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Agility 3 User/Engineer Manual and Problematic Wireless Mag Contant


Scott Lester

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Hey All,

Just thought i’d join and see if anybody can offer me some advice.

I have a Risco Agility 3 with GSM Module for text message alerts.

On installation I opted not to pay the monthly £13 fee for Alarm Maintenence as all it is really is battery replacements.

All has been going well until recently when I had to replace a wireless shock sensor which is the closest to the main pcu board but also runs out of battery power after 2-3 months (they are lithium batteries and should last well over a year)

The second issue is a wireless mag contact which also needed battery replacing.

After replacing battery, I performed the walk test to re-initialise into the system and then I am able to set the alarm fine. The issue with this mag contact is that if the door has been open within 30-45mins of wanting to set the alarm, I cant, it tells me that the system isnt ready. After about an hour, I can set the alarm again.

Awaiting a callback but the engineer said he rang Risco and they have apparently advised that the battery replacement and walk test need to be done under engineer’s menu and not customer menu. Is this the case in anyones experience ?

Any thoughts ?

Also, is there a downloadable pdf or something somewhere on giving a menu walkthrough process of the keypad ?

Thanks in advance,

Scott

Edited by Scott Lester
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1 hour ago, Scott Lester said:

Hey All,

Just thought i’d join and see if anybody can offer me some advice.

I have a Risco Agility 3 with GSM Module for text message alerts.

On installation I opted not to pay the monthly £13 fee for Alarm Maintenence as all it is really is battery replacements.

All has been going well until recently when I had to replace a wireless shock sensor which is the closest to the main pcu board but also runs out of battery power after 2-3 months (they are lithium batteries and should last well over a year)

The second issue is a wireless mag contact which also needed battery replacing.

After replacing battery, I performed the walk test to re-initialise into the system and then I am able to set the alarm fine. The issue with this mag contact is that if the door has been open within 30-45mins of wanting to set the alarm, I cant, it tells me that the system isnt ready. After about an hour, I can set the alarm again.

Awaiting a callback but the engineer said he rang Risco and they have apparently advised that the battery replacement and walk test need to be done under engineer’s menu and not customer menu. Is this the case in anyones experience ?

Any thoughts ?

Also, is there a downloadable pdf or something somewhere on giving a menu walkthrough process of the keypad ?

Thanks in advance,

Scott

Are you still paying £13per month

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No, I refuse to pay somebody £13 a month for simply replacing a battery.

I dont see what else is covered in Alarm Maintenance that warrants that fee, especially if its a dodgy sensor, in which case if its less than 12mths old, it would need replacing anyway.

As far as I could tell, £13 a month gave me an annual checkup including battery replacements which I would have been charged for (per battery)

Can any other installer give me a rundown as to what else is done as part of the annual maintenance ? What else is rought when you are given these NSI, NACOSS or SSAIB accreditations to be an approved installer ?

Scott

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The monthly fee may have included call outs, believe me, a ringing siren at 3 am is worth the money. Try getting someone out to have a look and you would need to pay a call out fee so the anual fee soon looks good value, all imo of course. 

 

How long has it been installed? 

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.


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I don`t think, £13 a month for an annual inspection, 24 hour support, and use of a Smartphone APP is not bad value for money, technicians have to be trained, which be available 24 x 7, if self employed they also have to pay for life`s little things, food, fuel, Public Liability Insurance, fund there own training time, none of which is paid etc etc. funny how people accept paying say for a Private Dentist, Doctor, Solicitor etc, but fail to realise the vast amount of knowledge a professional installer has to collect from experience.

To be fair, we use bundles of Agility 3, but really there is little money in the initial sale, for us, maintenance is where we make our money to provide on going technical support, technicians and all the other things we need to pay. For example today we are having our Upgrade NSI inspection from NSI for ISO 9001:2015, so I`m paying £450 per day for NSI & £440 per day for our Contract Quality Assurance Consultant, all paid by maintenance contributions, and all to retain our Gold Status, end of.

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52 minutes ago, aessec said:

I don`t think, £13 a month for an annual inspection, 24 hour support, and use of a Smartphone APP is not bad value for money, technicians have to be trained, which be available 24 x 7, if self employed they also have to pay for life`s little things, food, fuel, Public Liability Insurance, fund there own training time, none of which is paid etc etc. funny how people accept paying say for a Private Dentist, Doctor, Solicitor etc, but fail to realise the vast amount of knowledge a professional installer has to collect from experience.

