Good morning everyone, and thanks to HighFigh for emailing me to alert me to the thread.

In case you haven't seen my other thread posts, I head up Installer Services at Logitech Harmony, so I'm happy to answer all of these comments. I was brought into Harmony about 2 years ago to specifically build out the installer channel. As many like HighFigh, FunHouse, and 2nd Rick have mentioned, we've built some great support tools for dealers that I'm happy to share.

James_AA: The issue you mentioned would not affect the installation you are discussing. If you are having an issue getting the remotes working, I'm happy to have myself or my Harmony guru Pike give you a call. Just email me to let me know. [email protected]

Very specifically, the issue that came up a few weeks ago, revolved around a port we had open, that we used years ago. It could only be accessed locally if they were already on that person's network, but it was brought to our attention that it was accessible in that specific instance, and so we closed it to further protect our customers. The unintentional consequence is that there were people using an unsupported API through this port that lost access. As mentioned, they responded, and Harmony worked to get a better understanding of who this was affecting, and found a workaround to keep the security implementation for everyone, but allow these DIY groups to gain back the port since they are Harmony supporters even if we didn't fully understand their use case previously...

Unless you are using a control protocol that was specifically hacking into your Harmony Hub locally on your network (you would know this) it does not affect anyone else. This was less than 1% of our user base, but all customers are important to Harmony and I feel Logitech took the steps needed to provide great customer service, and began to turn around a solution within a few days.

All official IP, BT, IR controls were not affected. That means Sonos, Heos, Sony, Nest, EcoBee, Dish, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, Lutron, Hue, etc. are all working fine. Again message me if you want some help with this account, which hopefully you are managing through the dealer portal, otherwise I can get you on board.

Also, just to clarify, the remote and hub are connected by RF not over BT. We use BT to connect the app to the hub when initially programming, and for BT devices like FireTV, PS3/4, Shield and others.

Trunk Slammer: Not sure that comment was really meant to be helpful. ; )

I couldn't tell you what the client's issue is from this post, but I can say that our Harmony remotes have less than a .5% RMA rate when professionally installed, so it likely doesn't need to be replaced or scrapped, especially not with the device list he mentioned, and if it was working previously. If it does, we happily support our dealers and their clients. Clients have issues across all control platforms and it is usually based on programming, not the hardware, as I'm sure you would agree.

I am rebuilding my system at the moment, it's 12 zones of Sonos, 40 Ra2Select lights, 8 Hue bulbs, Nest thermostat, three rooms of TV, and pretty much every streamer. I also have Alexa and Google integrated into the system, and can control all my lights, group sonos activities, add/remove and discretely control the volume in each room from my Harmony remote or app. I can also access any of my sources (other than my Xbox One S) without the need for a distribution switch. I have automation and am adding sensors to trigger, and love the various Pico keypads around the home. There are many larger installs than mine, but if the thought is that Harmony is just DIY, that is truly not the case. I'm always happy to discuss if you want to email me.

3pedalmini: I always tell people to sell the brands they want, but in most cases, dealers selling Harmony are actually returning high-net profit on their jobs because programming is far more efficient, and clients get rock solid solutions that don't often require additional support. Plus, if a client needs a new favorite channel or activity added, dealers can program and push the update from wherever they are without rolling a truck. Rather than a more complex control solution than they likely need, get them another speaker, bigger TV, or add some additional lighting. You shouldn't be making less or doing smaller jobs with Harmony, you should be making more and doing more work but letting the client spend their money on things they feel create additional value. That could be an ultra customized control system, but most clients just want a simple easy to use and reliable system, and would prefer the other items that they can hear, see, and feel.

I just chatted with an installer two days ago who pulled out another system, and replaced it with 8 Harmony remotes. System works great, and clients are much happier now because it's far more reliable than the control system that was there previously. Again, I don't think it was the product, it was the installer that works or in this case didn't work their magic; we just make it easier to work more magic.. ; )

Dunnersfella: I obviously agree that it doesn't have ethernet, but we have millions of hub users and there aren't too many issues connecting wirelessly. Of course like all these other connected products, it starts with a properly built Wi-Fi system. I do agree it's nice to have ethernet though, which is why we are adding it to a new Pro product coming out later this year. I'm testing it right now, and running it over PoE, so I even get rid of the wall wart. We're listening to the installers, and of course I have similar needs from my 18 years in the CE/CI industry.

I appreciate the support 2nd Rick. Rick is an industry vet, much like HighFigh, and many others supporting Harmony on this thread attesting that Harmony builds great products and supports our dealers. If it's been a few years, or you've just put Harmony in the DIY bin, email me at [email protected] and I'm happy to walk you through everything we offer now.

TechValley: I totally agree that IoT is taking over, and it is the best thing possible for this industry. Brands like Sonos have introduced more people to the idea of audio distribution, and Nest has made the $200 thermostat the norm. Dealers should take advantage of this, and offer bigger systems, knowing that the reliability of these products is super high, as they all have millions of devices out there they are supporting. There will always be the customer who wants to spend more or wants what others don't have, or needs a custom button with a picture of their dog on it. Sell them another system, but realize there is a much bigger opportunity when you start selling to the middle of the pyramid and not just the top. Most people want and are willing to pay for the help just like the 1%. Just because someone can program a Harmony or Sonos on their own doesn't mean they don't want help, or your expertise in showing them what else is possible. We have over 2.4 millions lights, and over 500k wireless audio devices connected to our hubs, so the people obviously want connected homes and need us to help get them there. You seem to get this TechValley, so ping me if you aren't using Harmony yet, and I'll walk you through how we work with the brands you mentioned.

AndrewinBoulder: I don't debate that harmony is sold on the internet, and that many times it is sold below MSRP. I will say that Harmony Pro is extremely clean, and is what the CI channel should be offering. New product I am working on will provide better distinction between lines, but as HighFigh mentioned, it is usually some dealer doing something shady who has a couple of remotes, and then the "price searching bots" grab it, and you see Amazon dropping price to match. THat's not really Amazon's fault, and we actually spend quite a bit of time and money buying up this product to try to get it off the sites, while pushing the dealers to take it down. We continue to try to do better, but in the meantime guys like JJ over at Digital Delight in Texas have sold more than 450 harmony remotes in just the past year with a total company size of five (three installers), so it seems like this isn't an issue for many dealers. Always happy to discuss.

Goldenzrule: Thanks, that was pretty accurate. The only thing I'd add is that this affected less than 1% of our customers using an unsupported 3rd party driver to control Harmony in their homes with another 3rd party controller. We want to support those users too, which is what we are trying to do now that we know. I think it's important in these threads to make sure everyone realizes this never affected anyone using Harmony software, or approved integrations, as I don't want end users or integrators to worry.

I think that covered everyone. As I mentioned feel free to reach out if you have any questions. We work super hard to support our dealer channel, and always have some great demo pricing and other things I can share, but won't post here openly. ; )

Oh yeah, can't remembered but someone mentioned local control. For anything IR, we control that over local, so when internet goes out, it still works. Many IP integrations like Nest require cloud based interaction so those are not local for anyone using an approved API so far as I know. So it is a mix of both local or cloud control depending on the device we are controlling, but IR devices like the OP talked about should all be local from the remote.

Opinions and comments are mine as an integration professional and not official company statements.

Have a great day,