ABLOY USA is supporting the digital transformation of high-security solutions with its U.S. Competence Center that opened up earlier this year. A dedicated team of experienced professionals is available 24/7 to offer technical expertise and fill orders for ABLOY PROTEC2 CLIQ locks and key systems and the ABLOY BEAT, a keyless solution that combines a novel digital key, mobile app and an IP68-rated Bluetooth padlock.

Jerry Burhans, managing director of ABLOY USA, says unveiling the new resource will prove to be invaluable for customers and the coast-to-coast distributor channel partners network. “The new ABLOY Competence Center in Irving, Texas proves our commitment to the United States critical infrastructure markets that we are willing to invest in supporting your detailed applications and integrations quickly, thoroughly and locally,” said Burhans.

Michael Woody, ABLOY Customer Service & CLIQ Competence Center manager, oversees the team of four professionals at the center. Together with Woody, sales engineer Rick Armenta, and CLIQ system specialists Edgar Marquez and Jeff McCormick, the center has 80 years of combined experience in security, access control, electronic assemblies and mechanical hardware, IT and software support.

”We are looking to make the Competency Center a complete unit of excellence for all ABLOY products,” he said. ”Every team member contributes with their select skill set. This way, we have implemented policies and process flows and offer solutions that best suits our voice of customer concept. By doubling our production space with all new workstations, we can now handle complete production of CLIQ systems from small to large. With our capability of Tier 3 support – the highest level of ABLOY support possible – we are able to define root causes and have the necessary tools for proper diagnostics of returned products to implement a solution. Our Tier 1 and 2 personnel assist us with a resolution whenever it is necessary.”

In the first three months of opening, according to Woody, the team has received a range of questions from software integrations to mechanical keying. One of the biggest tests Woody said the team has already encountered is working through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted every aspect of daily life, operations and support. We typically do the majority of CLIQ training sessions on site or here in Irving. At this time we have suspended them for safety reasons, but we have been resourceful and have developed other options,” Woody shared. “These include the use of video conferencing platforms like Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and WebEx. We have been and continue to be fully operational. All personnel are required to wear masks and gloves and have their temperatures monitored every day before the start of their work shift. We have taken the utmost precautions so we can continue to be available to our customers and channel partners network.”