A strong IT or Support department in any software company is essential to ensure seamless customer experience and efficient resolution of technical issues—and GUARDIAN RFID is no exception.
Whether you’re beginning your research on inmate tracking systems or officer experience platforms, or you’re in the last stages of your due diligence, you might be wondering: If I invest in GUARDIAN RFID products and services, how will my agency be supported if we need something?
In short, our Support department has expert competency and knowledge surrounding GUARDIAN RFID’s software products. From identifying common bugs and troubleshooting methods to understanding how the software interacts with various systems and environments, our team is well-versed in handling a wide range of requests. Each team member is fully equipped with strong communication and problem-solving skills to effectively assist customers, even in the most high-pressure situations.
Let’s break down how this is possible. In this blog, we will explore the following:
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Who the team members are that make up our support team
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How the team can be contacted
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The business hours that the team works under
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How to reach support outside of business hours
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If the team has a preferred method of communication
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What the team will need from you while submitting a ticket
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The expected wait time for a response
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If support services are offered in tiered levels
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How support is delivered
Who is GUARDIAN RFID Support?
We believe real support means connecting with real people. Although we are a technology company, we firmly believe that automated help-line bots can only get you so far.
Real people can understand the frustrations and unique circumstances that automated systems can’t comprehend. Having human IT professionals who can think critically and adapt to complex problems is better than any pre-programmed scripts as they can provide step-by-step solutions tailored to a specific problem or approach.
The Support team consists of five Technical Support Specialists, three of which are local to GUARDIAN RFID’s Headquarters, located in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The other two, which happen to have first-hand experience working IT inside of a jail environment, are located in Arkansas and Florida.
If a call to the support line is related to anything that was included in your service agreement, from the hardware including wristbands, ID card printers, and SPARTANS, to the software including Command Cloud, OnDemand, and other platforms used in concert with our technology, our team can provide support.
"I’m not sure who to send an email to, but I needed to take a minute and pass along some information about my dealings with Dana over the last two days. It was a complete breath of fresh air hearing from her and the willingness to assist our jail through an issue. She was very personable and had an answer to any question asked. I ended up calling her back a couple of different times and even when she was busy, I received a response from her. We moved into a new jail facility two weeks ago, doubling our size. During the roller coaster of the move and dealing with several different contractors and vendors, Dana was amazing and accommodating. I do not have her email, but she deserves some acknowledgment for her dedication. We are eagerly looking forward to our upgrade to Command Cloud and adding features. It was a great experience."
Lt. Blanchard | Woodbury County, Iowa
How Can I Contact Support?
There are four main options for contacting technical support:
First, the fastest way to reach the team is to email Support@GuardianRFID.com. Any email sent to this address will automatically create a ticket in our system for the entire Support team to view. Remember, your email generates a ticket (or case) that’s disseminated to the entire support team. It doesn’t fall into the hands of a specific person to avoid the possibility that your support request is not responded to at all.
Second, you can also call the Support Hotline at 866-382-6339, option 2. An actual team member will answer the call within generally three rings. In the event that they don’t and it’s normal business hours, leave a voicemail. By leaving a voicemail, that too will generate a support case to be sent to all of the support team. You can rest assured that emails are monitored during the after-hours, no matter what.
Third, you may have the individual phone numbers of our support team members, your Academy product trainers, or your JailOps account member. If it’s an emergent need, please contact any one of them. Again, they’re almost completely cross-trained on a lot of matters, so you should be able to get the help you need.
Lastly, and this only applies to OnDemand users, OnDemand sites have a handy Help feature that empowers users to create a ticket for Support. Click the Help dropdown and select Submit a Support Case.
For quick and easy access to all this information, consider bookmarking our GUARDIAN RFID Support page:https://guardianrfid.com/resources/technical-support
"I would like to take a minute to commend GUARDIAN RFID for your customer service and support. Absolutely stellar. Out of all my vendors, you lead the pack by far. I’ve never been left hanging on anything and always get a rapid response to any question."
Lt. Assistant Jail Administrator, Chad Cupp | Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan
What are the Business Hours?
Our official hours of technical support are Monday through Friday 8:00AM - 5:00PM CST. Now almost inevitably, some of you are thinking, But what if I need you at 6:00PM? Or 2:00AM?
Don’t worry, we run a 24x7 operation. Let’s explain this further -
If you go to Disney World, and you’re staying on property, you know how there’s early entry for resort guests? Let’s loosely use this as an analogy for our support. Our technical support team has official hours in our Master Systems Agreement in which all parties, including us, would expect us to support you.
But that doesn’t mean support only functions within those business hours – much like how Disney World has an early entry in the morning – and extended park hours in the evening – which are times well outside their official park hours. That’s kind of like GUARDIAN RFID support.
We support you when you need something. It’s really that simple. As you’ll learn reading this blog, emergent situations are exceedingly rare, and if that were to happen, such as something disrupting our Cloud environment, we would respond to an event like this no matter what time of day or day of the week – as covered by our Service Level Agreement (SLA).
