Essential Install | Touchscreens and Programming
Customer Interfacing
Daniel J Sait looks at developments in the main point of contact that
users have with any automation system, the touchscreen.
New Desk top and
wall mounted control
options from URC in
the form of the TDC-
7100 and TKP-7600
Distributor AWE took on the URC brand several years
ago now and has seen the company transform
its offering from a platform that
looked and felt very ‘American’
to a much slicker proposition
well suited to appealing to
European tastes, particularly
in terms of aesthetics. This
transformation is perhaps best
represented by the brand’s
latest touchscreen releases with
the TDC-7100 and TKP-7600
to work in concert with its Total
Control automation platform.
The TDC-7100 is a tabletop
controller and the TKP-7600
an in-wall variant. AWE says
the two new products focus
on performance, design and
effi ciency.
Designed to provide
primary whole-house control
of entertainment and smart
home products, both feature a
seven-inch colour touchscreen,
built-in camera, microphone and AV
intercom, making them suited for door
integration, room to room and whole house
communication. The tabletop controller includes an
integrated charging base which means that this product
is a good match for installation in the kitchen, bedroom
or family room.
As well as a wider gamut of control, the screens have
received a speed upgrade, enhanced graphics and
sensor-based wake-up function. With network cameras,
the TDC-7100 and TKP-7600 can display live video for
surveillance and both offer visual status feedback from
URC devices as well as third-party products.
More traditional looking and feeling controllers have
not been abandoned altogether, however, as URC’s MX
HomePro platform uses a remote control which will be
more familiar to many AV users as well as an App for
control via a smart handheld product. The MX HomePro
is designed as a simple to set up single room control
system and so needs a less sophisticated interface and
has gone with a supplied remote. The system offers a
cloud-based approach to control, but AWE is keen to
point out this is not a DIY system, fi lling the need for an
affordable, but professionally fi tted system. The URC
MX HomePro offers users one-touch
control of home entertainment and
IoT devices, including lighting,
thermostats, security cameras and
Z-Wave products. The remote control
features a two-inch colour LCD
screen, connect via Wi-Fi or Ethernet
to the system’s smart hub controller.
The free to download MX HomePro
App is also available offering smart
device control at home or whilst out
and about.
For the installer, this system
is extremely easy to programme
and monitor. The MX HomePro
offers dealers simple, web-based
programming via PC, Mac or
mobile and allows for servicing
to be managed remotely. Limited
training is required for the URC
HomePro system, meaning
companies can concentrate on
project creation and cut installation
time for smaller projects.
On the control and
programming side of Total Control,
URC has introduced a number of
new two-way control modules and
has increased functionality. The
additions have been designed in-
house at URC and are free of charge
to installers who have purchased a
URC system through AWE. First up, Total
Control is now able to integrate with Amazon Echo so
users can now control music, heating, lighting and more
by voice. Security continues to be an attractive function
for many consumers and so URC has also introduced
a module for Doorbird door entry allowing consumers
to control and view who is at the door. A logical step
for URC was also to develop drivers for other brands in
the AWE stable and so the system can now speak with
window treatment brand QMotion. The URC platform
now also features more reactive push notifi cations,
geofencing and software scheduling.
AWE continues to offer full technical support
and training for the URC brand. All of the new URC
developments can be witnessed at EI Live! in the AWE
Village, come check them out on May 10-11, Sandown
Park, Esher, Surrey.
Premium custom whole-house
automation and control
Distributed in the UK by AWE Europe Ltd
[email protected]
+44 (0)1372 729 995
www.awe-europe.com
10th-11th May 2017, Sandown Park, Surrey. Sponsored by
April 2017 | 59