Pakedge Announces Custom Engineering Program for Integrators

New program gives system integrators and installers the ability to embed their own configurations into Pakedge router firmware.

Pakedge Device & Software has introduced its latest dealer solution—a Custom Engineering program giving systems integrators the opportunity to embed their own configurations into the router firmware. Installers can also co-brand their logo into the router’s graphical unit interface (GUI) and onto the unit label as part of the program.

Rather than loading a preconfigured file, Pakedge Custom Engineering involves burning the configurations directly into the firmware to allow integrators to make configuration tweaks on a customized router. It offers the option of reverting back to the customization by hitting the factory default button.

“The Pakedge Custom Engineering program builds on our commitment to dealer success,” says Nick Phillips, vice president of sales at Pakedge.

“The concepts of mass customization are a natural fit in this market, and we’ve created a program that allows dealers to use our high performance network equipment as a platform to create their own co-branded devices,” Phillips continues. “Not only is Pakedge innovating on the technology side, we are also innovating on the business side to continuously help our dealers become more effective, profitable, and sustainable in a crowded market.”

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Among the solutions that are part of the initiative are the RE-1 and RE-2 Pakedge Connect+ Platform. Pakedge states this family of products is a carefully integrated system of switches, routers, wireless, power management and software technologies, designed specifically to work with each other to deliver seamless, scalable and reliable multimedia networking performance.

These customized routers can be set to the integrators’ unique specifications on every project. Registered Pakedge dealers will be able to set custom configurations to suit their particular needs, whether they be commercial or residential, market segment or application specific.

According to Pakedge, the process for ordering customized routers occurs in two steps: First, an integrator will consult with Pakedge technicians and develop the customized firmware—a process that generally takes two to three weeks to complete. Once the firmware is ready and available for order, the integrator can choose how many units they would like to purchase.

Pakedge adds that it developed the Custom Engineering initiative to help integrators market their expertise and differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market that includes against consumer grade equipment and other no-name commodity brands.

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“I like to prebuild and preconfigure racks before delivering them to the client and with Pakedge’s new firmware, it makes plug and play even easier for my team. Not all of them understand networking, but they do all understand connections so now anyone can do it. Having a set firmware along with look and feel, will make closing projects quicker and easier,” notes Todd Puma, owner of The Source Home Theater. “When I heard about the new custom firmware Pakedge is now offering stopped me dead in my tracks. What sets Pakedge apart from other networking companies is that they listen to the integrator.”

The Custom Engineering program is currently available on Pakedge RE-1 and RE-2 media routers only, but is expected to expand to other Pakedge network devices in the future, including the upcoming WK-1, which is an 802.11ac wireless access point (WAP).

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