Snap One is devoting an entire section of its CEDIA Expo 2023 exhibit to highlight the Partner Experience, demonstrating its commitment to product and service innovations that increase efficiency so Partners can take on both more jobs and larger jobs effectively. Booth visitors can learn about the smart living solutions provider’s latest innovations including new OvrC Partner Tools and user experience enhancements, deeper OvrC integration with Control4, the new Control4 OS 3.4.0 and a newly revamped Tech Community online collaboration and training platform.
“We are unequivocally invested in the success of our Partners. From software innovations and industry-leading programs and services to award-winning education and support, Snap One’s commitment to integrators is unwavering,” said Snap One Chief Product Officer, G Paul Hess. “We have a fantastic array of new solutions, services, and resources exhibited in our CEDIA booth this year that highlight the advantages of being a Snap One Partner and the exceptional Partner Experience we provide so that integrators can grow and succeed.”
The first of several OvrC updates is a suite of CRM features that makes the platform even more essential to integrators by offering an intuitive platform that not only enables monitoring and management of customer systems in real time, but also provides tools that help integration teams communicate and be more effective. Partners can now view customer contact info and notes within the OvrC interface, as well as conveniently link documents, photos and files so any technician who answers the phone can instantly retrieve all relevant info and respond quickly to any customer needs. OvrC can be integrated with a wide range of Snap One’s entertainment, control, surveillance, networking, lighting and climate systems, making it an invaluable solution that ensures reliable operations and helps improve customer interactions.
Booth visitors can also see brand-new OvrC Pro Tools debuting at CEDIA Expo 2023, including adding troubleshooting tools such as tracert, terminal emulator, system logs and ports scanned to the Pro Tools tab, which now runs on the cloud and is accessible remotely, without requiring local network connection. The Categories tab of OvrC now features a new set of diagnostic and troubleshooting tools such as Restore/Clear Project and Snapshot, while enabling technicians to view and modify logs and execute PuTTY commands.
“We know time is money, so any process we can expedite or simplify provides direct, immediate benefit for our Partners,” Hess said. “Our Partners are at the heart of our mission to make OvrC the most useful and operationally efficient platform that integrators rely on because we understand that efficiency is key to business growth as well as an integrator's quality of life.”
Control4Partners will benefit greatly from new OvrC integrations that optimize and expedite Control4 project set-up, enabling technicians to complete the initial claiming of all IP devices, controller registration and updating to the latest OS in roughly 60 seconds via OvrC. In conjunction with the above-mentioned new Controller Registration feature, Snap One is also introducing a new Control4 Customer Handoff process via OvrC that creates a more streamlined and professional transference of ownership and focuses on enabling privacy for end customers and security for Snap One Partners. These new Control4 and OvrC integrations are exemplar of Snap One’s mission to enhance the Partner experience and capabilities by developing an ecosystem of products that work better together and are managed by a unified platform that helps integrators work more efficiently.
In this same section of the Snap One CEDIA exhibit, Partners can experience the new Control4 OS 3.4 software update. Based on user feedback and customer research, the company has been developing a suite of Customer Empowerment features that redefine the Control4 customer experience. This work began when customers were given the ability to manage their own cloud-service subscriptions and continues in OS 3.4 with the release of a new User Management feature that allows customers to have both admin and standard account types enabling an additional layer of security. Admins can invite new users, edit existing users, and define roles for each user, but to ensure privacy and security, only admins will be able to see account information and update the property details.
The new OS also empowers customers to create new notifications and modify their event notification settings easily from the Control4 App, with no separate portal or integrator assistance required. They can easily create new notifications by looking at the history agent, and swiping on a recent event. Snap One’s customer research shows that Partners and customers alike agree that this balance between the “Do-It-For-Me” experience, a system designed and managed by trusted professionals, and DIY essentials will mean happier customers and less-inundated technicians.
The OS 3.4release also includes audio and at-a-glance Live View indicator enhancements to the surveillance camera experience as well as redesigned lighting controls for simplified color and color temperature selection for the Control4 Vibrant® Lighting line of LED solutions.
In addition to empowering Partners with software innovations, Snap One also delivers award-winning resources and programs for service, support, and training to drive Partner success. Most recently, Snap One revamped the UX for its Tech Community, a free online resource that lets Partners collaborate with each other and the internal Snap One team to discuss product questions and updates, participate in training sessions and seek and share advice. The visual redesign is focused on simplifying navigation with more prominent placement for the search bar and important links including Known Issues, Device Resets, RMAs, Software Downloads and more, in addition to new links for Education, Certifications and Webinars.
“The Tech Community is an excellent resource for learning, troubleshooting and getting advice from subject matter experts at Snap One as well as other integrators,” explained Dawn Boland, Senior Vice President of Partner Services and Technical Support. “By providing a faster, more intuitive experience we hope to help technicians get the information they need to be effective and empowered in the field.”
