If you install a remote network management system in a client’s home, and there’s no one there to monitor it … does it make a difference?
Krika doesn’t think so, which is why the company is launching Krika Concierge, a 24/7 tech-support service for smart-home pros. The new service allows integrators to support end users either full time, or simply after-hours or when the integrator is otherwise unavailable.
Krika is using the Domotz remote monitoring platform for the new program, launching at CEDIA 2017. The installer simply drops a Domotz-enabled device on the client’s network, and Krika’s tech-support team can peer into the premises when the customer calls.
The service is white-labeled so the help desk communicates as if they were from the integrator’s company.
Domotz monitors not just the network and IP devices, but everything connected to those devices, including home automation systems and (for some) their endpoints, like Z-Wave and ZigBee switches.
Krika is launching the program on Nov. 15, 2017, with a staff of at least five full-time techs from the IT and custom-installation industry. The dealer pays Krika a flat fee per ticket, whether the issue is resolved in a single or multiple phone calls. If Krika cannot fix the issue, the company hands it over to the integrator.
Krika itself provides remote monitoring systems, but the company has decided to bring some of its technology to the Domotz platform and employ that solution in the residential channel for its Concierge service.
Domotz, with its companion technology Fing, generates diagnostics data from hundreds of millions of connected devices
Krika will continue to deploy its own solution in the commercial market.
Billing Support for Residential Managed Services
Krika principal Bruno Napoli has been a vocal force in the home-technology community, urging integrators to deploy managed services for the residential market – not just the network appliances but the recurring services that go on top of it.
While the device-recognition, monitoring and remote-support technology has evolved, the business models for support have not, Napoli says.
To that end, Krika will provide sample subscription programs and marketing materials to dealers. In addition the Concierge program will include a payment service for dealers to collect recurring fees from their customers.
