Siemens Apogee

[RookiePM]

I'm a property manager that recently took over a commercial office building that utilizes the Siemens Apogee system. In addition the engineer at the property is new to the system as well but is a seasoned HVAC veteran.

My question is regarding the Siemens EMS contract, there was a contract in place that recently expired and I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of renewing. From what I can tell it's a glorified reduced labor rate contract for 32 hrs a year. I'm looking for some insight from individuals who've had expierence on a Siemen's EMS contract in the past and those who've decided to not go w/ one.

Also are there any non proprietary softwares that would tie into a Siemens system? I really don't like the idea of being tied down to one vendor for technical support.

Thanks for your help in advance!

[joey791]

Care to share your location?

[ntech64]

Contract customers get priority service... so it might be worthwhile to get a contract if you think you may be requiring Siemens' services several times a year. Otherwise, you may be stuck with an emergency situation and a branch office that doesn't have a free technician to send to a non-contract location.

[Heavyevans]

If you have contract with them , you usually get a discount on parts.

You don't want to find out what their list price is the hard way.

[Chomnap]

We are in Asia that use Siemens Apogee System.

you can contact us via chomnap@comin.com.kh for all relevant hvac control system.

[esusa56]

I am a service manager for an independent controls and low voltage systems provider on West Coast who also does 3rd party service on JCI & Siemens. While the business side of me says "hell yes you need a service agreement", you must really figure out what your needs and expecations are. I am not aware of the size of your building, the complexity of systems (i.e. roof top units, DX or Central Plant). I would say this without hesitation; it might be valuable to have "x" amount of fixed hours in your agreement for you guys to give them tasks to do, including backups and software upgrades.

If you are looking for a migration path to open systems, I am aware of three - (1) Have Siemens install a bacnet client driver on the Apogee workstation. This would allow you to connect a bacnet system and start pulling data off. (2) Tridium (3) Alerton has integration modules that can connect to your FLN devices.

Good luck.