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Icontrol Expands Security, Automation To ESCs, Security Dealers

Redwood City, Calif. –Icontrol Networks is expanding distribution of home security and automation products to independent security dealers and electronic systems contractors (ESCs).

The company’s distribution channels already include service providers such as ADT and cable companies Time Warner, Bright House, Cox and Comcast. The service providers offer Icontrol’s platform under their own brands. Icontrol also sells its platform to startup Smart Home Ventures, which sells to consumers through its own web site as well as through BestBuy.com and select Best Buy locations. The company also sells its own Piper-brand combination hub/security cameras through getpiper.com and the Amazon.com Home Automation Store. The company wants to expand Piper distribution to additional retailers.

For independent dealer/installers, the company has begun offering its Icontrol One platform and a “business model designed to optimize the success of independent dealers,” the company said. The model includes recurring revenues from service plans that Icontrol offers. Dealers choose their go-to-market and recurring monthly revenue (RMR) pricing strategies,” said marketing VP Greg Roberts, while Icontrol provides the software platform that enables them to offer the services.

The Icontrol One platform integrates with leading central monitoring stations (CMSs) so that small to mid-size independent dealers can continue to work with their preferred CMS, he noted.

 Icontrol offers a range of service tiers starting at $2.70/month to fit a variety of budgets and needs. Service tiers include:

§  Basic alarm: cellular alarm reporting only;

§  Basic interactive: remote arm/disarm via mobile devices with system status alerts;

§  Premium interactive: full interactive service and home automation, including Z-Wave device control, automations, alerts, and schedules;

§  Premium interactive with video: premium Interactive, basic video monitoring, smash and grab protection;

§  Premium interactive with platinum video: premium Interactive, platinum video monitoring, and smash and grab protection.

To support dealers, Icontrol offers face-to-face and video training, a dedicated call center supporting field installs, marketing and business development tools, end-user and platform customization guides, quick installation and provisioning via tablet or phone, partnerships with distributors and central monitoring stations, and a platform-hosting service.

Though the solution is branded Icontrol One, some UIs, specifically the web portal, accommodates dealer branding, Roberts said.

Icontrol One includes a module that can be added to the majority of security panels in use today, including 2Gig Go!Control, DSC PowerSeries, SimonXT, XTi and other panels, the company said. The module incorporates wireless Z-Wave to control Z-Wave devices, and 3G cellular radio to connect to a CMS. The module is compatible with such Z-Wave smart devices as lighting controls, door locks, garage door controllers, thermostats, pool/pump controllers, day/night indoor/outdoor video cameras, and security sensors.

The module and connected home systems, including HD security cameras, can be monitored and controlled from within the house and remotely via smartphones, tablets and web browsers.

The 3G connection provides an opportunity for dealers to add home automation to an existing monitored home security system when they go to replace the system’s 2G cellular radio with a 3G radio.

During the next two years, the security industry will replace more than 4 million security-panel radios that use 2G cellular technology, which carriers are phasing out, the company said.

Icontrol One lets dealers leverage the transition to generate revenue, the company noted. “The upcoming sunset of 2G wireless technology, coupled with consumer trends moving away from landline phones and toward automation, presents an opportunity,” said Icontrol CEO Bob Hagerty. “Now, dealers can easily upgrade their customers to 3G and home automation at the same time.”

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