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Head briefs CRM company FillQuick integrates with ADT By Spencer Ives LAS VEGAS—At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the smart home became more refined, according to IHS, pre- senting more use cases to deal- ers and consumers. Blake Kozak, IHS' princi- pal analyst for smart home and security technology, told Security Systems News that this year's CES built off of previ- ous years' announcements and technologies. "Maybe last year, and the year before, you'd see these providers coming out with thermostats and things like that. … But now, you're seeing those thermostats being integrated into more platforms and there's more use cases." O n e i n n o v a t i o n K o z a k pointed out was enhanced light bulbs with infrared light to assist outdoor cameras, giv- ing users a clear idea of where to incorporate the technology and why. Kozak saw more voice inte- grations at CES 2017. The smart home "certainly is becoming more approachable," Kozak said. "I think voice is really playing a key role in that, and [voice controls are] a gateway to wider adoption." A consumer may buy a product like Amazon Echo for convenience features, he said, but then start purchasing smart home products such as light switches to go with that offer- ing. "For the U.S. Market, I think we're going to see a lot more video," Kozak predicted. He said that consumers are becom- ing savvier on the topic of data and how their data is being used, which helps the market. E v e n t u a l l y, w i d e r c a m - era adoption could begin to cannibal- ize the market for other sensors, Kozak noted. "One camera could potentially see an entire room, and maybe that room has three windows and two doors," he said, which would replace multiple contact or glass-break sensors. Kozak was positive on the future of home automation. "I think that the consumer's going to be more immersed in the smart home in 2017 and 2018 and that's going to help the con- sumer better understand the values of the connected home." Kozak predicted that a com- bined approach to the market, including a mix of profession- ally installed devices and DIY- installed devices, will become more prevalent in the future. CES also exhibited drone and robot technologies, Kozak pointed out. "Right now we're trying to get consumers to real- ly understand the value of hav- ing connected light bulbs and thermostats and these other types of connected devices … trying to convince somebody that they need to invest in a robot is a bit of a leap at the moment." SSN IHS weighs in on CES 2017 smart home trends Video doorbell market to see CAGR of 28 percent over next five years LONDON—The global market for video doorbells, which was at $78 million in 2015, is expected to experience a 28 percent CAGR over the next five years, according to a study by IHS Markit. "Video doorbells are only just begin- ning to gain traction among residen- tial consumers," Anna Sliwon, analyst, residential security, IHS Markit said in a prepared statement. "As the market continues its rapid ascension, partnering with video doorbell providers could prove lucrative for home alarm manufacturers and service providers." The study found that video doorbell adoption is still largely limited to the U.S. and despite many new entrants, market supply is currently concentrated with a few larger suppliers such as Ring. "As competition increases, demand will accelerate and prices will fall. However, the primary barrier today remains price," said Sliwon. "A normal, non-video-capa- ble doorbell costs less than $20, while video doorbell costs often exceed $150. Raising consumer awareness of the ben- efits will be key to increasing the adoption rate." IHS also found that that as the popu- larity of video doorbells increases, owners are likely to become more comfortable with video cameras in their homes. "For many homeowners, a video doorbell is their first experience with an IP camera," said Sliwon. "Installing it, setting up the app and then later using it to view some- thing remotely all help to build consum- ers' familiarity with network video camer- as. This raises consumer awareness and lowers privacy concerns, two of the main barriers responsible for slowing adoption of video in the home in the past." This also has the potential to lead to increasing demand for integrating video doorbells with home alarm systems. Vivint Smart Home recognized as innovator PROVO, Utah—Vivint Smart Home, a leading smart home services provider in North America, was included in Fast Company's annual ranking of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2017. Vivint earned the No. 22 spot on the list, which also includes Amazon (No. 1), Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix and Uber. "Innovation is a core value woven into the fabric of everything we do at Vivint Smart