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34 RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS www.securitysystemsnews.com MARCH 2011 SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS ABI Research: Home automation goes mainstream By Tess Nacelewicz SDM-ISC Ad 2.11:Layout 1 2/7/11 4:13 PM Page 1 SCOTTDALE, Ariz.—Vivint’s announcement that is moving into the home automation market coin- cided with a new ABI Research report that says there’s a big oppor- tunity now for home automation to go mainstream, according to ABI practice director Sam Lucero. “The service provider model is really what is going to be necessary to have home automation become a mainstream market phenomenon,” Lucero told Security Systems News. APX Alarm, a Utah-based sum- mer-model giant, announced on Feb. 1 a rebrand to Vivint to better reflect the company’s addition of home automation to its security offerings. “Simple, affordable whole-home automation for the average Joe,” is how the company describes it. Vivint’s announcement came just as ABI released a report Jan. 31 on managed home automation services transforming home security. The report says home automation systems have traditionally fallen into two categories: “the economical do- it-yourself model, and the expensive custom-designed installation.” One requires a homeowner to have technical expertise and the second alternative is expensive, which limits the market, the report says. Now there’s another way to deliver such services, according to the report and Lucero, who works out of New York-based ABI’s Arizona office. “Managed home automation services provided by a telco or cableco or a traditional security alarm monitoring company, this is the newest segment,” he told SSN. “This is where the provider has a relationship with the subscriber already and is layering on ... some form of home automation service on top of that.” SSN Vivint Continued from page 1 thousands of dollars up front and coming with virtually no servicing, Dunn said. However, he said, Vivint is offering cutting- edge technology that’s consumer friendly and the company also will be “switching the paradigm and using the same paradigm we’ve used in security.” He said Vivint’s message to customers is that, with a low upfront cost, “you get all the features, you sign not just a monitoring, but a servicing agreement, and now we’re there to help make sure all of those things are working right, all of the time.” The company said its cur- rent 24-7-365 monitoring and customer service support will be extended to home automation. Dunn declined to discuss specific price offerings at this time. He stressed that Vivint will retain all its security offerings. The name Vivint is derived SEE US AT ISC WEST APRIL 7-9, 2011 CALL 1-800-379-3465 X11523 OR E-MAIL dealer@gpsx.net TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT from the French verb “vivre” meaning “to live,” and the English “intelligent,” the compa- ny said. “In using this combina- tion, Vivint’s mission is clear: to help families “live intelligently” by creating simple, affordable, home automation systems,” the company said. Dunn said that Vivint’s sales- people, whether they are sum- mer door-knocking teams or inside sales personnel, won’t sell security first and offer home automation as an upgrade. Instead, he said, “we’re really going to be offering the whole package as the lead.” He said customers still can get security services alone, but expects “very high adoption” on all available services. Dunn believes it will be easier for Vivint to recruit top summer sales staff. “It certainly differ- entiates us being able to have something this cool to sell at the door,” he said. Kristi Knight, VP of corporate communications, said, “Really, what we’re doing is bringing home automation to normal people. It’s been a bit of an elitist technology up until now and it is no longer.” SSN