To be fair, we use bundles of Agility 3, but really there is little money in the initial sale, for us, maintenance is where we make our money to provide on going technical support, technicians and all the other things we need to pay. For example today we are having our Upgrade NSI inspection from NSI for ISO 9001:2015, so I`m paying £450 per day for NSI & £440 per day for our Contract Quality Assurance Consultant, all paid by maintenance contributions, and all to retain our Gold Status, end of.

 

Number one, I don’t have an app as I don’t have that module installed.

Number two I don’t get 24 hour support. (not included within that £13 a month anyway)

Number three, I am not paying for somebody else’s training and the little life‘s luxuries as you so eloquently put it. I have paid for a working alarm that has been installed for less than 12 months,  and I am certainly not paying £13 a month on top of a call out charge on top of the price for replacement parts as well as labour time whilst they are there.

Makes it more difficult for me to get employed elsewhere In my game, I need to keep myself certified, that comes out of my own back pocket and keep me in a job, if I don’t keep on top of my certifications then the company is at risk and if I get made redundant, it’s just Makes it more difficult for me to get employed elsewhere.

I don’t normally respond with a rant like this but nobody seems to have answered my initial question  and instead is telling me how somebody justifies that cost, I am still waiting for a breakdown as to what is included in the maintenance visit? 

Is there a difference between replacing a battery in engineers mode and from the customer menu? 

 Or could it be something as simple as a faulty sensor? Seems strange that it’s worked fine before I replaced the battery. And yes, the battery was above 3 vaults before I installed it 

 

Edited by Scott Lester
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No difference

 

Although there can be an engineer's reset required, do you have engineer code

 

 

1 hour ago, aessec said:

. For example today we are having our Upgrade NSI inspection from NSI for ISO 9001:2015, so I`m paying £450 per day for NSI & £440 per day for our Contract Quality Assurance Consultant, all paid by maintenance contributions, and all to retain our Gold Status, end of.

 

Nsi and the rest are like uefa

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Hi Scott

It really wont be just replace the batteries once a year for £13.00 per month honestly. I suspect your installer did not explain what you were getting for your money, but if I am wrong look at other alarm companies in your area because most will offer a maintenance contract for around that price. 

Because of the nature of alarm systems, when they go wrong they can be a nuisance to not just you but your neighbours therefore alarm companies have to have someone on call 24/7 should your alarm become a nuisance. That in itself is expensive, I pay £25  a night for the engineer on standby that doesnt include what I pay him if he has to go out. I also suspect that the £13.00 per month entitles the customer to priority service we attend call-outs same day for non urgent calls and straight away for urgent ones. Contracted customers also pay less for call-outs we charge non contract customers 3 times more than contracted customers, although we do offer an option to take up a contract and reduce the call-out fee. Servicing the alarm and replacing the batteries prevents faults with the system, so you end up with a trouble free alarm. It sound like the replacement batteries you have purchased could be fake or past their shelf life, (Another reason to have contract we buy batteries from a ISO Quality supplier) Ebay and corner shops are not the best place to buy batteries.

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6 minutes ago, petrolhead said:

I future when you are looking for free help from professionals with you might get a better response by not opening your first post with saying how easy and worthless our profession is.

It's ok he might of found out I was here 

 

So all good , Norman over to you 

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Scott, if it's less than 12m as you say call them out under warranty, problem sorted.

 

I guess you are in IT, do you not provide contracts to your clients?

Edited by norman

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.


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on the books I've a full 32 zone agiltity

 

the subscriber cancelled the maint,  as they could change there own battery's....

 

they soon went back on a maint which inculdes all battery's

 

we don't do lots with the product,  so takes a 1/2 day visit to change every battery & clear faults ... 

 

they moan at the high cost. we moan at the low margin

 

we currenlty change 50% each visit,  however its a pain the balls

 

Mr? Veritas God

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1 hour ago, PeterJames said:

Thanks you've just saved me a fortune!

You cancelling my contract

1 hour ago, MrHappy said:

on the books I've a full 32 zone agiltity

 

the subscriber cancelled the maint,  as they could change there own battery's....

 

they soon went back on a maint which inculdes all battery's

 

we don't do lots with the product,  so takes a 1/2 day visit to change every battery & clear faults ... 

 

they moan at the high cost. we moan at the low margin

 

we currenlty change 50% each visit,  however its a pain the balls

 

You want to buy some wisdoms and bits for spares?

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