IP data analytics is already being used to discover, control and otherwise manage IoT devices on a network, but Krika is taking this data to a whole new level with dealer-to-dealer tech support via a new “Help Me” feature demonstrated at Essential Install Live in England last week.
Say you’re having issues with a system that includes a TiVo Bolt and an Onkyo receiver. Wouldn’t it be nice to have immediate support from other integrators who are installing the exact same combo of products … down to the firmware version?
If you’re a Krika user, you can do this by simply pressing the “Help Me” button from the client’s remote-management dashboard.
Krika principal Bruno Napoli calls it the “first social network of custom installers.”
Krika makes a device that sits on the network, sniffing out smart devices and enabling remote monitoring and management of the network and the connected products.
There’s a dealer portal that enables pros to monitor their accounts, so ultimately Krika knows what devices dealers are installing and supporting.
So in the case of the hypothetical Onkyo/TiVo project, the dealer hits “Help Me,” describes the issue, and dispatches the SOS to other dealers who are installing these two products. Krika dealers who opt into the program will receive the help call and can respond at their leisure.
Dealers earn perks by participating. You give help, you receive help.
You can imagine how a universal database of known issues could evolve from this data, allowing a free or subscription-based self-help portal for integrators. But not just integrators. Certainly manufacturers would benefit as well, collecting data on everything from interoperability issues to the popularity of third-party subsystems.
“So many times the manufacturer doesn’t even know there’s a problem,” Napoli explains.
He notes Krika hasn’t yet worked out the business model, but the Help Me program has launched for Krika dealers.
The idea started when a Krika dealer contacted Napoli about an issue he was having with an Onkyo receiver.
“This dealer needed someone with the exact same Onkyo receiver,” Napoli says. “I looked in the database and found a dealer and they got together.”
He adds, “We have a lot of data. What else can we do with it?”
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