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Follow UsAn innovative use of cloud computing to show potential customers demos of home automation solutions using the web and smartphones
How would you feel if you could control different systems in your house from remote locations using a web browser or your smartphone? This is what SMART Automation is all about. A potential consumer can for instance, turn on his home's air conditioners 5 minutes prior to entering the place, or switch off the TV if it was left on by accident, and much more. SMART Automation is an initiative that aims to transform the way of living and working in the 21st century. SMART Automation targets high-end yet economical automation services which allow one to control heating, cooling, lighting, security and other building management systems. The company while soliciting customers for these solutions, had to physically invite them to company's demo center and provide them with an experience of their Home Automation solution. This resulted in direct costs of around Rs 5,000 per customer apart from the efforts of sales persons.
The project is meant for the potential buyers who are interested in Home Automation. The benefit of the Home Automation is Convenience, Security and Savings and people are already using such system across the globe ex. US, Canada, UK etc.
What was deployed
They developed an app to deliver virtual experience through a smartphone. The application is freely available on Android/Apple/Windows app markets. A potential buyer can also download this application over the smartphone and experience it (http://www.smartautomation.in/solutions/free-demo/). We personally used this application and found it very interesting. From the smartphone we were able to change channels of TV, switch fans, etc. All this can be seen live in action on a computer screen.
Challenges faced
A demo is crucial to tap a potential customer. Each demo proved to be time consuming and costly, as the customer had to be driven to their demo room. The challenge was to have a demo mechanism in place which would yield higher number of demos, while keeping the costs minimal.
The Result
After using smartphone app, the demos could be given at customer premises, instead of driving them in to their demo room. This increased the interest of potential buyers and successful conversions increased from 5% to 35%. Besides this, there is saving of `5000 per customer as there is no need to physically transfer potential customers to the demo location. The company is planning to conduct 400 demos using the application in the coming year.