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DICE Corporation News
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DICE Users Group Redone and Remarkable
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Bay City, Michigan – With great appreciation DICE Corporation would like to acknowledge how wonderfully the attending chairpersons, committees, and users interacted and contributed for the 2011 DICE Users Group (DUG). We sincerely congratulate you all on a job well done - and are also equally appreciative to the few chairpersons that were not able to attend due to other work-related obligations, as their contributions were in the form of their approved meeting minutes on www.dicewisewiki.org that were showcased during the event by their elected co-chair. The majority of time at this year's conference was spent going over the status of projects, as well as going through the lists of enhancements that are already complete and pending. No longer does DUG require clients to attend the conference to vote on a two-day spread, but you have each quarter to submit enhancements, join in the quarterly meet to discuss, and watch your good ideas become a reality with the brainstorming of others. Did you miss some or all of DUG? DUG Presentations by DICE, various project timeline reports, and DUG meeting minutes are already available for you to view on the DICEWise Wiki.
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The DUG'11 survey results are in! There was a balance of good to excellent ratings across the board for the presentations given by both DUG Chairpersons/Committees and by DICE to show the various projects in action, highlighting the features and offering roundtable discussions on each. Overall, the agenda rating was almost a 70% for good - which gives room to grow and continue to form for future conferences. Utilizing a Best Practices perspective was applied to much of the presentation design, which served everyone extremely well as it allowed those unable to attend the DUG quarterly meetings to get up to speed and express their own views to project development.
This truly was a remarkable conference this year, as we counted almost a full 50% in client company attendance. We understand that it is hard to get away from the busy life of a central station, and we were grateful to see that at least one person was able to be present and represent their company to learn about new technologies and the future they hold with DICE Corporation.
Another surprise in store for us this year was a number of new arrivals, clients on DICE software for years making their first DUG debut. Here is the first impression of one client, Pat Ehrsam from Diversified / Habitec Security:
"I wanted to thank you for your hospitality at the DUG 2011 convention. Tracy and I were very impressed with the presentations and the information shared by the participating members. We now have a feeling of the collaboration of ideas and of the effort put in by the existing members. Not being involved in the process made me realize what we were missing out on. Going forward, we at Habitec definitely want to be a part of the ongoing process and hope that we can contribute from our own experiences in the industry. We are grateful for the efforts and contributions of those who are now working with DICE to present ideas and create products that benefit all of the departments in our business. Since attending the conference, we have asked for quotes on three modules and fully intend on purchasing all three. We plan on attending future conferences as we realize the full benefits from being a part of this process. Thank you for inviting us and we look forward to participating with the various committees in the future."
Working out in the favor of DUG attendees, due to the huge changes made in redoing the conference, there were 4 dedicated sponsors selected and approved this year. Having a limited number of exhibits right outside the conference area allowed these partners to be given exclusive attention and ensure that the two-day exhibits didn't detract from the conference and dedication of each of the 11 subcommittees. The special exhibitors this year were OzVision, DSS Corporation/Laserfiche, A.R.M. Solutions, and BluePay. These valued partnerships still want to reach out to you and will be sending e-blasts throughout the year to let you know what offers and product news they have to share with you exclusively.
We even picked up a few committee members by the end of the third day, and received lots of positive critiquing and suggestions on what we can do to make this good DUG be even better. All of these suggestions will be discussed in the DUG quarterly meetings. Officially, the DICE Users Group is at 43 committed members, and some members belong to more than one of the 11 subcommittees. If you are not on a subcommittee, there are lots of reasons why you should join - pushing products along and knowing the status of projects is one. Having a say in the development and direction of the products is another. If that doesn't convince you, or you feel that you still don't have the time, you still have a voice with your DICE software and service and we urge you to contribute by reading the minutes on the DICEWise Wiki and by participating through submitting your enhancement interests and requests (much like you would generate a ticket to DICE Support). Still not sure? Use the open forum of customers@dicecorp.com to address other DICE users as well as the team of professionals of DICE Corporation.
An important thing to note, the DUG team wants to hear from those that attended as well as those unable to attend to help design DUG 2012. Training, demonstrations and brainstorming sessions are always at the top of the list when taking the agenda design in mind.
