United Central Control (UCC) Integration Guide

Overview

Cornerstone integrates with United Central Control (UCC) to make it easy for dealers to set up accounts in one location and either push or pull the account information including customer, site, contact list, and zones.

Recommendation: Continue to create the accounts at CMS and then pull the account information including customer, site, contact list, and zones into Cornerstone.

The integration is sensitive to the required data fields by UCC (e.g., at least one contact and phone number) and provides validated lists of selections for other fields (e.g., devices). You can sync data so that changes in Cornerstone go to UCC immediately, and if you allow changes in UCC directly, you can pull the updated info into Cornerstone.

Getting Started

Contact Cornerstone for assistance setting up the connection with you and UCC.

Step 1: Verify Central Station Numbers

Make sure that you have your Central Station numbers in your accounts that include the dealer code before the assigned central account number, preferably without hyphens. This is the "linking" field between Cornerstone and UCC.

If it needs to be tweaked, Cornerstone can help.

Step 2: Provide Credentials

Give Cornerstone your UCC Site Account number and we will set up the handshake.

Step 3: Determine Edit Protocol

Cornerstone has built the ability to push (new accounts or edits to the accounts) and pull the data (one-time pull for new accounts set up by UCC or existing accounts in Cornerstone).

It can also push fields edited in Cornerstone to UCC, or pull/synchronize updated data from UCC. You need to determine if edits need to flow only through your office/Cornerstone or if the subscriber can call UCC directly.

Recommended Approach: Treat Cornerstone as the Main Record Keeper for the customer site, contacts, and zones.

How Edits Work:

• Edits to any of the UCC required fields in Cornerstone will immediately push the new field values to UCC
• If you allow edits to be made at UCC, it does not automatically communicate the change back to Cornerstone
• You can set the protocol for UCC to notify you of changes so you can use the Synchronize button to pull information to update the record in Cornerstone

Example: A subscriber calls UCC with a new codeword or contact. They simply need to let you know what field(s) was changed so you can synchronize the records with Cornerstone.

Life Safety Priority: If UCC changes a code word and you do not, UCC will have that new code word and not you. This errs on the side of life safety, where the correct record is with UCC.

Step 4: Tasks to Complete Directly in UCC

Some things need to be done directly in/with UCC:

Close Accounts / Take Them Off-Line

• Closing an account in Cornerstone will only stop the recurring billing
• Cancellations must be handled directly with UCC in whatever is the established protocol
• There is a Central Station Notice function in Cornerstone where you can email your request and have it recorded in the Correspondence log

Special Protocol Instructions

• Some accounts may require special instructions that need to be handled/recorded directly with UCC

Review of or Changes to the Responding Authority

• When Cornerstone pushes the subscriber's site address (street, city, and zip code), UCC produces GPS coordinates and the responding authority is automatically selected and stored at UCC
• If a valid GPS coordinate is not returned, you will get a warning that you need to review it with UCC

Address Change Restrictions

• Once the address is set with the responding authority at UCC, changes to the address may not be allowed via the integration
• If you attempt to modify the address and receive an error "DataLocFromAddress UserMessage: Error calling DataLoc Service," you will need to modify the address directly in UCC and pull the update

Setup and Data Fields

System Configuration

Cornerstone will enter your Dealer/Site Account Number in two places:

• System Header
• Central Station List

User Defined fields 18 and 20 will be set to UCC Device and Dispatch Type respectively.

Note: Multiple Central Station prefix numbers can be accommodated.

Accounts Monitored Elsewhere

If you have accounts that are monitored elsewhere or not at all, choose a Central Station option on the list other than UCC so data changes to the account do not try to communicate with UCC.

Creating an Account in Cornerstone

Accounts can be created in Cornerstone and pushed to UCC, or if UCC created the account, you can download the customer record from UCC.

Option A: If UCC Created the Account

1. Enter the Cornerstone Account number you want (if not auto-generated)
2. Enter the Central Account # (number assigned when UCC created the account)
3. Click on the Download Customer button to pull the data from UCC into Cornerstone

Tip: In this instance, you can use the last 4 of the UCC number (be careful if you have multiple prefixes that you are assigning a unique number).

What Gets Downloaded: Download Customer will fill in the account information from what was entered in UCC. You will also be prompted to download the contacts and zones.

Option B: Creating Account in Cornerstone to Push to UCC

1. Enter a Cornerstone Account number
2. Leave the Central Acct # BLANK
3. Enter all of the customer data
4. Clicking OK communicates with UCC to assign the next available Central ID number, records it, and then creates the account in UCC

Note: You will need to assign a Cornerstone account number before getting the UCC number, so you can number accounts sequentially (or use an alternative method).

Multiple Prefixes: If you have been assigned more than 1 prefix for your central station numbers by UCC, you will be prompted to select the appropriate prefix. These additional central station number prefixes are device types and will require the appropriate device selection.

Important Notes About Multiple Prefixes

The communication link between Cornerstone and UCC is the number in the 1st Central Station # Field.

If you have multiple prefixes for your UCC Central station number, that means you have been assigned different numbers based upon the devices.

