The potential of the smart home industry is clear as we see every home of tomorrow being equipped with integrated technology. And this represents a big business opportunity especially for engineering and installation companies.
For KNX professionals, there is a huge opportunity to expand on service offerings and grow profit by providing a start-to-finish home integration business. Control4, the leading automation platform from Snap One, is growing in popularity across markets in Europe. The Control4 OS3 operating system integrates seamlessly with KNX and includes built-in KNX support. For KNX installers looking to grow their home automation skillset and business, the Control4 Automation Programmer course is an excellent option.
Our Control4 Authorised Education Centre in Barcelona runs three sessions of the Automation Programmer training each month for up to six partners at a time. With courses offered in English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, the Genesis AEC has three main aims: to train our partners to guarantee, maintain and raise the level of projects being delivered with Control4 systems, to help existing partners to on-board new engineers by ensuring they are fully up to speed with best practice from the start, and, crucially, to introduce newcomers to the smart home industry.
As well as carrying out training in the partner’s preferred language, this localised training also takes into account local market elements, such as, building regulations and market maturity. This means, for example, that we will have a particular focus on system design and documentation and on service contracts, which are essential to ensure the customer gets as much value out of the system for as long as possible, as these are yet to be adopted at scale in all markets.
The training programme itself comes in four parts, with partners moving through each stage to ensure they have a comprehensive and rounded knowledge base. Stage 1 involves an Introduction to Control4 alongside Snap One’s networking and remote monitoring brands, Araknis and OvrC. This stage takes 2-4 hours and is run in each of our offices in Barcelona, Marbella, Milan, Paris and Lisbon. Stage 2 is A First Hands-on Experience (we call it a “play-day”) with Control4, Araknis and OvrC, in a full day course also being run from our offices.
Stage 3 is the full Automation Programmer Certification Course, taking four days to complete on site at the AEC. Automation Programmer is the only AV and automation-centric certification that combines guided, practical learning with an expertly developed curriculum. This specialised training program focuses on the fundamentals of programming the Control4 ecosystem and gives Snap One partners the tools and knowledge to create bespoke, intricate, and reliable projects for their customers. It starts with understanding simple AV automation processes and quickly develops to give them the knowledge for a complex whole home project build. The course combines theory with hands-on practice, in eight engaging, fast-paced modules and a final two-part exam.
Completion of Automation Programmer enhances the participant’s knowledge and understanding of AV concepts and connectivity of devices, along with the ability to confidently design and deliver a bespoke customer experience. Once completed, in Stage 4, we follow up with all delegates on the final stage of their journey, providing specific product training online in 15-30-minute sessions at times to suit them. For newcomers, many of whom come from a KNX or HVAC background (so are technically skilled but new to the Control4 automation platform), we focus on the logic of configuring instead of programming and the impact of having an operating system for the entire home that can integrate easily with KNX and bring even greater benefits to the homeowner.
Several Genesis HTA team members are involved in the training sessions, and they’ve all been integrators themselves, so our partners know that their trainers have walked in their shoes, faced similar problems and understand the customers they work with. They also know that we’ll be on hand at any point if they have questions or concerns.
Further details on Snap One and its brands can be found at www.snapone.com. For more information on Genesis HTA, visit www.genesis-tech.eu.