Home," Matt Eyring, chief strategy and innovation officer at Vivint Smart Home said in a prepared state- ment. "Each function within our company consistently looks for ways to dramati- cally improve our ability to lead the smart home revolution. This recognition is a strong validation of our mission to move smart home from an inaccessible ideal to a mainstream reality for every home." By Spencer Ives E D M O N T O N , C a n a d a — FillQuick, a CRM company, based here, which has worked with MONI, UCC and Avant- Guard, will now be integrated with ADT's API. FillQuick has "done a fan- tastic job in developing a cus- tomer relationship management tool that will allow our dealers to run their businesses more efficiently and more effective- ly," Clay Fearrington, senior director of strategic initiatives, business architecture & dealer development at ADT, told Secu- rity Systems News. "In the past, a dealer would have a CRM, but didn't have the connection into the ADT systems," Fearrington contin- ued. "The big benefit here is it's reducing keystrokes." ADT is also working to inte- grate other CRMs into its API, such as Engarde and Security- Trax. ADT dealers specifically requested an integration with FillQuick, which led to the companies' collaboration, Fear- rington said. Since FillQuick's last wave of announcements in 2016, Fil- lQuick has added several new features to the software, includ- ing auto-generating account numbers for installation and connection to central stations, expanded reporting features of its software and uploading fea- tures for proposals or images in a range of different formats. "Sales reps, they write proposals and take a picture and attach it to a lead. So, if they ever come back to that lead, they can take a look at what they offered to that customer," Paul Shakuri, FillQuick's founder said. "Another big feature update was notifications for users within the software when sta- tuses change on accounts, such as [when] an account gets installed, an account gets can- celled [or] an account gets paid on," Shakuri said, adding that this now brings this information to salespeople. Shakuri said that the company has a high rate, close to 95 per- cent, of converting companies that demo the software into cus- tomers. "[A] huge percentage of people who were not joining was because we were not integrated with ADT," Shakuri said. The company is currently working on new communica- tion capabilities in the software between a dealer and its sub- dealers. "We're looking to have it complete within quarter one [2017]," Shakuri said. What else is on FillQuick's agenda for 2017? "Our sights are set on integrating with a couple more central stations," Shakuri said. FillQuick will also focus on data and dealer feedback to fur- ther improve the software. SSN By Spencer Ives DALLAS— MONI Smart Security in late January announced a new initiative: its Customer Bill of Rights. "Products and price are relatively similar across companies within the indus- try. The true differentiator, in this industry, can be customer experience," Jay Autrey, recently p ro m o t e d c h i e f customer officer at MONI, told Secu- rity Systems News. "We want to be disruptive when it comes to the customer expe- rience in the home security industry." According to the compa- ny, customers have the right to local service, easily move their system to a new loca- tion, understand their con- tract, voice their opinions, have all issues addressed in one business day and a simple cancellation process. The company relied on customer feedback, as well as a collaborative effort from dealer support and customer service organizations within MONI, to identify the most important customer rights. W h e n M o n i t r o n i c s rebranded as MONI Smart Security at the end of Sep- tember 2016, it also became a more customer-facing company. The Customer Bill of Rights is in line with a customer-centric move, according to Autrey. Moni has in the last nine months been instituting more channels for direct customer feedback, Autrey said, and can use that information to gauge whether or not it is uphold- ing the customer's rights. T h e c o m p a n y wants to "make sure that customers fully understand what they can expect from MONI, up to choosing us but obviously [also] well after choosing us." Chief customer officer is a newly created role at MONI, and Autrey said that the role shows a commitment to cus- tomer service, both internal- ly and externally. MONI is also looking to improve relations with cus- tomers by more frequently contacting them and giv- ing them information on new products and services, Autrey said, which was a request the company heard from customers. SSN MONI offers a a new 'customer bill of rights' Blake Kosak Jay Autrey www.securitysystemsnews.com march 2017 SE c U r ITY SYSTE m S NEWS Residential s ystems 26 residential s ystems