Rather than an expensive extra, property developers are increasingly seeing smart home automation systems as a cost effective investment that will generate long term revenue streams.

One Media Communication Middle East (OMC), the UAE‘s leading smart home integration company, has developed a business plan that enables developers to generate revenues from advertisers and commissions from nearby service providers that soon reap a return on their smart home investment.

“Everybody wins; the resident gets the convenience of smart home automation and value-added services, the developer gets additional revenue streams, and advertisers and local service providers gain access to their customers,” David Dobouny, general manager of OMC.

OMC is currently installing an advanced smart home system in one of Dubai’s most prestigious projects, The World Trade Centre Residencies and is at the design stage of many other state-of-the-art projects. OMC has previously partnered with DAMAC Properties in 2005 to build the first luxurious fully automated smart home show apartment in Dubai.

Recently OMC launched ‘Live’, an advanced interactive platform that provides developers with a comprehensive community solution. Centring on elegant touch-screen control panels, Live provides residents with a wide variety of smart home features, such as security, lighting and climate control, as well as managing all their music, satellite TV and home theatre entertainment and digital storage systems. In addition it enables numerous interactive communications and services with the larger community.

The services are tailored to the community and can include features such as concierge, valet and maintenance services, including two-way confirmation feedback via the screen.

Residents can also use the technology to request neighbourhood services such as taxis and dry cleaning as well as making reservation for golf, tennis or squash courts, again with two-way feedback. Similarly they can make restaurant reservations or request home deliveries.

For the developer, the system provides an essential security solution and is also a medium for communicating community news, upcoming events, alerts and general information about the community that would be of interest to residents.

For nearby shops, restaurants, sports clubs and service providers the technology provides a medium for them to unobtrusively advertise themselves to their customers.

“The old idea of smart home features like climate control and automatic curtains is only a fraction of what today’s technology is capable of,” said Omar Dobouny, financial director of OMC. “Our systems today enable developers to provide their residents and local businesses with true value added services which in turn generates an ongoing revenue stream for them.”

Fully integrated with the Internet, the aesthetically pleasing Live C8 terminals can be programmed to provide residents with local weather reports, internal bulletins and news updated in real time. Restaurants and taxis are only a touch away and they can book a game of golf or tennis and get instant confirmation of their reservation.

The scaleable solution also facilitates additional features, such as accessing remote cameras to allow residents to view nearby traffic congestion hot spots.

“The UAE is a very exciting market for us. Developers here are continually pushing the envelope in terms of the level of luxury they are providing for their residents. Now that they can turn what used to be considered an additional cost into a source of revenue, we predict a rapid increase in the number of developers adopting smart home solutions,” said Dobouny.-TradeArabia News Service