German-based surveillance solutions manufacturer Mobotix is looking to raise its profile in the home automation market as the company announced this week that it has joined home automation and control systems provider Savant Systems’ "Partners in Excellence" cooperative program.
Mobotix General Manager for the Americas Steve Gorski said that the company is relatively new to the home automation space and he believes that this new marketing partnership with Savant will help boost their presence in the market which the company has targeted as one of their areas for growth.
"I think it will significantly help for a couple of reasons. Number one, (Savant Systems) is one of the leaders in that space with their home automation systems. Being able to connect with one of the market leaders is really, really going to help us," he explained. "Because they have some Apple-based products for home automation, there’s obviously significant tie-in with Mobotix and Apple as well and we’ll be coming out with some applications on that and I think that’s really going to help us."
In addition, Gorski said that the partnership will also bolster the company’s exposure in the home automation channel.
"I think a lot of the integrators that are part of that channel and maybe even part of Savant’s programs aren’t as familiar with Mobotix and certainly what we’re doing with our T24 (IP video door station) and some of our other products," he said. "We’re really hoping that this is going to get us significant brand awareness in a space we really haven’t been in before."
Mobotix will also be partnering with Savant some at the upcoming CEDIA Expo next month in Indianapolis with some of the company’s products being featured in the Mobotix booth at the show. Gorski said that the home automation market really lends itself to some of Mobotix's products, not just their door stations, but also their cameras, which do not need any enclosures and are ready to go out-of-the-box.
"We think this a very exciting space and there is a lot more to come from Mobotix and our partners and our distribution partners," Gorski said. "One of the things we’ve been talking about internally is that we’re pretty excited about working with a lot the home automation resellers, because in many cases, a lot of these folks are kind of early adopters with new technologies and they really seem to embrace that. They seem to be very technical and they pride themselves on being up to speed on technology. Some of the guys that we’ve worked we’ve really been very impressed with their level of expertise and they understand how important training is. Not to say that the security resellers don’t understand, but… I think they are a little bit of a step ahead from a technology standpoint because there are a lot of technologies that go into home automation."
