Johnson Controls Fire Protection Service issues
I have worked for 4 Alarm companies in the last 28 years and I have dealt with customer issues throughout those years. Some of those issues were issues the customer had with our service departments:
Scheduling issues of us not being able to get the dates they wanted because we had already scheduled those dates with other customers prior to talking to them. It’s first come first serve in many cases unless you have a fire alarm system down in which case priority is given to that customer as it would be given to you if your fire alarm system was down.
Issues getting parts on time. Sometimes this is an issue with the supply chain and sometimes on installation projects we are waiting for fire marshal approval or a 3rd party review and we cannot control those time lines although we strive to do our best.
Sometimes the customer will have a problem with the techs on site and in this case I prefer that the customer call me directly and I will work with our service manager JJ Martin to make sure the issues get corrected.
JCI employees are trained to stop work if there are unsafe conditions so if this happens we will need to have a consultation with you the customer and the tech to determine how to rectify the situation to make it safe.
Customers want the least expensive hourly rates possible and JCI is not the least expensive since the kind of work we do is complicated and the techs have to be certified and trained on an ongoing basis. Techs are a different breed and we strive to train them and lead them although depending on the project, personalities and time tables sometimes conflicts come up and we want to be informed of those conflicts as soon as possible so we can resolve them and come up with a resolution that will be a win win for both JCFP and for the customer.
Sometimes on service calls the problem cannot be found quickly. When there are ground faults, shorts or wiring issues it is hard to determine how long it will take to solve them. Often this is caused by older equipment and wiring. Sometimes a fault is caused by building vibration and finally the wire either comes out of it’s position or the casing is worn down and a bare wire touches a metal box or another piece of wire. Replacing sections of wire can be done as a solution and it is best to stay in contact with management and we can also put limits on how much time is spent on project so we can do a not to exceed certain amounts without customer approval.
On a recent project a customer had brought in another alarm company to fix the issues and then the customer called us back and when we went out to the job we found that the other company that was not certified in Simplex had bypassed several smoke detectors that were in trouble and modified the wiring which is against code. Sometimes companies try to fix things by doing work that should not be done. If it is an FCI system hire an FCI dealer, if it is an EST system hire an EST dealer and if it is a Simplex system have us come out since Johnson Controls Fire Protection is the Simplex dealer.
Call Larry.Love@jci.com 801 898 6003 Larry does new construction and owner direct projects bidding out system upgrades and TIs as well as remodels .
Shandie.a.gorney@jci.com 801 214 5668 Shandie can help bid out service work with the owners and coordinate the techs and the work to be done. Shandie will come out to your site and bid out the project helping you get the work you need done in a timely manner. Shandie can also bid out any test and inspection work that you may need done such as fire sprinkler testing, fire extinguisher testing and fire alarm testing.
Jackson.Jones@jci.com 801 403 3461 can also bid out service project for you and he will also come out to your site to visit with you and he can help you to get the pricing on service that you need.
You can also call the local service number 801 262 9406 and press option 1 which is a 24 hour line and they will schedule the service for you.
JJ Martin is our service manager and he is always willing to listen to customers to help resolve issues.