The Home Technology Association—the independent organization launched to provide third-party certification of integration companies—now has HTA Certified Dealers in 14 states, representing 22 markets across the U.S., with more applications in process and more to follow in Q1 2018.
“After just four months, the HTA has made tremendous strides in raising awareness and educating not just the custom integration industry but the design and build communities about the importance of company-wide certification,” said HTA director of certification, Josh Christian. “We are extremely grateful to our dealers, manufacturers, rep firms, our board of advisors, the custom integration community, and the media for the continued support.”
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HTA’s goal for 2018 is to continue this growth trajectory and to make the HTA Certified logo the “recognized mark of excellence in the CI industry,” Christian said.
The goal for the HTA Certification program is to help exceptional custom integration companies to stand out from the crowd. In conjunction with individual certification programs, HTA Certification can show that not only does it have a best-in-class team, but the company as a whole excels in its chosen market and has earned the respect of clients, manufacturers, and industry peers.
“We applied for our certification with HTA because the low barrier to entry in our industry has resulted in under-qualified integrators in the market,” said Matthew Johnson, VP/GM of Aurum. “This has a history of creating poor client experiences and giving what we do a bad reputation. HTA’s stamp of approval on Aurum tells our clients we have been vetted and proven ourselves to be a first-class organization capable of designing, installing and supporting a system we would be proud to have in our own homes.”
According to Christian, dealers across the country are using their HTA Certification credentials to differentiate their offerings. Through the HTA website, consumers can find integration firms that specialize in their type and size project. The HTA’s technology budget calculator helps consumers not only determine realistic budget ranges, it also points them to the integrators that excel with their technology needs.
Dealers are sharing their HTA credentials on their websites, truck wraps, proposals, and also with professionals from the design/build community to help them find the best home technology firms for their projects.
“The one thing we come up against, more often than not, is that the homeowner or their representative ‘has a guy’ they use for AV,” said Thomas Clancy, senior vice president, residential systems, for Audio Command Systems. “HTA allows companies like ACS to counter that claim by pointing them to the website to show them that today’s modern luxury homes require real technology, and not just AV. It also allows us to show them that not all integrators are the same and the depth of experience, resources, and personnel that ACS has is vastly greater than ‘their guy,’ and with our 41 years of experience, we are better qualified to facilitate their technology needs.”
