Close book on buzz words

The introduction of IP-based security products has brought about a new, exciting opportunity for installers. This new technology can be intimidating to an installer who is accustomed to traditional security equipment. However, installers can easily succeed by selecting a manufacturer that offers the right set of programs to help guide them through learning, selling and support techniques for IP systems.

Moreover, just as leveraging technology can reduce a customers' total cost of ownership, IP-technology reduces the cost and improves the effectiveness and efficiency of installer support programs - for both the manufacturer and the installer. It has opened up a wealth of new tools to help installers sell new products.

In fact, partner programs are evolving from being time, materials and cost intensive, to being efficient and effective at reducing the cost barriers that traditionally prevent an installer from bringing on a new product line. The following article presents a few of the new programmes and techniques that an installer can begin to expect to see offered from their IP-security manufacturer.

Overcoming the fear factor

I have seen many a security installer fall at the first fence due to "buzz word" ignorance. The mere mention of two letters especially - IP - will have most running for cover. It is a common misconception that as a product is web-enabled and is IP based, that installers will need to be IT experts in order to install such systems. In reality, this could not be further from the truth.

Most IP based systems require an IP address. This is generally provided by the IT manager of the installer's customer. A good manufacturer will provide a comprehensive document that will fully detail the network conventions, port usage, IP addressing etc. This should be used as part of the sales process and should be issued to the IT manager at the point that he, quite rightly, asks questions about the equipment that you are about to hang on his network.

Once the IP address is entered into the initial setup screen of a system, the installer is effectively finished with the "scary" network side of the system. This is true of IP cameras, IP video recorders, IP access control systems, and in fact any network edge appliance.

As these devices all have embedded software, which is accessed via web browsers, there is no need to load any software or be an expert in that software. At this point the installer is ready to start programming traditional system parameters such as cardholders, access levels, time zones, etc. How much easier is this than spending hours loading operating systems, databases, application software, patches and service packs?

A traditional client/server system will require at least six hours to load and configure all of the software to get to the point of configuring the application with customer specific criteria, whereas an IP based system requires less than 10 minutes to be at the same point.

Remote training

An effective installer support programme should always start with the pre-sales effort by engaging the sales, applications and installation teams. An onsite visit from the manufacturer should be performed to review the product's salient features and advantages, and teach the sales team how to install and use the product for demos. However, a common problem encountered is that an installer can not get all of their personnel together at one time.

One of the significant advantages of working with an IP-based security product is that today's manufacturers can now offer remote training. With only access to the web, both the manufacturer and the installer team can log into the product together and conduct training over a speakerphone.

It is in essence an instant ‘webinar' with a manufacturer representative and one or more of the installer personnel actually interacting with the product through their web browser. If the installer has the IP security product on site, then they can examine the hardware at the same time both parties are reviewing features and how to set them up.

Reduced training time

The most valuable aspect of the training on new technology may be its brevity. The enabling technology of the IP-based security systems greatly reduces the complexity and amount of time required for training. This is not at all by accident.

Initial training for traditional security systems required lengthy, complex sessions to be able to understand and support it because the interface to every system is very different. With IP-based systems, every new product or feature design is crafted with usability in mind.

In these new systems, the fact that installers no longer have the time or resources to devote to ramping up new product lines has been considered. Successful manufacturers understand this and have designed their system with this consideration in mind.

For example, technical training on today's typical Windows-based system usually takes 2-3 days to start with and requires additional training modules later on. This is because the structure of the software requires the learning of many complex and non-intuitive menus and hardware configuration schemes.

These courses require taking the staff out of the field and incurring significant expenses, as well as lost service revenue. Furthermore, many technicians require additional training to become proficient with Windows operating systems and database management systems. This is known as the ‘90s syndrome', as everyone working in the field in the 1990s remembers the vast amount of training that was suddenly thrust upon technicians to become proficient with new Windows operating systems, software applications and networking and hardware.

Many security manufacturers actually built profit centres around ramping up their installer partners! Back in the 90s competition was not nearly as stiff as today and margins were better, so installers could tolerate the costs and downtime. That is simply not the case any more!

In contrast, many IP-based products employ familiar web-based user interfaces common to email and websites. Generally, users work with these products through a web browser and the systems act just like a website, with point and click navigation.

