What warranty does Optilink Labs offer on their products?
All products purchased from Optilink Labs are covered under our Lifetime Replacement Warranty.
Returned products are replaced the same day they arrive and shipped back to the customer free of charge.
What if a compatibility problem occurs 1-2-3 years later due to changes from the hardware manufacturer (ie: Cisco) – would code updates be offered and if so is there an additional fee?
We engineer our OEM codes so that the hardware functions 100% identical to the original version. Therefore IOS updates have zero impact on our compatible products in the same way they have no impact on original units.
Can you label and box the optics to our specifications using provided packing material? Is there an addition fee to do so?
Our prices include private labeling and custom serialization. We also provide custom packaging at an additional cost.
Are Optilink Labs products TAA compliant? If not, are they made in the USA?
Our TAA product line exceeds the expected criteria for TAA compliancy. We have our TAA line of products sub-assembled by a Taiwanese Manufacturer using raw components which we supply.
Our products are cased and coded here in our Southern California facility. These processes alone are often adopted by our competitors and used as sole basis to claim their products are MADE IN the USA and therefore TAA compliant.
We choose do not use that loop hole as this could potentially put the customer at risk.
What is the availability of technical support pre or post sale in the event of customer issues?
Personalized one on one technical support is readily available 10 hours a day 5 days a week. 3 techs with over 35 years combined optical hardware experience are at your disposal.
We also offer on-site product training and team building which leaves sales people with a better overall understanding of the products in question.
What indemnification/protection is offered in the event of an IP or other infringement claim on the part of a manufacturer?
Our transceiver firmware does not infringe on or violate intellectual property rights in anyway.
How do you insure consistent quality 100% of the time?
Optilink Labs has built solid relationships with several optical hardware manufacturers over the past 16 years. We procure and provide all raw components listed on our build of materials (BOM). This manufacturing philosophy allows us 100% control over the quality and durability of our optical transceivers. All of our products are purpose built “Rugged” to withstand extreme temperatures and the harshest environments.
These unique hardware attributes set our products apart from our competitor’s.
We audit our contract manufacturers on a semi- annual basis. During these audits we critique and update the automation and assembly process and evaluate optical test procedures. Forecasting is done in 6 week cycles which allow us the freedom to fill virtually any size order quickly and efficiently.
Once the manufacturing process is complete the finished product is shipped to our corporate headquarters in RSM, CA.
Here we take the following steps to insure quality and compatibility:
1) Visual Inspection
2) Optical Link Budget Testing via (Fiber Lab optical test Platform)
3) Application coding for the exact switch or router (100% compatibility)
a) Supports Cisco quality ID feature
b) System specific customized algorithm
c) Forwards and backwards compatible with latest and older IOS
4) Customer specific EEprom customization (for full traceability)
5) Customer specific label development
6) Hardware is application tested in brand specific target platform running the
latest IOS. Testing documentation is saved and put on file for customer review.
How does you company handle technical issues?
We prefer that a Optilink Labs optical engineer interact directly with the end user. The engineer would ask the end user to provide documentation of the reported error or issue. This enables us to duplicate the reported issue in our test lab which houses more than 100 brand specific switches and routers. Once the error is duplicated, we are able to quickly engineer a remedy. We document every issue with a unique resolution document number (RDN) to use as a reference moving forward. Once documented we contact our client, review the issue, explain the remedy and deliver the working solution. There has never been a situation that we have not been able to resolve. All of our products are guaranteed to be forward and backward compatible. We send out advanced replacements the same day at no additional cost to our partners. This whole process would happen within 24 hrs.
What is your Return Rate?
Our company has the lowest return rate in the industry. Our overall average return rate is less than .005%. A fraction when compared to the industries average return rate of 2%.
What type of engineering support does Optilink Labs provide?
Our company provides world class technical support. Our tech support staff is made up of (3) Optical Network technicians, (2) Network Design Engineers and (1) Optical Engineer. This team can support and trouble shoot any and all network issues including CWDM and DWDM network infrastructure. This department also manages our technical documentation library and fulfills all spec sheet requests.
What is the difference between transceivers purchased direct from the switch manufacturer and transceivers that Optilink Labs offers?
There is a global standard that all transceiver manufacturers must adhere to when designing and assembling optical transceivers. This standard is called the SFF MSA agreement and it details how transceivers must be built. ftp://ftp.seagate.com/sff/SFF-8431.PDF
This re-assures the consumer that the transceivers purchased from Optilink Labs are guaranteed to be built the exact same way as the transceivers you would purchase from companies like Cisco, HP, and Nortel etc. Optilink Labs uses the highest quality components available because the majority of products we sell are deployed in extreme industrial type environments and/or mission critical applications.
Will the use of Optilink Labs compatible transceivers void my original equipment warranty?
Absolutely not!
Networking manufacturers cannot deny services or void a customer warranty for installing non-original transceivers in any application. In fact, in the United States the Magnusson –Moss Act http://www.me-mag.com/Upload/magmoss.pdf prevents manufacturers from using this tactic. Manufacturers are more concerned with the proliferation and distribution of misrepresented and/or counterfeit products than they are with companies like Optilink Labs who offer legitimate OEM compatible transceiver solutions.
Take a look at the link below from Cisco’s Website.
What is the difference between Optilink Labs transceivers and generic 3rd party transceivers?
There are several major differences... First of all, we source our products from the same OEM’s that produce and private label products for Cisco, Juniper, HP and Brocade. That means that you are getting the best possible product available. Furthermore, our products are all tested in the actual target application. The result is guaranteed compatibility within your network and peace of mind. Our defect rate on average over the past 10 years is 1 unit for every 123679 sold. Our products have been used in mission critical environments by companies like Shell Oil, Boeing and Norwegian Cruise lines. We guarantee the quality of our products and offer a lifetime replacement warranty on every item we sell.
