It is surely abundantly clear that the time has come for ambitious installers to be part of the smart buildings boom. It’s time to plan your journey and decide who you are going to travel with.
Transforming your business to take advantage of the smart buildings boom isn’t going to happen overnight: it’s an ongoing process. That’s why you should look at training courses as just one part of your planning. Don’t be satisfied with just a certificate – expect to have a partner that is going to be there as you cultivate your new skills. That’s a role that the wholesaler channel is stepping into with KNX.
While proprietary systems manufacturers do offer enticing packages, more installers are now having the confidence to build their smart business on open protocols that mean they are not going to be dependent on a single supplier. They are reclaiming the flexibility and freedom to develop their own business in their own way and at their own pace. Leading the way in open-source systems control is KNX. This secure control language is the one-stop shop that can really manage and integrate all building control applications: lighting, heating, security, AV etc. it is used globally and is supported by over 500 manufacturers, including all the big names, who between them offer thousands of controls and wall panels that are guaranteed to be compatible.
The voice control, IoT, remote access and security that consumers want are all catered for. So too is integration with proprietary systems, whose owners have listened to the market and enabled their components to become part of a KNX smart home or building system. What’s more, backwards compatibility is part of the KNX certification process for any new products, so you can always go back and update or expand a system without extensive rewiring or expensive replacements of devices that have been made redundant. Your customers will love that! A KNX device is never redundant – and with KNX having celebrated its 30th birthday last year, that has now been proven in practice time and time again.
If a KNX installation is a system for life, it follows that a KNX customer is potentially a customer for life for maintenance and upgrades and of course that means good business for you and good sense for your chosen wholesaler. Hence, their investment in training and support. The KNX open platform ticks all the boxes for our industry and being part of it all starts with training but also depends on good ongoing support.
Your first step is likely to be a free taster course to give you a realistic appreciation of the opportunities that KNX offers, the level of commitment required to get up and running. Wholesalers like BEMCO, Home of Technologies, Ivory Egg and MyKNXStore are all certified KNX training centres and all offer such taster sessions. Generally, the next step is a five-day KNX Partner Certification course and thereafter there are various specialist courses on, for instance HVAC or AV.
At My KNX Store, the training team comes from an installer background and has developed a syllabus to specifically target the most-popular control projects with face-to-face and online tutorial options. In the London/south-east area Home of Technologies’ KNX graduates are encouraged to join in with regular, free half-day sessions where they can brainstorm projects and problems or just hone their skills with brain teasers set by head tutor Rafal Borek. As well as the core Basic, KNX Advanced and specialist HVAC courses, one of the longest-established KNX wholesalers Bemco offers hands on refresher courses.
Once you join the KNX community, there’s also a growing network of like-minded KNX systems integrators just like you to share ideas and with. Find out more here.
