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Glancing Back: ACRE’s Year in Review

No matter where you were in 2021, we all shared some very similar experiences to what we experienced in 2020 — ones that redefined the way we worked, lived, and supported each other. This year, for ACRE, we continued to highlight our resilience as an organization, our ability to adapt, and how we came together as the team we now refer to as One ACRE.

Going into 2021, we had clear objectives for our organization. Following the previous years, our overarching goal was to drive organic and acquisitive growth while delivering trusted, reliable, and enterprise-ready solutions for our customers and partners. We aimed to drive innovation across our brands, grow and foster our teams, and improve operational efficiency. Here is a look at how we achieved our goals:

Growth

In March, ACRE was acquired by the European investment firm Triton. Triton has delivered the industry expertise and additional capital to support ACRE’s continued innovation and proven buy and build strategy. Over the past nine months, they have actively supported us by investing in the growth and development of the company. Their industry expertise and international network have further strengthened ACRE’s position as a leading global provider of intelligent electronic security solutions. We are beyond happy to be part of the Triton organization.

And only one month following Triton’s purchase of our company, we delivered on our promise of continued growth via acquisition. We purchased Time Data Security (“TDS”) based in Dublin, Ireland, to strengthen our product portfolio and increase our geographic reach. TDS, which delivers cloud-based visitor management, life safety, and access control applications, has benefitted by leveraging our existing reseller channels and end-users to help grow this business globally. 

And we didn’t stop there. We closed the book in 2021 with the acquisitions of Feenics and Matrix. Feenics brings cloud-based access control solutions to our rapidly growing network of global customers while also expanding its portfolio to support the growing demand for cloud-based security solutions. Matrix enables us to expand the addressable market for the company’s technology portfolio, offering customers a broader breadth of reliable, integrated access control and video surveillance technologies designed to meet evolving business and security requirements.

This year, one of our primary goals was to bring the industry’s best technology innovators into our network of brands. We have accomplished that; however, we are not pumping the breaks there. We will continue onward.

Impact

We delivered beyond our expectations for 2021. To list a few highlights, razberi Monitor won a 2021 Detektor International Award. ACRE Chief Product Officer Kim Loy was honored as one of the Top 50 Women in Technology and was named a top Women at the Frontline of the Industry

This year, we leveraged the power of our team to offer new services and products that redefine security. Vanderbilt International launched its new ACT Kit Builder to help partners build the correct access control solution based on specific project needs. Open Options released a new DNA Fusion recertification option that enables customers to take it at their own pace. And RS2 introduced razberi bundles to deliver integrated, easy-to-deploy solutions for security environments. 

Collaboration

We created a variety of conversations — from training to specific product features. Our marketing teams worked diligently to provide partners and customers with the information and support needed. As a team, we made the most out of another challenging year, turned it into an opportunity, and continued to accelerate forward. 

As technology leaders, our day-to-day work is more collaborative than ever before. We constantly brainstorm, connect, and work with our cross-functional teams to find the best solutions and drive results. We’ve identified areas we can further improve on as we build out our team, and we are looking for new ways to communicate effectively as more and more of our workforce is remote.  

Looking Ahead

We don’t know what the future holds, but we know that there are great things in store (and indeed some more acquisitive growth!). We’re incredibly thankful for our customers and partners, and team. Here’s to another year of collaboration, creation, and more growth in 2022!

Integrator Spotlight

Genesis Datacom

Pictured: (Left) Zach Wirges, President & (Right) Robert Bandy, Vice President

Open Options and Genesis Datacom, a top-tier integrator, are working together to help an increasing number of end-users transition from proprietary, limited, and complex access control systems to an open, easier-to-use, scalable security solution.

Teaming up has allowed them to solve real-world security issues by combining Open Options’ best-in-class access control solution with Genesis Datacom’s technical expertise and integration services. 

“I chose Open Options as our premium access control solution based on the breadth of integrations and limitless configuration options. Open Options is truly an access technology, not just an access control system,” said Zach Wirges, President, Genesis Datacom. “Their design allows us to take the solution to any environment, whether it is a takeover or a new installation, and integrate all of their security resources. The efficient and proactive platform brings increased value for our customers.”

Zach Wirges, President, Genesis Datacom

One example of a joint end-user customer is the Little Rock School District, stuck under a proprietary system that was extremely difficult to manage.  The project consisted of 56 locations and 689 total doors. Open Options’ flagship solution, DNA Fusion, provided the largest school district in Arkansas with a non-proprietary, user-friendly access control system that was flexible and scalable. 

Since project completion in Q4 of 2020, the district has been very pleased with its new system. Open Options met their immediate needs with DNA Fusion and offered more options to manage the school district.   

“The Open Options team is forward-thinking, and their strong technical foundation aligns with how Genesis Datacom does business. We are proud to be a top-tier integrator with Open Options, and we genuinely value the strength of our partnership," added Wirges.

About Genesis Datacom

Established in 2011, Genesis Datacom has grown to be Arkansas' leading commercial integrator of security, datacom and fire systems, installing best-in-tech solutions with unrivaled expertise and service. Genesis Datacom is headquartered in Little Rock, AR and has a new, second office located in Springdale, AR. In March 2021, Genesis Datacom will celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Customer Support Planning for 2021

2020 brought on new challenges that all evolved due to the Pandemic. As a result, we had to provide our customers support remotely.  This re-iterated the need for us to increase and improve our knowledge base materials across the board.   

