What is the best practices for a contractor?
I've been a Lutron programmer for over a decade with pretty much all their residential systems (except for Aurora Ra...that was just terrible). I never paid a whole lot of attention to Caseta because it was a DIY system and a lot of our customers don't want to know how the sausage is made and just want something that works, but as Caseta has become popular, I've had to install it a few times and it has been kind of clunky so I need to know how to best approach the programming. In particular, how to avoid having to use the homeowner's phone. In the case of the dealer install systems, I have my laptop, and worst case, I may need to get into their router to set a static IP or something, but with Caseta, I have to hold the customer's phone for an hour or more and a phone is a very personal thing with text messages, phone calls, tinder messages, etc. so there is a risk of creating an awkward moment which I need to avoid.
I know there is a contractor mode but for the life of me, I can't find any guide about how to use it and how to best use it.
1. Assuming there is a home network, how do I use it before the homeowner has any access? Is it in my name and then at some point the homeowner gets access? Before the homeowner has access, does that mean I can control the house remotely and several houses remotely? How do I fully transfer the account over to the homeowner?
2. If a homeowner already has a system and wants to add things, can I still use contractor mode to temporarily take over and then give access back or at that point, I need to ask them for their user name and password and put it in my tablet or phone to do the work and then tell them to change their password?
3. What if I have a few customers who actually don't mind me having remote access and call me to add scenes for them without coming to their house? Can I do that?