New starting in 2013 will be the location rotation between a DICE client site with the Bay City location of our corporate headquarters. This builds the best of both worlds as those that want to put faces with the names here at DICE Corporation, as well as see the advancements made at our facility will be able to do so - balanced out with the option of visiting another DICE client to view their best practices in action. So here is a chance for your central to be selected! One of the big qualifying marks on getting your central station volunteering to host the DUG conference would be based on your use of newest products by DICE, the more products the more votes in your central's favor!
Register for DUG 2012
Also, a few clients still had questions on how to submit their enhancement requests - please share your ideas through the customers@dicecorp.com open forum or contact Melissa Courville, Head of DICE Elite Client Care Services, at 989-891-2951 or melissa.courville@dicecorp.com to get more active.
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Got Wiki? Yes you do…
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Bay City, Michigan – Remember only a few years ago, when a software upgrade came with a series of CDs? One CD for documentation, and the others for your upgrade. If that wasn't anti-eco-friendly enough, we killed trees in getting the release notes to you, and if you were a few versions behind, several release notes were packed up and mailed out to you.
You know what? As soon as you got those release notes they were already old, as enhancements are made daily at DICE by our software engineers.
Enter in the DICEWise Wiki, problem solved! Already on www.dicewisewiki.org are your release notes, regularly populated for the latest information on updates and other vital materials for you to resource fast and efficiently.
Don't have a marketing department? That's okay too. We've created, by DUG request, a section for not only print-ready materials, but also various items for you to send out to create your own company-themed marketing materials.
Our business is to strengthen your business - always have and it will always be. Your software can only be as successful as the knowledge we instill you with to operate it. That was the motive behind creating the DICEWise Wiki for you.
During DUG'11, we offered two Wiki 101 sessions, which were very helpful for the participants. If you don't have a login yet, or have questions about the use of the wiki, please contact Trevor Baranek. Trevor, our Documentation Developer, can be reached direct at 989-891-2954 or trevor.baranek@dicecorp.com to assist and direct. There are also wiki tutorial videos available, please login to www.dicewisewiki.org or contact Trevor to access those to get started.
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We're Bringing "Something" Back
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Bay City, Michigan – This is official news to all DICE clients in every state and all countries - we just wanted to let you know that we brought project management back to DICE, a very widely-missed department by our users. Some of you may not have said it out loud, but it was noticed that there was something missing...and to our surprise, this was it! The kind voice behind the phone with a friendly reminder, the email of reassurance on where a status is at, the go-to person when you need to know it.
The Elite Client Care Services team, which is just a fancy name for Project Management, will be able to work with you not only on the statuses of your projects, but we will assist in scheduling your upgrades, checking in to see how completed projects are doing, and keep you in the loop regarding discussions in and involving your company.
Starting immediately, your Elite Client Care Specialist (ECCS) will be involved in your planning, projects, and preparation for all areas of your business. Not sure who your ECCS is yet? Most likely someone in your company has been called already, but please feel comfortable to call 1-800-RUN DICE (786 3423) to ask or contact Melissa Courville, Head of Elite Client Care Services, direct at 989-891-2951.
As always, it is a pleasure to work with and serve you, please continue to let us know how you're doing and what we can be doing better.
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ASAP to the PSAP – Call to Action at DUG'11
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Vienna, Virginia – We've sent a couple Call-To-Action E-blasts to the DICE clients and license holders to assist in spearheading this program of the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) to your business for when "ASAP to the PSAP" reaches your area. To get the word out further, DICE Corporation invited Ed Bonifas, Vice President of Alarm Detection Systems, as a special guest to speak on behalf of the ASAP to the PSAP program.
Here is a message from the desk of the CSAA President, Ed Bonifas:
"I had a great time at DUG. My interaction with [DICE] clients was very helpful to both me and the [ASAP to the PSAP] program. I ended up with 5 new Charter Members and one new CSAA application as a result from my being [at DUG'11]. My biggest concern today is the companies that have not yet responded. Being left out of the Charter Member program could lead to lengthy delays in a particular company coming up to speed on the program when it is deployed in a local area. If we have one message to convey to your [DICE] clients it is to get on board now – Do Not Wait!
