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The Connect Care App

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Connect Care creates the most connected experience in the security market, going above and beyond to connect customers with best-in-class technical capabilities, personalized services, and the most advanced open platform access control solution on the market today. Our commitment to Connect Care provides customers with a unique, 360 -degree experience that continually advances them forward.

Last year, we had the pleasure of introducing a digital version of Connect Care to our customers. The Connect Care App is a direct connection for customers seeking information about Open Options’ products and solutions for use while working in the field daily. The app also provides the user with immediate access to documentation, education, support, media, and live chat with Open Options.

 Connect Care In the Palm of Your Hand

The Connect Care App puts several valuable tools directly into field technicians’ hands with ease of access. No matter where you are, the app provides you direct access to various information right at your fingertips. This app is the access control industry’s first mobile app to digitize shared customer support, connecting the manufacturer-integrator-customer all together for a unified, seamless experience.

The Connect Care program reaches across four areas: technical support, platform support, professional service, and training, all working together to equip customers with what they need when they need it most. It’s the easiest way for customers to directly access a team of experts for a quick resolution of challenges or issues, with a qualified, experienced professional at the other end of the line. Explicitly designed for system users of DNA Fusion, the app provides proven technical proficiency, education, documentation, personalized support services, media, and live chat.

With the Connect Care App, Open Options is just a swipe away on a smart device. This app is available at no cost for dealers, consultants, and end-user customers to download and use daily. As a company, we’ve invested heavily in our Connect Care program overall; and by making it digitally accessible, we believe it creates an even better customer experience. We strive to make it easier for customers and partners to gain access to information and support when they need it, no matter where they are.

 The Connect Care App is available on Google Play and Apple Store.

The Value of Connect Care

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For those unfamiliar with the world of access control, when introduced it can often be a little overwhelming. Customers who are interested in strengthening and streamlining their security infrastructure will find that access control is typically one of the first upgrades to be considered, and depending on the product chosen, ultimately will determine how effective it proves to be for their business. When questions or concerns arise about access control products or services, there can often be a disconnect or a delay in between the customer and the integrator as the integrator may be occupied with other customers or may need to refer to the manufacturer for specific information, thus creating a gap.  Open Options does things a little differently. Enter, Connect Care. 

Connect Care creates the most connected experience in the security market, going above and beyond to connect customers with best-in-class technical capabilities, personalized services, and the most advanced open platform access control solution on the market today. Trusted for its market-leading services and support, Open Options has invested significantly in Connect Care to provide customers with a unique, 360-degree experience, always advancing them forward. 

“Connect Care represents the next level of customer care, and is responsible for bringing valuable info pertaining to our cloud-based access control solution, DNA Fusion,  directly to our customers as efficiently as possible,” said Chuck O’Leary, President, Open Options. “Connect Care spans across our four company-wide pillars to bring unparalleled service that empowers our customers to have what they need when they need it.” 

The Four Pillars of Connect Care 

Open Options operates in regard to four main customer-oriented pillars: technical support, platform support, professional services, and training. We believe that providing these options for our customers better equips them with the knowledge and expertise of DNA Fusion, and their access control system as a whole. 

Technical Support 

This service connects customers directly to a team of experts in the technical profession for a quick resolution of challenges or issues – with a qualified, experienced professional at the other end of the line. Tech support is a core competency of Open Options, having invested heavily in assembling a team of the most qualified and most talented technical support professionals in the physical access control industry. By providing a direct connection with those that understand the ins-and-outs of our technology, it empowers us to be a true partner, not just a provider. 

Platform Support 

This service connects customers to Open Options' flagship access control platform, DNA Fusion, interfacing seamlessly with leading security technologies and providing end-to-end platform support. Our annual software maintenance service provides significant ongoing value to our customers at a fraction of the original purchase price, and also supplies exclusive access to the rich resources on Open Options’ secure web portal, including value-added downloads and advanced ‘how-to’ videos for system users.

Professional Services 

This service connects customers to Open Options professional services for help with complex IT-related tasks, tapping into on-site services, remote support, redundancy services, custom reports and database services. It also augments the reporting functionality of DNA Fusion with add-on custom report creation capabilities to fulfil specialized reporting requirements

Training 

Training is one of our core missions. It connects customers and partners with the most extensive education tools to empower you to take full advantage of your investments. . Our training program is state-of-the-art, highly respected, and provides methodologies available both online and on-site. Continuous learning is at the heart of Open Options’ commitment to training users on the latest innovations, new fixes to existing problems, and more efficient, time saving ways to connect all aspects of an end-to-end security solution. 