With technical support, what we often find are most nickel and dime types of requests. For example:
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I need to order a box of RFID cards or RFID wristbands.
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My JMS stopped sharing data with Command Cloud.
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Can you merge inmate records?
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Can you help me build a report for X, Y, or Z?
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How do I get my ID Card printer to work?
These types of support needs are simple – and often – they’re not so emergent that someone’s going to call at 3:00AM about any of these types of issues. Generally, you may submit a support ticket the next morning, and we’ll promptly resolve the issue typically within the hour.
What Happens if I Need Help on Evenings or Weekends?
Let’s say you need help from support on an evening or weekend, what should you do?
You have a few options, but the best option is to submit a support ticket. Your support ticket is then shared across support teams simultaneously.
A member of our support team is on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They’ll respond to your ticket within 1-2 hours for any issues not covered by the Service Level Agreement. (SLA responses may be faster if a support ticket were impacting your ability to use Command Cloud software, which would be rare.)
In addition, one or several members of your team likely have your Academy product trainer’s phone number. It’s not uncommon for them to receive questions in the first few days or weeks of Go-Live about how to use certain features.
Another option is reaching out to our JailOps team. If you’re a new customer, you may have just been introduced to your JailOps account member. JailOps is trained on how to solve most software and hardware needs that you have. GUARDIAN RFID cross-trains its support team, JailOps, and Academy teams so that near-equal product knowledge and proficiency are united among them all.
Does the Support Team have a Preferred Method of Communication?
Our preferred method of communication with you is whatever method of communication you choose. We’re not dogmatic on how we want you to reach us. The worst thing that could happen is that you simply don’t reach out at all – and let a problem, need, or question, continue to fester – only to run the risk of frustrating one or more of your staff members.
What Will Support Need From Me?
To ensure you’re a user of our system, there are a few key pieces of information we will need to collect from you before we dive into your request. The more details you provide, the faster your ticket will be expedited, and the quicker our team can identify a resolution.
To start, we need the basics:
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Name
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Rank/Title
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Agency/State
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The best number to call, preferably a direct number with extension details
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The best email address to reach out to
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Any screenshots or other photos/video evidence capturing the problem
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Specific details
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This can include information such as when you first noticed the issues, and if there have been any recent updates to your network or JMS.
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Please note that we encourage you to take your time when speaking and providing the information listed above - and it always helps to repeat the phone number and extension.
What is the Expected Wait Time for a Response?
During hours of operation, our support team will respond to your request within the business day. Being GUARDIAN RFID is the industry’s leading inmate tracking technology vendor, we take deep pride in knowing we provide top-notch service across the boards. Our Support team is here to help, day in and day out.
"I have many great things to say about GUARDIAN RFID, but the most notable is the customer service we receive from the Support team. It is the best support of any vendor we have worked with."
Deputy Warden of Security, Chris Cain | Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania
Does GUARDIAN RFID Tier Support Services?
No, GUARDIAN RFID does not tier support services. While some software companies may offer Gold, Silver, and Bronze support levels to buy or subscribe to, we have one tier for support and everyone is treated equally.
While a tiered system may work well for some, we don’t support this type of monetization because we believe the rural jail with a daily count of 35 inmates should have the same level of support as the jail with 350 inmates, and even the larger facility with 3,500 inmates. We love democratizing our technology and our services so that everyone, everywhere, is on the same level playing field.
How Does the Team Deliver Support?
In most situations, we’re using our mobile device management software (MDM) to remotely login and push software updates to you, which can take seconds or minutes to install. Every SPARTAN has an MDM license that’s uniquely configured to allow our support team to take control of your device when the need arises.
If the support you’re looking for is more tangible, such as you need to order more products, there are a few options.
Let’s say it’s a Wednesday night and you’re now just realizing that you don’t have enough RFID wristbands or RFID cards to last the weekend. No problem. Contact technical support, and our team will ship a supply of whatever you need the next day.
As we train our technical support and some of our most customer-facing teams, it’s important for them to know (or to be reminded) that we’re all in customer service. We operate in high-tech, but in the end, the experiences we aim to create and sustain are those marked by the pursuit of delivering world-class service.
It’s one of the many reasons why our Net Promoter Score is an average of 87, and why our annual customer churn rate is less than .06.
So, as you think about vendors and their support services, ask yourself these questions:
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How easy is it to find customers of vendor X, Y, or Z to get a raw, unfiltered opinion on a technology company, such as GUARDIAN RFID? Asking a potential tech company for customer references is often loaded with a small handful of customers who’ll provide a steady testimonial. Go deeper.
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What are the vendor’s delivery methods of customer support, and how accessible is it? For example, does the vendor have multiple teams who are also cross-trained so that you have more optionality when attempting to contact your vendor?
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What is their customer churn rate and Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
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What is their technology footprint and how geographically diversified is their support team? Can I reach them easily in my time zone?
The answers to these questions will help ensure you’re choosing the right partner to do business with.