If you are interested in getting on the program and pledging today, please contact Melissa Courville, CSAA Social Media Chairperson at melissa.courville@dicecorp.com for a pledge form.
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| Tier I and Tier II Support Now at DICE |
Bay City, Michigan – Another item that clients have been asking for is a meshing of support departments into one. Well, we did that and one upped it. Tier I and Tier II support, all under the direction of Philip DuPont, DICE Director of Operations, is a cross-pollinating of the support departments. Take Tier I, for example, this primary department function will be able to assist with all sorts of basic questions - stemming from Alarm to Service into Accounting. Tier II will be designed for those that will travel and have the know-how and experience that Tier I is still achieving and/or chooses to remain stationary. This brings a value of strength and stability for those calling in to work through those with basic questions and know they can escalate to seniority and expertise when those services are needed.
For Tier I support questions or concerns, please ask for Vanessa Schwerin, Tier I Support Manager. For Tier II support escalation, contact Philip DuPont or Melissa Courville, especially where projects or multi-faceted issues are concerns. |
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| Disaster Recovery Story and Plan Update |
Staten Island, New York – With the recent door-knocking of Hurricane Irene on those along the east coast, and Tropical Storm Lee backing that up with heavy rain and flooding to the Northeast, it seems that the Atlantic is alive this year as 3 more systems continued to cause movement in the ocean's basin. It is a beautiful thing, as well as reassuring to know that things are being done right on our clients' end as well as that at DICE when we get letters of care and appreciation such as the following. Please take a moment to read a very real and momentous story sent by the President of Statewide Monitoring, Corp.:
"I want to let you know how pleased I was with your staff in regards to the recent hurricane that swept through New York. We started prepping for the storm a few days before it hit and noticed a few DR items that did not work correctly. Nothing major, but never-the-less needed to be resolved before the storm hit. Leading up to the Hurricane, I was in communication with your DR team, particularly Josh and Steve Senk. The team gave me excellent support and quick turnaround on all my issues I was having. By the time the storm rolled in, I was completely confident in our DR Plan. We tested the system on Saturday, forwarding over all our phone lines to the DICE DR facility. We were then able to continue receiving signals from all our accounts through the VPN connection from the DR facility to our facility and all voice traffic successfully was routed to the AltiGen IP phones that were connected the DR AltiGen Switch. We were completely down with all phone lines and we did not miss a beat. Our operators barely noticed the difference and we continued to operator as normal. The test made me fell 100 percent better about the pending Hurricane coming through. I knew no matter what we'd be OK. Even if we had to evacuate the building because of any reasons, we had a remote DR location ready to go. All we needed there was an Internet connection, the VoIP phones and some computers. As it turned out my wife went into labor that Saturday night with our 3rd child. I had planned on being at the central for the night to monitor activity and see if we needed to go into DR mode. However, because of the DR test and the support I received from [the DICE] team, I was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful birth of my child without much worry (there still was a little). We wound up not needing any DR services, but It was nice to know that if we did, we would have not missed a beat.
I want to thank DICE for allowing that to happen."
If you are a DICE DR client, we want to hear your stories too. Please submit them to anyone you've worked with at DICE, or to Melissa Courville at melissa.courville@dicecorp.com and mention all that were involved to assist.
Now that we have nearly cleared the biggest part of the storm season for the U.S., that doesn't mean Disaster Recovery should stop there. In fact, just as Statewide Monitoring noticed, items weren't working as they had hoped they'd be upon testing.
Right now is a perfect time to start revisiting your plan and focusing efforts on making sure your DR plan works for your business – do not hesitate! We want to be sure that your plan evolves just as your company does.
For those of you who currently have DICE DR, or those contemplating getting one, here is some of what DICE is evolving for you:
- Open Forum and Notification List Created – drclients@dicecorp.com
- Bi-yearly or Quarterly Updates to Plan
- Check List of Procedures and Protocols
- Complete DICE Contact List
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| Software Provides New Ways of Working as Fire Inspection Business Gets Hot |
 Bay City, Michigan -The fire inspection business within the alarm industry has always been difficult from a paperwork management
standpoint, and it is labor intensive to say the least. It not only requires skilled personnel who can test a fire site, but
they must also have extensive knowledge of these complex fire alarm panels and how they interact with the alarm software from a signal handling perspective. Many large commercial systems get more and more complex each year with just the descriptions required within the automation systems, not to mention the need to verify each zone during fire inspections required by local fire marshals. The paperwork differs from one district to another, the requirements differ as well. Communications with local officials along with the paperwork requirements vary greatly as one moves across the geographical landscape. Local officials are now starting to ask for CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings to be supplied electronically, along with documentation and pictures for their new electronic dispatching systems, as fire suppression and fire fighting divisions get more automated and electronically aware.
