Monterey, CA–The Internet Home Alliance has launched the Home Integrator Initiative, an industry-wide effort to promote greater awareness of the need for–and availability of–qualified home technology integrators.
The Alliance defines “home technology integrators” as trained and certified technology professionals who install connected home products and services.
Developed to address the growing interest in digital home solutions, as well as the consumer and industry confusion that exists around the integration of home technology products and services, the goal of the Home Integrator Initiative is to bring key industry players together to adopt common goals and messages around the home integrator channel and promote consumer awareness of integrators as a key resource in their adoption of connected home products and solutions.
Members of the Home Integrator Initiative include Cisco; Cisco Learning Institute; CNET Networks’ CNET (www.cnet.com); Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA); CompUSA; Consumer Electronics Association (CEA); Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA); Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA); Cybermanor; Electronics Systems Industry Consortium (ESIC); EH Publishing; Heneveld Dynamic Consulting; Hewlett-Packard; Home Director; Internet Home Alliance; Microsoft; On-Q Home; Pikes Peak Community College; Rich Green Ink and Sears.
“To advance the home technology market, as an industry, we must work together more effectively to communicate clearly and consistently how consumers can adopt and install connected home solutions easily and successfully,” said Kristine Stewart, president, Internet Home Alliance, and director, Solution Partners, Worldwide Commercial Segment Marketing, Cisco Systems. “While huge strides have been made to bring clarity to the home integrator channel, much confusion still exists around certification, training and how best to reach out to consumers who are in need of these highly-skilled professionals. Our collective goal with this Initiative is to build awareness of, and an understanding for, the important role home integrators play in the market.”
The Initiative includes two significant efforts. First, CNET, the trusted source of information for millions of technology buyers, has launched the CNET Home Integrator Directory, a zip-code-searchable directory of home integrators and personal technology consultants.
Located at homeintegrator.cnet, the directory is intended to be a resource for consumers looking to install digital home products as well as builders looking for integration specialists. The directory includes a listing of integrators across the country and is accompanied by relevant advice and how-to content produced by CNET’s editors. In addition, it offers consumers the ability to post comments about the home integrator they worked with and the quality of service provided.
“The CNET Home Integrator Network is a crucial step in making it easy for consumers to purchase and install the latest home electronic solutions,” said Candice Meyers, senior vice president, CNET. “With this aggregated directory, there is finally a central place where consumers can easily find a certified and trusted professional in their area who can handle the installation and maintenance of their equipment so that they can sit back and enjoy it with no hassles.”
The second key part of the Home Integrator Initiative is an industry white paper, Net Gain: Advancing the Market for Home Technology Integrators, which articulates the landscape for home integrators and provides recommendations to the industry about how to work together more effectively to promote home integrators in a clear and consistent manner. Members of the Initiative have expressed a commitment to adopting the recommendations included in the document
