Many organizations spend copious amounts of unnecessary money to dispatch technicians for things that they can easily fix with simple troubleshooting, in 5 minutes or less. If half of your locations were to have one call like this per year, it would amount to a substantial expense.
The number one troubleshooting step to help save money is changing batteries. This takes virtually no time at all, and avoids the need to dispatch a technician. Whenever an electrified device such as a safe lock, exit alarm, or pushbutton lock stops sounding or working properly, a good first step is to change the batteries. Always be sure that you are using a name brand alkaline battery. Off-brand batteries will tend to drain much faster than brand name batteries.
5 simple troubleshooting steps
- Safe Locks:
- Even if a keypad beeps and acts normal on a safe, if the battery is low, it may not have enough power to operate the lock bolt. If you are unable to open your safe, always try changing the batteries before calling a technician. The batteries are often located behind the keypad on the outside of the safe. To change the batteries, remove the cover by either taking out the screws on the side of the keypad cover, or if there are no screws, twist the keypad. A majority of safes use 9v batteries.
- Exit Alarms: A majority of exit alarms use 9v batteries.
- Alarms Integrated into the Push Bar:
- To remove the batteries, you will need to remove the screws on the side of the alarm cover or plate on the end of the push bar. There are typically 4.
- If you do not see screws, you will likely need to use a battery compartment key to remove the cover. These keys are either tube keys or small keys. If you do not have a battery compartment key, look at the cylinder where the battery compartment key is inserted, write down the stamping, and call your local locksmith. They will be able to provide a key. When you insert the key, it will act as a screw. Continue turning it until the cylinder comes out and you can remove the cover.Wall Mounted Exit Alarms:
- You often times will need to use a battery compartment key to remove the cover on wall mounted exit alarms. Follow the process outlined above to change the battery.
- Alarms Integrated into the Push Bar:
- Pushbutton Locks
- On the inside of the door, you will see a plate with a screw at either the top or the bottom. Remove the screw to access the batteries. Some devices will require battery packs that must be purchased from the manufacturer, while others will take multiple AA batteries.
The benefits of Troubleshooting
The most significant outcome of this simple troubleshooting step is dispatch avoidance. This translates to both time and money saved.
Time is saved on multiple levels. First, the store manager does not need to interact with the facilities department or concern themselves with following-up on the status of the service call. While the troubleshooting steps may take 1-2 minutes longer than it would take to greet the technician, show him/her where the problem is, and sign off on the work order, the additional time spent on the phone and handling paperwork is diminished. Moreover, the facilities department no longer needs to handle the work order, or process any invoices for payment.
By decreasing the number of people involved in the work order, you reduce the soft cost of the call. More substantially, a significant amount of money is saved by avoiding trip and labor charges by the technicians.
Many companies mandate troubleshooting steps be made to replace dead batteries before a technician can be dispatched. This simple step reduces the number of work orders that are dispatched and translates to significant savings. It is industry standard for technicians to charge a trip charge and one hour of labor, regardless of how long they are on-site. That means that each time a technician is dispatched for a simple five minute job to change batteries, your organization will receive a $60-$160 invoice (technician rates vary depending on geographic area). Instructing your managers on how to perform the basic troubleshooting steps above will drop this cost down to virtually $0. If your chain has 800 locations, and 400 of them have an incident that involves a battery change, you would reduce your expenses by anywhere from $24K-$64K annually.