News

AMX Launches New Home Technology Management Software For Residential Market (17/10/2006)

AMX has unveiled the industry's first solution for managing and monitoring home electronics and scheduling family and automated events. HomeManager, the latest product in AMX's extensive line of Resource Management Suite (RMS) software, will provide AMX dealers with an easy way to create more value for their customers and to provide homeowners with greater convenience and peace of mind.

Once installed on a server at a web hosting facility or at a dealer's office, HomeManager remotely monitors an unlimited number of customers' AMX systems, as well as the equipment they control, using one, centralised interface that can be customised for each homeowner. For example, when equipment malfunctions or becomes unplugged, the software will automatically alert designated staff members via their individual web interface, as well as e-mail, text message and/or page, about the disruption. Using this intelligence and the IP network, dealers will be able to quickly diagnose and fix many problems without ever having to contact the homeowner.

"HomeManager will provide a new way for our residential dealers to provide value-added services for their customers and to proactively diagnose and correct problems before homeowners are even aware of them," said Robert Noble, AMX vice president of product management and marketing. "In addition to providing additional dealer revenues and enhancing customer service capabilities, the software will also enable an advanced level of control system functionality for homeowners."

In addition to enabling a higher level of customer service than most homeowners ever thought possible, HomeManager also increases the overall functionality of their control system, providing greater convenience and piece of mind. The customisable, easy-to use software can be accessed from any PC with an Internet connection and allows authorised users to:

* Monitor and adjust the critical components of the AMX system when they are away from home - from changing room temperature to closing motorized blinds.
* Receive automatic notifications when scheduled events do or do not occur, or when devices malfunction or become unplugged.
* Initiate a question/answer session with the dealer via the interactive "help desk".
* Track family schedules and leave messages on one master calendar that can be accessed and updated by multiple users at the same time.
* Schedule climate control, lights and other devices for specific events, such as returning home from vacation.

HomeManager also gives authorised users the ability to schedule events for individual devices, which eliminates the need for dealers to program these events via the control code and reduces the overall time it takes to program an AMX control system. Once macros are programmed for lighting, climate control, sprinklers, etc, the dealer simply enables the scheduling capability for the user, who can then quickly schedule and update events as needed over time.

HomeManager offers dealers flexibility to develop the revenue model and fee structure that best meets the needs of their customer base. Dealers simply purchase the HomeManager server licence - a one time fee - and then pay another one time fee for each customer they sign up for the service. Dealers can then charge their customers for ongoing system monitoring and maintenance via a service plan that they design and develop.

www.amx.com