Today, most people use the web, so familiarisation with how to operate the ‘head-end' is much simpler. In fact, there is no head-end PC software installation at all. Installers should expect the software to come already installed in the panel. Finally, field hardware is often plug-and-play, so training time is dramatically reduced and can usually be accomplished in just half a day.

Electronic sales collateral

After training is completed, a manufacturer should be providing installers with electronic outlines and PowerPoint presentations geared at providing demos and training their own customers. These can all be made available online, to be printed on-demand, or customised for the individual installers.

Additionally, hosted video programs on the manufacturer's website can provide installers and customers with professional webcasts that enable them to learn more about products at their convenience.

Live product demonstrations

Another significant innovation is live product demonstration support. Instead of carting around sample equipment, setting it up, and showing customers what a real system would look like, web-enabled technology allows installers to take customers to real, functioning sites, all over the web, anywhere in the world, to see how real customers are implementing the solutions.

This process may be done with manufacturer, dealer or installer personnel in the same room with the customer, but does not have to be. The manufacturer can be in one city, the dealer and the customer in another and the live system or systems in still another. And the customer will see just as effective, or perhaps even a better demo experience, as if they had travelled to the factory. In many cases, the customer can actually get to ‘drive' the software themselves. Geography simply doesn't matter.

Vendor hosted demos

New technology has brought about the ability to give installers the ability to host these live demos. With a base demo system set up in either the manufacturer's headquarters or the dealer's sales branch, any dealer can show their customers the advantages of true remote management.

This type of demo is available 24 hours a day and gives the installer the ability to conduct countless demos in this fashion, without needing to keep multiple demo systems in stock to bring to customer sites, if at all. In fact, many of the demo systems that dealers purchase are actually installed to secure their own premises.

These functioning systems are then used as the demo system to be able to show installers what the actual hardware looks like and how the system functions.

System upgrades and technical support

Once a sale has been made, software upgrades have also become much more efficient. The existing process is for a manufacturer to send out a CD when an upgrade is requested and the installer will schedule the upgrade with the customer, go to the customer's site, install the upgrade and return to the office. This is normally a half a day service call, plus travel time.

Conversely, with an IP-based system, the technician - wherever he may be - simply logs onto the manufacturer's secured installer website, using a browser, from any PC, downloads the upgrade file to his desktop, then remotely logs into the customer's system and backs up, patches and updates the system in a process that can take less than 30 minutes.

Manufacturer technical support

When an installer requires support from the manufacturer for a particularly vexing problem, there are immediate options to get problems fixed. For example, instead of backing up databases to CD then sending them to the manufacturer and waiting another day for the manufacturer to analyse it, or worse, waiting for the manufacturer to send someone out to the customer, the option exists for customers to temporarily allow access to the manufacturer tech support rep who logs in over the Internet.

In fact, the customer, manufacturer and installer can all log in together and share a conference call to discuss the configuration and troubleshoot the problem. This allows for service calls to be measured in hours, not days.

The demands on installers to sell IP-based products have increased with the need to learn new technology and be able to convey the benefits of that technology to their customers. But this new technology has also opened the door to new dealer support programs that manufacturers should be offering to help installers succeed. By teaming with the right manufacturer, installers will realise the same benefits of reduced costs and time and increased margins that they are touting to their customers.

Embracing imperative

It is therefore imperative that existing dealers embrace this new technology, as new players are rapidly entering into the market. Convergence is the new buzz word touted by the like of the major global network suppliers.

The ability to use a customer's existing network for multiple purposes (CCTV, Voice Over IP etc) in addition to their core business has significant benefits to both customer and the network supplier, so it is likely this requirement is likely to be fuelled by customer demand rather than installer specification.

If installers are not ready to step up to the plate, then it is likely that the network installation companies, IT vendors or structured cabling companies will move into this void.

As these companies are used to working on the usual slim margins that are part of the IT world, these purchases are treated as commodity sales. This will mean that the already diminishing margins within the security sector will be driven down even further.

There are therefore two ways forward. The first is to rapidly move into this space, and the second is to partner with one of the plethora of IT companies looking to offer security as part of their overall offerings.