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Disney Dream Home Could Bring 30,000 Leads to Lifeware Dealers
Based on preliminary results, up to 3 million guests are expected to pass through the attraction each year.
During peak hours, some 50,000 device commands are logged into the Lifeware home automation system that runs the house.
In only a month, Taylor Morrison sold about five homes as a result of its presence in the Dream Home. Lifeware dealers closed four jobs. (And that's before the lead-generation programs have really been solidified.)
But the most important number to Lifeware: Zero.
That's how many reboots the system has required since its last update.
"We have not rebooted a controller in a month," says founder and CEO Seale Moorer. "Lifeware runs 13 hours a day, with 3,000 different fingers tapping those touchpanels. This is an unbelievably reliable solution."
And if Lifeware can tolerate thousands of touchscreen taps every day, certainly it can run a "regular" house, Moorer says: "Go to Disney, stay there for 13 hours. If your house is more hectic than this, I pity you."
Lifeware to Launch Dealer Program at CEDIA
So what will become of all those potential customers that visit the Dream Home?
"The real bang," says Moorer, "is to turn that attraction into something meaningful for my dealers and my company."
Based on consensus among the sponsors, Lifeware will be the arbiter of the leads.
The company won't just forward contact information to dealers. Instead, Moorer explains, Lifeware will serve "almost as a lead concierge service to talk to customers and qualify them," before passing the lead to a certified integrator.
Not just any Lifeware dealer can become a "Certified Lifeware Dream Home Integrator," as they will be called.
"They have to be able to deliver a Disney-quality experience," says Lifeware chief strategy officer Steve Cashman.
Among the requirements to become a Dream Home integrator, Lifeware dealers must:
- Provide references that "pass Disney's and our requirements," Cashman says
- Have a showroom running (at the very least) a Lifepoint touchscreen and LMS media server
- Complete Dream Home education "so they know what the customer has seen" in the Disney attraction
- React to leads within 48 hours ("We're not going to tolerate a dealer who won't talk to a Disney guest and give them what they want," Cashman says.")
Just how many leads might flow their way? Evidence from Lifeware homes at CES suggests that 1 to 3 percent of visitors will be serious prospects for technology shown in the Dream Home.
Extrapolated for Disney, "some 30,000 people might be interested in some form of that [Dream Home] experience," Cashman says.
No Party for the Rest of Us
That sounds like good news for Lifeware dealers, but what about the rest of us?
"We've spent a lot of money on concerts in the past," says Cashman. "This is a larger budget, but more meaningful to our dealers."
So, there will be no Lifeware bash at CEDIA Expo 2008 (check out all the other CEDIA parties, though). Nor will the company erect automated homes in the parking lot this year.
Check out more news from Lifeware at CEDIA 2008
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9 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
good question, and I understand the confusion.
It runs 24/7, but is only used actively during the 13 hours/day that it is open to the public (much like a real household)
I can’t believe Lifeware is still kicking, the amount of money they must have burned through already is staggering. With the lack of CEDIA events this year it appears the pot may be running dry.
But hey, that one dude sold four systems so it looks like everything is on the up and up.
And congrats on keeping that Windows Media PC online without rebooting for a month. That is a major feat - because those things suck balls and always needs reboot.
I lost my first job to lifeware this spring, and as a long term crestron guy I said it would never happen, but I went back to the builder recently and he said that the homeowners are very happy and as previous unsatisfied crestron end users that said alot to him.The builder said I need to either bid lifeware on the next project or save my time. My Crestron rep told that they will have Windows Media PC’s at CEDIA, so I think MCE is going to be a winner. I am visiting lifeware at CEDIA, with arms crossed of course, but trying to have an open mind.
30,000 quality leads in a year… and monkeys might fly out of my butt. Whatever!!!!
30,000 may be a stretch, but if anyone can excite consumers it is Disney. We have recently started offering life|ware and our techs and builders are pretty excited. Our first install was my house and after 60 days the system is still running just fine. Crestron is announcing MCE is a big move! I like others knocked lifeware for the first year, but call this my apology for that. We are betting the farm on lifeware in 2009 and unless your in our backyard, it would be a good decision to become a lifeware dealer from our experience.
Underscoring the importance of the initiative to Disney: The network is getting a kick start Oct. 7 with the release of the 50th Anniversary edition of “Sleep ing Beauty,” one of the company’s all-time favorite animated tales. A month later the recent box office and critical hit “Wall-E” will be released in BD-Live format.
Did you just step into a time machine? I thought this was an old post. This post and article was when Life-ware and EI were still a product that was interesting. Once again another with big plans, big money and just didn’t get it. Now look around and see how many of the leading firms they have doing their product?! How much money was spent to just spin the wheels and just become another AVAD line. Good luck guys…... In the past 18 months I haven’t had a single dealer provide a proposal with this as the competition. I’ve had AMX, Crestron, Conntrol 4 and even Savant and Vantage but NEVER a Life-ware….
Can we do a poll on this? We are still entertaining Life|Ware as a possibility and am curious to see how Life|Ware is doing one year later.
Julie,
I’m hoping you can follow up with a clarification that I feel is of critical importance to the article.
FTA, “Lifeware runs 13 hours a day”. Is that to say that is is powered off and started each day, or powered up and sits idle for the remainder of the day?
Their claims of no reboots for are kind of nullified if they restart the box every day.
TKS!