Engineered Protection Systems, Inc. (EPS) in Grand Rapids, Michigan is
just one of many companies that have been struggling with the ever-changing rules and requirements. The paperwork nightmare that ensues with performing many fire inspections statewide in Michigan is a daunting task. Jim Zweedyk, Vice President of EPS and a
proponent of integrated systems, had an idea for a new way of managing fire inspections. EPS created a team of service technicians and fire inspectors along with Ms. Amy Jo Feliciano (2011 CSAA Central Station Manager of the Year), about his ideas. As Mr. Zweedyk spoke of his vision to have remote service tools, that their service personnel were
just beginning to use in the field, be outfitted to handle the NFPA process of fire inspections. EPS contacted their automation supplier, DICE Corporation, who was already supplying them with the remote service tools and service dispatching software among their fire
alarm monitoring software.
As the many ideas flowed back to the creative development departments at DICE, and more and more of their software engineers got involved in the project, it became clear that the central station automation system would play a key role in not only testing the zones, but also defining the zones in a fire inspection. Additionally, the DICE central station automation system became the key component to inspection verification and documentation for the NFPA process by
defining and providing what is required by the various fire jurisdictions. EPS wasn't the only business that had hinted that there
was a need; many other companies over the past few years had also asked DICE Corporation for similar items to help in their fire inspection business. However, nobody had successfully verbalized and
put all entities together before last year, so that DICE could see the big picture.
As EPS was already running the new remote service tools by DICE on mobile tablets, the options and ideas widened due to the experience that EPS already had. Tablets can not only be used for showing service calls, which can become fire inspections, but the tablets from
DICE already had the capacity to show contracts and graphical forms. Systems on these tools also can show maps and images (i.e. pictures), and these devices are already connected to the DICE alarm monitoring system and can disable zones or reestablish them. More importantly,
the systems can document under a fire inspection as to what zones and elements were sent, then that information is taken and put on the forms for electronic filing and distribution to fire marshals and
localities. This enhanced solution now provides an entirely paperless solution for fire inspections.
One very large change for DICE was producing an injectable form that can be uploaded by any of its clients and allow such data as alarm signals, fire zone notes and inspection documents to be added on
the fly to the forms. It was essential that these forms had to be the original local documents or NFPA authorized forms used by the locality. Since the remote service tools from DICE Corporation can
run on remote devices of all types (i.e. Android, Apple and Windows), the systems use a cloud- type processing environment. The new injectable forms had to be web enabled using new processing tools DICE developed that allow image storage of the documents with easy sending and printing capabilities of the documents in the field.
As the new system was being deployed, it was determined that the fire inspector should be able to inject various pictures of the sites and the units right into the service and fire maintenance system. This feature needed to flow through the creation of other service calls based on issues with the inspections, allowing new service calls to have pictured documentation accompanying them. These features were added to allow full management by the dispatching system that would also tie into data management within the fire alarm automation system.
In the end, Engineered Protection Systems, Inc. has found that tools in the hands of their most skilled staff can not only save them time and money, but also provide them with documentation and automation that is hard to reproduce in any other way - but with new wireless
IT tools.
Software systems of the future will continue to evolve and change the alarm industry as well as the companies who service these systems. As the alarm industry seems to change faster each year (driven by IP wireless devices, networks, and remote tools), the need for out-ofthe-
box thinking, deployment of new technologies, and partnerships with your software vendor become the keys
to success.
Hats off to EPS and their never-ending search for a better way to do things, for it is companies like them who really drive the next generation of software products and the new alarm industry that the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) serves. |
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DICE Corporation
1410 S. Valley Center Dr. Bay City, MI 48706. Ph 800-RUN-DICE
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