Novi looks to bridge gap between DIY/MIY and traditional companies

DIY and MIY—Monitor-It-Yourself—have been big topics lately. Gavin Tanner, VP of marketing for the new startup DIY security company Novi, told me that Novi is looking to “bridge the gap” between the DIY and traditional security companies.

Tanner said that Novi bridges this gap by offering a spectrum of options, ranging from MIY, pay-as-you-go monitoring, and constant professional monitoring.

I recently saw a report comparing Novi to nationals like Vivint and ADT. A primary difference is Novi doesn't charge monthly fees, installation costs or have contracts, while traditional security companies do. I wanted to take a closer look at the main differences is both installation and monitoring.

Novi's product, the Guard, incorporates a camera, smoke detector, motion sensor and into one device. The Guard is battery operated and connects to a hub linked with the user's router. It has not been officially released, Tanner said, but roll out should begin in the next 6 weeks. The most basic model of Novi's system is entirely DIY install and MIY.

“We offer you the DIY benefit of self install … there's no contracts, there's no monthly fees to use it,” Tanner said. “That being said, we have additional features that you can add-on, features that you would often find at a traditional security company like ADT.”

“We [will] offer professional monitoring at a monthly rate, [but] there's still no contract—you can opt out at any time. We offer cloud storage—which, again, [has] no contract.” It can also incorporate a cell connection, he said.

Tanner said Novi's monitoring would be at a third party monitoring center, though he declined to say which central station.

Novi is currently exploring a pay-as-you-go option for professional monitoring as well, Tanner said. As examples of pricing, Tanner estimated full monitoring would cost around $8 to $12 dollars per month, or $4 to $5 per week.

Tanner said that the company is exploring how to give customers the option of professional installations, through installers close to them.

Novi is based and manufactured in Orem, Utah.