Describe your journey and growth in the world of automation?
The smart homes space in India is growing at a rapid rate, and this can be attributed to affordability, improved technology and ubiquitous availability of such products and solutions. Our inspiration to venture into automation products was to enable greater Energy Efficiency in offices and residences using smart automation. As we developed products, we realized that we could expand it to enable other essential elements such as Safety, Security, Comfort and Convenience that would help improve the quality of life for people . BuildTrack is now a leader in Smart Automation for Homes, Hotels, Hospitals, Senior Living, Enterprises, Energy Efficiency and Building Management Systems (BMS). In the retail space we have partnered with Beautiful Homes Stores (by Asian Paints) where our products are displayed. BuildTrack is a partner of LG, whose various home appliances work closely with BuildTrack products and inside BuildTrack Apps to bring the next generation of Smart Homes, where customers can control not only Switches, Curtains, AC’s but also Washers, Dryers, Ovens and other such appliances.
Please tell us about your company’s home automation products?
BuildTrack offers one of the broadest range of products in the area of Home and Villa Automation. BuildTrack Solution addresses Comfort, Convenience, Safety, Security and Energy Efficiency to enhance the living experience for residents in Apartments and Villas. BuildTrack also addresses the aesthetics of the home by providing smart touch switches as one of the elegant ways for users to interface with their home automation, in addition to other means such as Smart Apps and Voice Assistants. Since the switches are a highly visible element of the design on the walls in any home, BuildTrack offers users the ability to ‘Build your Switch’ so that the aesthetics accompany the desired functionality. BuildTrack the only Indian company to offer Smart Touch Switches that have been awarded the prestigious India Design Mark. Also, our Touch switches are certified to meet global international safety standards.
Our solutions are available in wired and wifi formats that can be used in new spaces or to retrofit existing spaces or to be used as a combination when circumstances demand such levels of flexibility. Our solutions serve a diverse customer base with home automation serving individual homes and villas and our BMS serving the tallest residential building in India in Kolkata.
Is there a great rural –urban divide when it comes to automation business?
Our experience is that any such rural-urban divide has blurred when it comes to the automation business. Especially so in the Smart Villa segment, where the expectations of the customers are very similar in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as in the major metros. As many of the villas tend to be larger in such rural areas, it is not unusual to find that the deployments are larger and more complex for automation needs.
Knowing India is a developing country with electricity and internet issues, what will be turnaround time for buildtrack to capture the whole market?
Most of the solutions that are being marketed in India, including by BuildTrack have the ability to work both locally within the home, without internet, as well as from outside the home via the internet and cloud services of the automation provider. So, while there may be intermittent issues with the internet, it has not really slowed down the adoption of the automation in India. As far as electricity issues, such as outages, there is not much impact to the automation as most homes are operating on a generator. Electric issues such as surges do cause issues with automation, and it is due to such situations that many customers opt for wired systems that use DC and are well protected from them. Large cities do not tend to have such damaging surges, but rural areas can be exposed to them occasionally, unless there are stabilizers that have been considered during the deployment. So overall neither electricity or internet issue is presenting a barrier to the adoption of automation, it is just the speed at which the market is getting comfortable with the use of these new technologies that is dictating the time frame.
Since the automation industry is in nascent stage in India, how well equipped are we to handle the challenges that the industry faces in handling after sales service?
After sales service is a very important aspect of Home Automation. Especially since it is the principal point of control for many of the electrical devices within a home. Home Automation industry copes with the needs of such services, through a combination of regional offices and by training local dealers and distributors to be the first point of contact and service for the customer. Since local presence is critical to ensure prompt service, this model allows the industry to serve customers faster and more efficiently. The manufacturers are also training these local service providers to ensure that they are able to service customers for maintenance and repair needs. The availability of remote support via video calls aids these local participants to reach expert help at the manufacturer for situations that call for such expertise. So overall, the industry is evolving to ensure that customers are served well in this new arena.
Has the “Alexa” trend, led to voice and motion sensor automation trends?
Alexa and Google Home have certainly ushered in the Voice trend into home. Those customers who have used these options to control and manage their devices find their convenience to be addictive. Voice is an alternative that seems to be even acceptable to the senior citizens who do not have smart phones, as it provides them the convenience to turn devices on/off or to change channels without the need for much mobility. The use of motion sensors though has not caught on much within homes, except in locations like bathrooms where the present the convenience of not using switches and for saving energy.
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