22 | JULY 2019
Installer Essentials
Installer Essentials is
sponsored by ERA Installer
PROFIT OPPORTUNITIES
FOR SMARTWARE FITTERS
AND FABRICATORS
Smartware has been around for a while with ‘Mr/Ms
Techie’ having installed their Alexa some time ago.
But the idea of a truly connected home has been very
much in its infancy. However, the connected home
is here to stay: it is estimated that the smartware
market will be worth £300 billion worldwide by 2020.
With homeowner expecta-
tions changing in terms of pro-
tecting their properties, now is
the ideal time for fabricators and
installers to make the most of the
business opportunities that the
security landscape affords them.
ERA encourages fabricators and
installers to embrace the shift to-
wards the connected home and to
use the offering of smart products
as a means of differentiating them-
selves from their competitors.
Over the past few years, tech-
nology has changed the way
people live, with the idea of smart
heating, lighting and entertain-
ment systems now an everyday
reality for many. Home security is
now also undergoing a tech trans-
formation. Homeowners are com-
bining smart products with more
traditional home security solutions
to give them a ‘belt and braces’
approach to protecting their home
and belongings for extra peace of
mind.
Fabricators and installers would
be well advised to encourage cus-
tomers to invest in smart security,
including alarms, cameras, video
doorbells and smart locks since
this process of up-selling affords
enhanced profit opportunities
whilst at the same time giving cus-
tomers real peace of mind.
At the recent FIT Show, fabri-
cators and installers were given
demonstrations of ERA’s smart-
ware, which included a host of
market-leading options. Feed-
back from visitors to the compa-
ny’s exhibition stand was ex-
tremely positive with many saying
that the systems were helping to
‘demystify’ this area of their work.
Visitors said that they would be
more confident than ever in offer-
ing customers smartware and that
ERA was helping to make installa-
tion easier and therefore easier to
sell as a proposition.
ERA’s smartware includes the
HomeGuard Pro alarm, a high
specification cloud-based alert and
monitoring alarm system, the first
of its kind to combine security
with smart living. Operated by a
smart phone app, HomeGuard Pro
offers real time alerts, the abili-
ty to protect multiple locations,
such as a house, office or holi-
day home, all accessible literally
anytime, anywhere. The system
allows the homeowner to allocate
or revoke access to their home,
thereby giving them the power to
decide who comes in or out. The
homeowner’s network of contacts
is alerted simultaneously in the
event of an intrusion.
One of the benefits for home-
owners of HomeGuard Pro that
fabricators and installers can
communicate to their customers is
that being cloud-based, the system
is a good money-saving option.
This is because as new integra-
tions are released or new features
become available, the hub can
simply be upgraded via the cloud
with no need for replacement or
physical adaptions. With the sector
developing rapidly this means this
affordable product can move with
the times.
Likewise, ERA’s new WiFi video
doorbell, DoorCam allows home-
owners to view all callers and
talk to them in real time, whether
they’re home or not. With ease of
operation in mind, once DoorCam
is wired in, the householder can
simply plug in the WiFi chime
which comes as standard, connect-
ing up to four more chimes in the
home, all as part of the package.
This means a chime will sound
in the house, with adjustable
sound, volume and light function,
eliminating the need to carry a
Smartphone around. DoorCam al-
lows homeowners to collect video
clips via its history log, thanks to
adjustable motion detection.
ERA’s TouchKey, a keyless smart
lock bringing to life a fully inte-
grated suite of connected Smart
Security Products. Working in
combination with ERA’s SureFire
lock, the TouchKey also offers a
solution for multi-point locks on
PVCu and Composite doors. De-
veloped to be secure and simple
to use and easy to fit, SUREFIRE
delivers effortless multi-point
locking: simply close the door to
engage the trigger and turn a key
to deadlock.
ERA’s smartware range, with
more innovative products to
follow, provides the cutting-edge
security technology that the cus-
tomers of fabricators and installers
now demand.
With smartware, the important
components are hidden, so it
is difficult, if not impossible to
look at a piece of smartware and
ascertain its quality and reliability.
When choosing a supplier, fabrica-
tors and installers need to look at
their supplier’s reputation, and ask
themselves some key questions:
do they provide quality products?
Can they offer me help and advice
if required? Is there a good after
car service for the homeowner?