Business Tech For All

This week BTI (Battery Technology Inc) came to MNJ Technologies to share the wonders of 3^rd party batteries.  I have used BTI for years and it has always been a good experience.  Unlike OEM battery manufacturers, BTI quickly picks up their phones for either VARs or end users.  Since batteries are their business, they are able to give very focused feedback and quality tech support. BTI has batteries for a number of items (UPS’, notebooks, cameras/camcorders,…), however, I primarily use them for UPS battery replacements.  Needless to say, I’ve been a big fan of BTI for a long time and will continue to let my customers know about them for the following reasons:

 Pros:

-First and foremost, cost.  BTI UPS replacement batteries are anywhere from 10-45% less than their OEM counterparts. 

-Quality.  While BTI has the same warranty as OEM (usually APC in many of my orders), I have never had to work with a return for a DOA or battery with short life.

-Configurator.  The BTI configurator is extremely easy to use.  You can either enter text into the search field or use a series of drop down menu’s to get the exact unit you need.

-Availability.  Unlike OEMs who depend on purchase cycles and can often be out of stock, since BTI manufactures everything themselves, they always have stock on hand, or at the very worst, a week(to custom create) away.

-Built in the US (so they are trade compliant)

-They completely reverse engineer their batteries.  This is key for notebook batteries so that both the color and slot/grooving is exactly the same as an OEM battery.

-A full line of batteries, they have most of the APC RBC product line except for the big boys for Symetra’s and such.  The two remaining batteries they don’t have RBC 31 and RBC 32 are coming next month.

Con:

-There is one con, that is really the only reason I suggest OEM batteries to my customers and that is the return of old batteries.  APC sends a call tag with their replacement batteries, so a customer can return the old dead battery.  BTI does not.  BTI does send a return shipping label, but they don’t pay the return freight.  These batteries can get heavy, so that can be a problem.  Usually, the saving far outweighs the cost of return shipping, but it’s an extra step.  The other alternative BTI offers, is they share with the customer the closest local battery return center.  Most Sears or  Batteries Plus locations will take batteries back (for free), but you just have to drop them off.  It’s a small thing, but some customers are willing to pay the extra 10-45% premium to not have to worry about the battery return.

A good training by BTI.  I was pleased to hear about RBC 31 and RBC 32 coming into their portfolio.  They also mentioned that they are expanding into projector bulbs.  This is a great market due to the high cost and margin that OEM’s make on bulbs, but I have not seen any pricing yet, so I’m not sure if it will be a benefit to customer yet.

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