Say “Hello” to Qolsys (Quality of Life Systems) Inc., a new company aiming to redefine the “all-in-one” connected home control platform market at ISC West with the launch of a groundbreaking seven-inch touchscreen platform —all built around the principle that yesterday’s self-contained panels simply aren’t meeting consumer expectations.
Qolsys formally launched at the Security Industry Association’s (SIA) New Product Showcase preceding ISC West.
Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., the heart of Silicon Valley, Qolsys is focused on delivering a connected home control platform supporting life safety, residential security, home control, energy management and more — and taking it to a whole new level.
“Growing up in Silicon Valley, we noticed an opportunity to raise the bar in the residential security space. As outsiders we had no preconceived notions of what a security panel should look or act like, except that end users were ready for something more, similar to their smartphones and tablets,” shared Mike Hackett, vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to starting Qolsys, Hackett was at eBay for 10 years and spent time following consumer trends.
He went on to say, “Our goal is to put an IQ Panel in every home, and we look forward to partnering with established security dealers.”
By leveraging these consumer trends and re-architecting the typical security state machine into an open compute platform, all while asserting that size and looks matter, the company released the IQ panel, an all-in-one, seven-inch touchscreen, designed as an open compute platform with intuitive applications, six wireless radios, and a built-in panel camera.
Qolsys carefully selected its partners when developing the offering, choosing Foxconn for manufacturing, mobile platform for the operating system, and Alarm.com for back-end Web services
“The IQ Panel sets a new standard in the industry by radically re-thinking the platform architecture,” said David Pulling, Qolsys chief executive offer. “The mobile OS enables Qolsys to deliver features to end users and dealers such as an intuitive user interface, custom text to speech, language localization, and a foundation for future development leveraging the mobile developer community.”
The IQ Panel’s remote services are powered by Alarm.com’s comprehensive interactive services platform. The IQ Panel is the first to support Wi-Fi to the Alarm.com back-end and a built-in Alarm.com Image Sensor radio.
The panel supports Intelligent Dual Path Connectivity over cellular and broadband, enabling efficient transfer of data and seamless upgrade services with sophisticated failover and recovery capabilities.
“Because updates for software or firmware can be one intelligently over Wi-Fi or cellular, house calls are eliminated. Plus, all the system’s peripherals are wireless and easy to pair, meaning a huge cut in installation — as no wires need to be run,” explains Ken Arnold, director of communications, Qolsys.
There are even FAQ videos embedded in the panel that show home owners how to change batteries, eliminating one more reason for house calls.
“We’ve enhanced the user experience with new features like panel disarm photos, a built-in library of how-to video tutorials and FAQs, allowing consumers to take full control of every aspect of their home,” Pulling says.
With a robust selection of peripherals and best-in-class partnerships, Qolsys is aiming to redefine the security and home control industry with its end-to-end platform solution.
For more information, visit Qolsys at the 2013 ISC West trade show in Las Vegas: Bellini meeting room 2101 A/B or go online to www.qolsys.com.