If the demo CE Pro received at CEDIA 2017 is any indication, the new Manufacturer Support feature from Domotz that Luxul recently incorporated into its router products is sure to be a useful tool for integrators. Domotz is a provider of network monitoring and remote tech support systems for integration companies and IT professionals. The Manufacturer Support feature allows professional installers to share access to their customer’s network with Luxul’s support team for real-time troubleshooting. Once the problem is resolved, the dealer can quickly and easily revoke access.
The dashboard screen for the integrator not only lists the active network accounts, but also has a corresponding map on the page. Devices online and performing fine are depicted with green icons, while those with problems are shown in red.
That is helpful because it allows you at a glance to see if there are several red icons located in the same area, the integrator knows it is likely an ISP-caused problem and not an problem caused by an individual Local Area Network installation.
The dashboard, which looks the same across all platforms and web browsers, is divided into various tabs covering:
Devices: Domotz uses Fing technology to auto discover all the devices on a network. The dashboard shows the total number of devices and the number which are online, so you can quickly see if there is an individual device offline.
Network: At the dashboard level, the interface shows the upload and download operational speeds of the network. When the touchpanel icon is pressed, it shows a history of the network speeds.
“As an integration company, if you are doing maintenance contracts, this is a really great way to show your customers their ISP and if they are getting what they paid for,” says Josh Thurman, western regional sales manager for Luxul. The system also allows you to conduct testing of the network from anywhere in the country. The system also allows you to send trace packets through the network to identify where any latency problem might be.
Custom Alerts: Dealers can set up custom alerts for the system.
Collaboration: This is particular useful, according to Thurman, when integrators are working with other partners on a project. They can invite those partners to work on the network “so everyone is on the same page.”
Customer Management: This tab enables homeowners to see statistics about the network, or even power cycle devices. It can even allow the consumer to allow or disallow connectivity to the network by device.
Reports & Logging: This tab allows integrators to pull reports monthly for customers and device history. Thurman says this can come in handy when dealers are looking to sell or renew a monthly service contract.
Manufacturer Support: This feature allows integrators to “flip open” access to the network in a 3-hour window for the tech support team from the manufacturer, such as other Legrand brands like NuVo, to see into the network while troubleshooting. It completely eliminates the 10-minute phone discussion that usually takes place at the beginning of a tech support call just describing the network.
There are also tabs for individual manufacturers that show every device by manufacturer on a single screen.
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