. 469 556 2822; jens.kolind@innovative247.com www.innovative247.com Hosted by: Ken Kirschenbaum, Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Register here:https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2817426411948243036 *********************** Title: WorkHorseSCS When: October 11, 2023 noon ET Why attend: Alarm business operating software solution for Sales, Field Service, Customer Service, RMR (Recurring Monthly Revenue), Electronic contracts and Digital Signatures, all conveniently housed in one unified platform. Streamlines your alarm company's processes with Single Point of Data Entry solution. Integrates with over 40 Central Stations, along with leading platforms like Alarm.com, Alula, resideo, SecureCom, and SecureNet. Who should attend: Managers and owners Presented by: Steven Hayes, 941.229.8200 steven.hayes@workhorsescs.com www.WorkHorseSCS.com Hosted by: Ken Kirschenbaum, Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3965237386615522648 ***************************** Central Stations series: Why You Should Be Monitored BY Our CS Hear from the leading central stations and “Why you should be monitored by” that central station. The topic of remote operator monitoring from outside the central station facility and the dynamics that issue presents is sure to come up. The question you need to be asking is why isn’t your central station participating and why are you still using your central station if it’s not participating? ************************ October 17, 2023 noon ET,Emergency 24 Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5032873072502046552
October 31, 2023 noon ET, Rapid Response Monitoring Center Registration Link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2959829660260960857 ********************** STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ************************* THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily. https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our email list / Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
