Why You Should Only Use Certified UPS Service Partners

Riello UPS recently introduced their Certified Engineer certification scheme to help differentiation authorised Riello UPS Service Partners from organisations that are not trained and without access to spares and technical support from the manufacturer.

One of the reasons why UPS service companies can maintain Riello UPS systems is because the Riello RPS group decided several decades ago to adopt an ‘open-protocol’ when it came to their uninterruptible power supplies. This allows any company to be able to communicate with a Riello UPS, update firmware, clear alarms and update parameters.

An ‘open protocol’ may still require passwords at the user, service and factory level; controlling aspects to ever deeper layers within a UPS systems operation. However, these tend to be generic. In a ‘closed protocol’ system, there are still passwords but the UPS service company may have to pay an annual license for the software its engineers use to communicate with the uninterruptible power supply and/or may even have to purchase dongles to ‘unlock’ service software before it is used.

What does this mean for UPS clients? To demonstrate this, let’s consider a battery replacement. Batteries are consumable items and within an uninterruptible power supply, it may be necessary to change the battery set at least once or twice or more during its working life. When the battery is replaced, it is may be necessary to amend parameters within the UPS firmware. With a ‘closed protocol’ system, only manufacturer authorised service companies can make the firmware amendments and therefore they are generally the company who will perform the battery replacement and UPS maintenance contract. In an ‘open protocol’ system any proficient UPS service partner can provide this service.

For Riello UPS users the ‘open protocol’ means that they can choose where they purchase their UPS maintenance contracts from. They are not tied into any single UPS service company network and can select a market competitive price for their UPS maintenance contract, preventative maintenance visits and emergency service work. The downside is that they need to take extra care when selecting a UPS service partner to trust with their Riello UPS system.

Riello UPS Certified Engineers

The Certified UPS Engineer program from Riello UPS helps clients by helping to identify the companies that are ‘authorised’. Each approved UPS maintenance partner is given a logo to use in their marketing which has a unique ID number and year of issue. The logo is updated each year. To achieve accreditation, the company must have their own employed engineers who have successfully completed Riello UPS training courses; of which there are several from commissioning to installation and fault-finding. Each Certified Engineer is awarded a certificate and ID number which is tied to the ‘umbrella’ registration of their company. If the engineers leaves the certified company, their registration becomes null and void preventing them from taking their certification to another ‘unauthorised’ company. With Riello UPS Certified Engineer status the approved company benefits from technical support, firmware upgrades and the right spares, direct from Riello UPS themselves. They are therefore in the strongest position to provide ups maintenance and support to Riello UPS sites.

If a company does not have a Riello UPS certification logo and number and Certified Engineers (which can be checked at www.riello-engineer.co.uk) the chances are that they are a rogue company not supported by Riello UPS. If you use them, the warranty of your Riello system may be at risk and your system may not be being maintained to the current recommended practices.

At EcoPowerSupplies we have invested heavily in the certification and training of the UPS service engineers within the Thamesgate Group team, to ensure we can maintain our objective of being the number one Riello UPS Service Partner in the UK.