While the site info and contacts are shared between devices, the devices may have different zones. Cornerstone's system only records 1 set of zones per site.

Solution for Different Zones:

If you need to keep different zones for each device for a subscriber in Cornerstone, you will need to have a customer record with the communicating device/UCC # in the 1st Central Station Number field for each device.

If you do not need the zones for that second or third central station number, they can be stored in the 2nd and 3rd Central Account# fields.

Note: The 1st Central Acct# communicates with UCC. You can put additional device numbers in fields 2 and 3 to keep track of devices for that customer without needing their zone info stored in Cornerstone.

Separate Accounts for Different Services

Most dealers create two separate accounts in Cornerstone when the same customer has both Burglary and Fire services. This allows for:

• Recording different equipment installed
• Separate service tickets
• Different reminders for each service

Billing can always be consolidated in one account.

Data Fields for Push to UCC

Note: After customer information is downloaded or submitted, there is a Synchronize Customer button that allows you to pull in information that was updated at the Central (if you allow edits to be made directly at UCC).

Required Fields to Enter in Cornerstone

Account - Your 2 letters will appear and you enter the remaining digits

Central Acct# - Leave Blank - The UCC ID number is assigned by UCC

Customer - Company name or last name

First Name - First name if residential customer

Address - Address line 1 is the street address

City, State - Fill in

Zip - Enter the zip code (allows for USPS address validation)

TaxCty - Select the list box and choose the city (does not get submitted to UCC but is needed for billing; you will need to enter this if you download from UCC as they do not ask for the Taxing County)

TZ - Time Zone automatically fills in from Zip Code and is communicated to UCC

Type - Select RES or COMM (sends R or C)

Equipment - You can enter the panel type if you wish. The UCC required Device type selection is later.

Code Word - Enter the password

Site/Premise - Contact 1 - Enter a name (Recommended, not required)

Phone - Premise phone number (Recommended, not required)

User Defined Tab Fields

Click on the User Defined Tab to enter:

UCC Device Type - Choose type from the dropdown list

Dispatch Type - Choose type from the dropdown list

Tip: Click on the green list box for the validated options. If you know your option is on the list, you can type it in to save time.

Address Validation

Click OK and you will be prompted to validate the address as a USPS recognizable mailing address. If recognized, the Zip+4 will be available. Select 'Update' to update the Cornerstone entry. The envelope icon will also call the USPS API lookup for the mailing address.

Contacts

The customer record has a space for the premise contact name and phone number. The Contacts list provides the call list for the account.

Entering Contacts

If you are entering data in Cornerstone to push to UCC, you will need to enter the required data. Clicking OK will submit it to UCC.

Download Contacts will pull in the contact information if it already exists in UCC and is not in Cornerstone.

If contacts have been either downloaded or submitted to UCC, a Get From Central Station button will be available to pull updates that were made directly with UCC.

Required Contact Fields

Priority Sequence - Enter the priority sequence for the contacts. Additional contacts need to be numbered in increasing values.

Person to Contact - Enter first and last name. Anything before the 1st space will be treated as the first name. Anything after the space will be considered a last name.

Phone 1 - Fills in the first phone number field in UCC for the contact

Phone 2 - Fills in the second phone number field in UCC for the contact

Contact Updates

If you allow contacts to be changed at UCC, then once you receive notification of changes, the Get From Central Station button will pull from UCC the available contacts and update the information in Cornerstone.

If a contact was deleted at UCC, you will be notified of the deletion and instructed to delete that contact in Cornerstone.

Zone Lists

Zone lists are device specific and the get data links to the Central Station number in the 1st field.

If you have multiple devices installed for the same site, they share the site and contact information. If you need to record the different zone information in Cornerstone, then you will need to create a second account so that the second device is recorded in an account in the 1st Central Station field.

Entering Zones

If you are pushing information to UCC, enter the data.

If the account was originally created by UCC, Download Zones will pull the zones from UCC (if the data is already there and does not exist in Cornerstone).

Once downloaded, the Get From Central Station button is available should a change in zones be made directly with UCC.

Required Zone Fields

Zone ID - Enter the zone number in the Zone ID

Zone Description - Enter the zone description

Service Type - Use the list box to select the Service Type

Location - Use the list box to select the Location

Important Reminders

Please keep in mind there are a few things that must be done directly in/with UCC:

Close Accounts / Take Them Off-Line

• Closing an account in Cornerstone will only stop the recurring billing
• Cancellations must be handled directly with UCC in whatever is the established protocol
• There is a Central Station Notice function in Cornerstone where you can email your request and have it recorded in the Correspondence log

Special Protocol Instructions

• Some accounts may require special instructions that need to be handled/recorded directly with UCC

Review of or Changes to the Responding Authority

• When Cornerstone pushes the subscriber's site address (street, city, and zip code), UCC produces GPS coordinates and the responding authority is automatically selected and stored at UCC
• If a valid GPS coordinate is not returned, you will get a warning that you need to review it with UCC

Need Help?

Still have questions? Contact Cornerstone Holding Co. 847-405-9517 or email us customer.success@alarmbills.com