Connect Care Mobile

Open Options also recently created the Connect Care app as a direct connection for customers who are seeking information about Open Options products and solutions for use while working in the field daily. The application will provide the user with immediate access to documentation, education, support, media, and live chat with Open Options.

Before an organization commits to an access control product or integrator, it’s vital to ensure that the  product will be able to scale as the business grows, and that the provider will be knowledgeable and dependable when customers have questions or concerns regarding their access control system. Customer support needs to be at the forefront of the relationship if the partnership is to be successful, and Open Options is dedicated to providing a robust, and scalable access control solution, while keeping customer service at the heart of our operations.

A Tale of Two Integration Setups: Fixing an Idemia Integration Issue

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During their setting up the Idemia integration, a customer was having issues enabling full functionality for secure access control. The dealer was not able to resolve it, so they called into Tech Support at Open Options. Living up to its reputation for fast and skillful support of DNA Fusion users, Tech Support figured out the root cause immediately.

“After reviewing the issue and logs, our Technical Support Supervisor, Zack Davis, determined that they were attempting to utilize part of the old integration setup and part of the new integration set up,” said Nicholas Robran, Vice President of Customer Support at Open Options. “This was the root of the issue causing the integration to not work correctly.”

With the experience that Open Options Tech Support has come to be known for, Zack had already stepped through both methods and knew the best way to solve the issue was to get them on the newer streamlined method of a direct connection with the Idemia system.  He upgraded DNA Fusion to the latest 7.8 version and then completed the new setup. 

He ensured that this was a new integration, as there would have been extra steps if they had migrated from the old integration method to the new. Once complete, Zack stepped through the process with them but immediately found two issues that still need to get resolved. As usual, Tech Support would continue helping until all issues are resolved.

Due to the streamlined communication between the Support Team and the Development Team within Open Options, the technical support supervisor involved the Development Team right away. As a result, they were able to solve those two small issues quickly. 

“Once the issues were all resolved, Zack once again walked through the process to ensure they were all set up and good to go,” added Robran, reflecting the commitment at Open Options to customer satisfaction. “He then did a follow-up call a couple of days later to check in on the customer and found that they were very happy, and the integration was functioning 100 percent to their satisfaction.”

Nicholas Robran, Vice President of Customer Support at Open Options

Quick Turnaround with Open Options Professional Services

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An integrator asked the Professional Services team at Open Options to assist on a project with a quick turnaround time.

The project was to commission and program four PIM400-1500s and 24 AD400 wireless locks within DNA Fusion. Accustomed to accelerating service delivery, Professional Services was able to do the essential tasks in rapid succession.

Day One consisted of bringing the 4 PIM’s online and documenting their IP, MAC Address, location, and login information for the end-user.

Day Two was spent troubleshooting the doors that either was not linking to the PIM or wanting to communicate with DNA Fusion.

In summary the professional services team:
  • Professional Services personnel uncovered that the end-user was using an existing version of DNA Fusion that needed configuration changes and updating. This was necessary in order for the server to be accessed from the site where the new devices were being installed.
  • They had to change the IP address of the server as well as the existing PIM.  Once the version of DNA Fusion was updated, a whole suite of new features was provided to the end-user.
  • They equipped the end-user with practical information about the upgrade and answered questions to help the end-user be able to fully understand what had been resolved and what had been unlocked in the capabilities of DNA Fusion, adding value.

During the training, the new features were demonstrated, including the Info Ready reports.

“There were other items that were shown just in case it wasn't used like the drag and drop ability to filter the Event grid to a controller, a door and even a specific person,” said Michael Digby, Professional Services representative at Open Options.

“We informed the end-user that OpenDX would be a good item to investigate as it would assist with adding as much information into DNA Fusion automatically without having to enter it manually, along with the knowledge of cards being disabled when their Active Directory account is disabled,” added Digby. “Once the training was wrapped up, the final doors were tested and operating as expected. A quick check of all the doors was done, and a write-up was provided to the end-user.”

Michael Digby, Professional Services Representative at Open Options.

Case closed. This quick turnaround built trust with both the end-user and the integrator.