It takes a lot of technical expertise to integrate well with other companies. At Somfy, which has produced over 160 million motors worldwide for its interior and exterior motorized window coverings, compatibility is the name of the game.
“We are technology agnostic. We can work with anything,” says Tracy Christmann, director of marketing. As evidence of her claim, the company has its new Somfy Connect UAI Plus for its hardwired Somfy Digital Network (SDN) motors.
“The Plus feature allows them to integrate over IP, which is important to integrators today,” says Christmann.
The UAI Plus features:
- Embedded motor commissioning software that streamlines SDN system configuration
- Compatibility with the Somfy Synergy API, which is a common protocol that allows integration with any of the company’s motors.
- Compatibility with drivers from popular home automation systems
- Ability to easily integrate custom automation programming
“For our wire-free systems, we have the MyLink that lets custom installers integrate wirelessly with our RTS motors,” says Christmann, noting the MyLink has 16 channels of programmability and it can integrate with Amazon Alexa. Somfy also has MyLink drivers for Control4, Savant and Crestron. It has the manufacturing capacity to produce 70,000 motors per day.
But Somfy’s flexibility also extends to fabrics.
“We make over 250 sizes of motors. That gives us the flexibility to work with any shade manufacturer’s fabric. No matter the color, style or weight… we can really motorize anything,” says Christmann.
Somfy is trying to promote the concept of “Power Smart Living Inside and Out.”
“That means not just window coverings inside the home like shades and blinds and screens, but also outside the home with exterior products like awnings, rolling shutters and screens. For the integrators, it means the ability to integrate with all of those products, not just a motorized shading system,” adds Christmann.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!