DRIVING THE INDUSTRY

DRIVERS TO ENHANCE SEAMLESS INTEGRATION

Richard Caton, Managing Director of Janus Technology, looks at what is driving change in the automation sector.

What do we care about in the professional home technology industry? Number one is the delivery of a reliable, premium quality experience for our clients. The system that integrators design, and the performance of the products and solutions which contribute to that experience, are obviously key. This calls on the design and installation expertise of integrators to do what they do best and create a system that demonstrates just what amazing technology can achieve. Beyond that, it also places a demand on the integration skills of the installer to make sure that the user’s control experience, through whatever third-party automation platform is specified, is as impressive as the connected lighting scheme, audio system or home cinema.

Number two from the installer’s perspective is that time is money. The time spent on integrating technologies into a system can quickly escalate to burn a hole in a project’s profitability. The pace of innovation, the frequency of hardware and software updates, the limitations of third-party control systems and unforeseen requests from clients present challenges. Installers are under pressure to offer customers solutions that combine premium performance with ease of integration. Manufacturers are under pressure to make sure that their products interface seamlessly with third party control systems, without any loss of functionality. The challenge is that products which may not perform to the optimum level required by the integrator, but which are easy to integrate, may be selected to replace their higher performing counterparts, just because they are better and quicker to integrate and control. That kind of compromise is nothing that anyone can really be proud of. For many years, Janus Technology has been helping brands avoid these problems as a provider of technology integration software and support services.

Creating control system drivers allows deep integration with manufacturers’ products and ensures that integrators can give their clients a seamless user experience. A proven, welldesigned and implemented driver also has the advantage of simplifying the workflow for an integrator, saving them time and boosting profitability.

To develop reliable, feature-rich drivers demands more than just the ability to write code. An understanding of the products and how they fit within the smart home eco-system is a pre-requisite in building a valuable solution. At Janus, we’ve worked on the coalface as installers and programmers, as well as in the design and manufacturing of hardware. Providing more than just a turn-key development service, we provide a consultative approach to all development work, helping clients understand what makes a good integration and what should be left out.

‘Less is More’ is a maxim we often use. Start off with a simple feature set that integrates well and is easy for the client (and installer) to understand. That way, they quickly become happy with the functionality and integrate it into their daily usage – you’ll soon hear if there is a specific feature missing that they want, and that can then be added. The result is an integration that is rich in the features that they want but doesn’t included features that aren’t wanted.

We’ve built a large suite of drivers for manufacturers and integrators to offer seamless AV, lighting and BMS integration of products with third-party control systems. These include drivers for integration and control by Control4, Crestron Home, Elan, RTI and URC.

We work directly with manufacturers to create integrations for their products that they can then freely distribute. We also consult directly with integrators to fulfil their clients specific wishes. Additionally, we develop our own solutions to enhance the smart home experience that we then licence to integrators. For example, there are new user experiences available, such as, our Visual Navigator for Control4 that provides a visual overview of the state of the entire home, or our cloudconnected BMS solutions that give insight into energy usage. With Crestron Home, we are developing direct integrations for the Zentium thermostat to simplify integration, eliminating the need for an external Bacnet gateway or a series-4 co-processor.

Software development has grown to be a significant part of our industry and will remain so for many years to come. Our vision is to make residential automation system integration smoother and more streamlined for dealers while making the user experience accessible, intuitive and, ultimately, more enjoyable. Reliable, feature-rich drivers reflect well on the brand reputation not just of the manufacturer but also of the installer who is deploying them. So, be sure that your driver development is in the right hands – get in touch with our expert team today.