How Security Pros Can Utilize Power Protection as a New RMR Stream
Security contractors can jumpstart clients’ connected products as well as kickstart a new recurring revenue stream by providing power protection. Tap into the latest devices, sales strategies and managed services opportunities.
Pref-Tech Prefers ‘Central Pane of Glass’ View
Based in Houston with another office in Austin, Texas, Preferred Technologies (Pref-Tech) is a LifeSafety Power dealer that relies on intelligent power supplies to win over its customers in the education, industrial, ports, refineries, chemical facilities and other mission-critical markets.
“We like to extend the security solutions to create solutions that enhance operations or provide key business insights for big businesses, so power’s a key component in all of that,” says president Shaun Castillo.
The company began seeing advantages several years ago in enlisting intelligent power supply modules for previously unmanaged products like electronic locks and backup batteries, “so we can bring that data and management into a central pane of glass [dashboard] that hopefully customers can use to predict issues and address them prior to things happening.”
Shaun Castillo of Pref-Tech says access control integrations with LifeSafety Power’s Unified Power Solutions products help earn the company more jobs.
Castillo says that with today’s PoE access control devices and IP cameras, the topology for installing LifeSafety Power’s intelligent power supplies that allow for reboots and preemptive measures like setting voltage thresholds is not much different than “power supplies that folks have been installing for decades,” except they’re mainly going through the network switch now.
“It’s more after you make that plug in to the network and what you’re going to do with the intelligence you have coming from that power supply” that’s the differentiator, he says. “If you control an output to a device you can control power to the device right from the network, and there are all kinds of advantages to that.”
Castillo adds that Pref-Tech has managed to secure more business because of integrations with LifeSafety Power offerings, enabling “sole source justifications” from end users seeking specific manufacturers’ access or video products that his company could deliver instead of going through multiple bids.
Beyond security, Pref-Tech has even expanded power supplies to connected systems like solar, yielding data like knowing when to hook up a generator when there’s not enough battery. “We’ve got some very loyal customers,” he says.
Rebooting the Residential Market
Power protection products on the residential technology side have taken advantage of remote monitoring and management for several years now thanks to innovations such as BlueBOLT by Panamax/Furman, which has given rise to competitive products like SnapAV’s WattBox and OvrC tandem and SugeX’s envision tool.
With residential dealers often connecting not only security but home automation, lighting controls, audio, video and other products, these power outlet-connected remote diagnostics products enable complete system overviews and the convenient ability to troubleshoot and reboot/recycle systems without rolling a truck.
SnapAV WattBox plus OvrC equates to a strong remote management tool for residential technology installers.
SnapAV WattBox’s Brian Holden, director, power products, explains that it’s estimated around 80% of electronic device issues can be resolved with a simple device reboot/power cycle. For WattBox dealers, the ability to combine the power solutions with parent company SnapAV’s OvrC remote management platform and app yields greater productivity and the ability to make more money, he says.
“OvrC-enabled IP WattBox Power Conditioners will first utilize intelligent self-healing and auto-reboot capabilities to solve issues without the customer noticing.
Then, should an issue require dealer support, reboot of devices can be triggered remotely,” he explains. “These are two strong lines of defense against rolling a truck.”
SurgeX Marketing Manager Lauren Simmen says dealers can implement enVision before, during or after an installation. “When installed ahead of time, it can identify potential power anomalies and present the opportunity to correct them even before the system is installed,” she says.
When installed during the job or left onsite, enVision can report abnormal power conditions back to the dealer or be used as a troubleshooting tool. “EnVision can provide the tangible proof of power problems dealers need to convince customers to implement a power foundation to safeguard their installs against all forms of power problems,” Simmen says.
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About the Author
Arlen Schweiger
Arlen Schweiger is editor-in-chief of SSI's sister publication, CE Pro. He was SSI's managing editor from August 2018 to June 2023.
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