Residential and commercial automation provider URC continues its busy start to 2024, announcing the launch of its new AI-powered Virtual Assistant available to the URC Certified Dealer Community.

Available through URC’s award-winning Dealer Portal, the URC Virtual Assistant is powered by AI (artificial intelligence). 

The company says the tool complements its award-winning Technical Support team and permits 24/7 information surrounding URC’s Total Control and Complete Control product lines including the Accelerator and CCP operating systems.

At CEDIA Expo 2022, URC announced efforts to integrate AI into its products and services. “As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve and grow in applications, we are carefully considering how this trend and computer learning can help URC deliver elevated, affordable smart living experiences,” stated Chang K. Park, founder and CEO of URC.  

“As we plan for the future, our focus continues to be squarely on aiding our dealers in growing and evolving their businesses in the changing marketplace.”

2024 Lighting Controls and Fixtures Report

Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.

Download your copy now!

To continue to elevate service to its dealer community, URC researched channels and tools to drive efficiency and effectiveness.

• In a recent study, URC dealers identified its Dealer Portal as the most valuable resource to speed installations (81% of respondents ranked #1). In fact, the Dealer Portal receives millions of visits each year, the company says.
• URC dealers recognized innovative products (73% of respondents ranked #1) among the top reasons for loyalty along with technical support and training.
• Considering these insights, URC created a proprietary, AI-generated Virtual Assistant as a step to deliver valuable dealer solutions.

URC Virtual Assistant Provides 24/7 Guidance

URC’s Virtual Assistant provides integrators with answers to a vast range of technical questions by quickly sourcing information from URC’s extensive technical library, proprietary user guides, partner manuals, videos and product documents. 

This AI technology continues to learn and update with the latest answers based on these areas of information. Should users need additional assistance, the URC Virtual Assistant will provide a link to start a technical support ticket. 

This new feature expands industry-leading products and technical support tools to URC’s domestic and international dealer and distributor communities, around the clock and around the globe.

A soft launch or beta version was released in late December 2023. This phase began the process of answering questions based on existing sources, like manuals and guides.

Early reviews were positive, URC reports, with the tech support team helping to guide the tool and identify areas in need of further development. Hundreds of interactions aided in the development of content, the company adds.

The broader release to existing and future dealers coincides with a recent round of AI enhancements just completed that updated the available information to make answers more robust and accurate.

“Integrating advanced technology, like AI, is a strategic imperative which URC has been developing over the past few years including launching a Virtual Smart Home experience in 2022 (https://www.urc-automation.com/urc-launches-virtual-smart-home-experience/) leveraging ultra-realistic, Virtual Reality,” states Ron Pence, URC’s Marketing Lead.

“Creating tools and support for our dealer community is the first phase of a broader plan to leverage advanced intelligence to accelerate innovation across the business model accelerating marketplace growth and acquisition.”

• Page 1