Frost & Sullivan Applauds Deutsche Telekom's Breakthrough Innovation for the European Connected Home Market, the QIVICON Smart Home Platform
The technical and market innovation behind the QIVICON platform has encouraged major connected home vendors to partner with Deutsche Telekom
LONDON, Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the connected home market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Deutsche Telekom with the 2016 European Frost & Sullivan Award for New Product Innovation. Deutsche Telekom has broken new ground in the connected home market with its QIVICON smart home platform. This unique solution enables communication among various connected home systems through its Internet-connected gateway, the QIVICON Home Base control hub. The QIVICON open platform combines a secured network with reliable control to offer comfort and convenience to end users. By involving many connected home vendors in the development of an intelligent home network, Deutsche Telekom has created a milestone in the connected home ecosystem.
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A range of different models of the new QIVICON Home Base 2.0 will be offered, in keeping with the diverse range of wireless protocols found throughout the international market. While the different models all have an identical outward appearance, they differ in terms of their pre-installed protocols. For example, the model designed for the German market, and several other markets, already includes the protocols HomeMatic, Homematic IP, ZigBee Pro and the inclusion of DECT ULE has also been completed.
Another model includes the ZigBee Pro and Z-Wave protocols. All versions of the new Home Base 2.0 can be connected to home DSL routers either by cable or wirelessly, via Wi-Fi. In addition, users can integrate additional wireless protocols, via USB flash memories, as soon as interoperability with the QIVICON platform is assured. The Home Base 2.0 has two USB ports. And its design has been optimized to ensure aesthetic compatibility with just about any home environment.
Compatible actuators can carry out numerous tasks using timed schedules, autonomous of a central control point. It can also be directly controlled through the gateway by receiving commands from a user outside the home via a compatible application running on a smartphone or a tablet.
Deutsche Telekom's exclusive product development team for the QIVICON smart home platform employs the Design Thinking method, which is a popular in-house technique covering technical design, design flows, and user experience. The method involves 5 phases:
- First, the ideation phase helps glean ideas from early-user testing.
- The second phase validates the idea based on market relevance.
- The third involves the creation and visualization of use cases, including user testing on prototypes and beta testing.
- The development phase deals with coding and testing the platform.
- The final phase launches the product together with its B2B partners.
An additional phase occurs post-product launch, which is the feedback phase.
"Deutsche Telekom has powerful customer feedback mechanisms such as the 'Persona', in which one person from each user segment represents the key needs of a group of users in order to bring the best possible product to market," noted Bhaskaran. "Another vital tool that keeps Deutsche Telekom appraised on customers' views throughout the product lifecycle is the 'Customer Experience Blueprint'. During the early phase of product development, the company conducts customer interviews to learn potential users' opinions on the product and its features."
Deutsche Telekom tests all of its associated QIVICON products. Furthermore, it is working on obtaining the ISO 9001 certification to show that all of its processes are completed correctly and efficiently.
The QIVICON smart home platform is a fully scalable complete white label offer with a low upfront investment cost for the company's B2B customers. It offers an attractive licensing model and has also signed partnership deals with its B2B customers to serve as their platform provider. Some of its notable B2B partners include EnBW, eQ-3, Miele, Samsung, D-Link, eww, Huawai, KPN, OSRAM, Philips, Sonos and Vattenfall. The company is currently targeting markets pan-Europe to expand its presence with full-fledged sales and support services.
Deutsche Telekom has leveraged its deep understanding of customer needs in the connected home market to develop an innovative, customer-focused product. Its QIVICON smart home platform is positioned for sustained success as it addresses the core issues of quality, functionality, and reliability.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that develops an innovative element in a product by leveraging leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value-added features/benefits of the product and the higher ROI it offers customers, which, in turn, increases customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2015). The Group provides fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet, and Internet-based TV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has around 225,200 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 69.2 billion in the 2015 financial year – around 64 percent of it outside Germany.
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