Thus, our goal in 2021 will be to work on building our knowledge-based library to better assist our customers with the tools they need to be successful.  

Here are just a few new tools Open Options plans to roll out in Q1 2021: 
  1. A new LMS system will be our first order of business, and will include several self-paced courses, including a method to re-certify and maintain DNA Fusion certification.   
  1. Software Maintenance Agreement – added benefits that will include 1 hour bi-annually of one-to-one custom training to aid our customers in better understanding their DNA Fusion Access Control System.  Virtual DNA certification courses, as well as one-to-one custom courses, will have more availability in 2021 as we understand the health concerns with face-to-face classes as well as the additional financial cost to our customers that are incurred with travel.    
  1. Quick Guides to cover specific topics, more tech bulletins on high priority issue items, and more videos to cover common trouble areas.   
Other improvements: 

The success and growth of the company have continued to see an increase in calls to Support this past year.  We drastically reduced the number of calls that went to voicemail in 2020 by right at 80%.  The Support team’s increased experience and knowledge led to shorter call times which allowed our customers to have faster resolutions when they needed assistance.  This also opened more phone availability to prevent calls from rolling to voicemail and forcing our customers to wait on a call back for an issue resolution.  To further tackle this issue, we expanded our available support by introducing support chat as well as a new tracking system for email support.  We know reaching our voicemail is not ideal and that the demand for support is high when the customer is on-site ready to tackle an issue or project.  In 2021 we will be introducing the ability to schedule time with Support during regular business hours to assist our customers when they are on a scheduled trouble call or project.     

2020 did not allow the opportunity to have in-house training sessions with our integration partners, but we did manage to complete a couple remote sessions.  We will continue to work with our integration partners in 2021 to build our knowledge on integrated products as well as strengthen the relationship with our partners to better support our mutual customers. 

2021 will be the year that the Customer Service Team explores new and innovative ways to provide support to our customers as well as to continue to improve the overall customer experience.   

Nic Roban 
Vice President, Open Options Customer Support 

Professional Services Planning for 2021

Although 2020 was a rollercoaster of a year that most people with whom I spoke were glad to see the end, one of the positive things that came out of it was how it caused everyone to learn to be more like water – more fluid. It compelled everyone to stretch to a new level of adaptability to work and home life.  Bringing this enhanced adaptability into 2021 is advantageous for us all.

As I look ahead in 2021, I’m excited about Open Options’ plan for a cloud-based deployment model using Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the infrastructure host.  We will begin onboarding the first customers later this month.  This shift to the cloud is expected to gain momentum quickly, as more people become aware of it and adopt it.  More details about the new offering will be available in the near future.

I believe that 2021 will be a catalyst for Open Options to evolve even more into a solution/service provider, expanding our technology landscape as well as the resources to manage it all.  The new year will bring new business, learning, and partnership opportunities that I believe are truly exciting. 


William Murphey Headshot

William Murphey
Professional Services & Engineering Manager, Open Options

Open Options 2021 Outlook

On behalf of the Open Options Team, we wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

Despite the unprecedented challenges last year has brought, there are many things to be thankful for and look forward to in the upcoming year.  Open Options has continued to diligently support our customers and strategic partners throughout the pandemic and will continue to stay proactive in providing the relevant technology to support your business needs.

I would like to take this time to share with you some new and exciting things we are planning in 2021 at Open Options.

Starting this year, Open Options and Vanderbilt Technologies will be teaming up to expand our global reach as we combine our sales teams to better support our growing integrator base. Our company has made great advances both domestically and internationally with ACRE as our parent company and joining our strategic sales efforts, will ensure that our business continuity will strengthen yours.

To successfully move forward in 2021, Open Options will be releasing the following enhancements:
  1. Fusion X – One of the key features in the release of DNA Fusion 8.0 is Fusion X. Fusion X provides customers with a new web client experience. It enables customers to manage access rights, print ID access badges, run access reports, execute operational commands, and monitor the health of their environment all within one web interface.
  2. Cloud-hosted DNA Fusion software – Fusion Cloud is a hosted solution that removes the need for customers to purchase an on-premise server, maintain server hardware, and perform system upgrades. With Fusion Cloud, customers can take advantage of a worry-free hosted environment that leverages the integration platform of DNA Fusion.
  3. New Licensing Tool Application - Designed to help Dealers, Integrators, and Consultants to understand how Open Options licensing works when either upgrading an existing DNA Fusion system or a new project using DNA Fusion.
  4. New Monthly Newsletter – starting next month (Febuary 2021), we have redesigned our “Connection” newsletter to include product highlights, new releases, Training guides, videos, and helpful tips, and, a new section to “Highlight” our Integrators and Dealers as they share with us some DNA Fusion success stories.  

I am excited and very optimistic in the coming year and I want to express our gratitude to our all of our customers and partners for their continued business. 

Again, wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year!


Charles (Chuck) O’Leary
President, Open Options