2GIG's first gig is Apx

NEW YORK—Upstart manufacturer 2GIG Technologies got its first order for panels Oct. 28 and it was a big one: Summer-model giant Apx Alarm, which sold roughly 160,000 accounts this year, announced it will be installing 2GIG Technologies' “GO!Control” panel and peripherals in 2010.

Jim Nye, Apx VP of business development, told Security Systems News that Apx has been beta testing the system in the field for several months. “We've got 2,000 panels installed nationwide and the feedback has been very positive,” he said. Nye's been working with 2GIG for about a year “on the integration of the product, making sure it fits the back-end and other processes.”

Co-founded by Honeywell veterans Lance Dean and Scott Simon, 2GIG's GO!Control panel is a self-contained, all-in-one security and home management system panel with a color LCD touchscreen.

What does this deal mean to 2GIG? “I think it brings validation that we have a quality, state-of-the-art, forward-looking product,” Simon said.

Production is ramped up and ready to go, said Dean. The Apx deal will be the first of many orders, he said. “We are ready, willing and able to do more,” he said. “We're in discussion with several key security companies.” 2GIG is “putting together a game plan to roll out the product with [select] distributors” as well.

Asked if the typical Apx customer would be likely to purchase additional services, Nye said in many cases, yes. However, one of the reasons Apx likes 2GIG, he said, is because it will help “broaden our demographic” to include customers looking for more complex and more expensive systems.

“We love the technology platform that will allow [us and] customers to add additional [or upgrade] services via the cellular network,” Nye said. Apx believes the system will lower the company's customer service costs because a greater number of systems can be serviced remotely, versus sending a technician out to the home. Apx also likes Alarm.com's cellular technology, an integral part of the 2GIG product, which gives customers the ability to control the system remotely and receive alerts.

2GIG's co-founders Dean, Simon and president Todd Santiago, were walking the show floor at ISC East on Oct. 28.

Technology such as “home automation and energy management has not typically been for the masses,” Santiago said. “This product [will] include these features and bring them to the masses. That's what dealers need.”