hank you for reading the IVCi Home newsletter, we are thrilled to be sharing our passion for home automation with you. We hope you are enjoying this forum for sharing knowledge and opinions about the latest in home automation technology, and are inspired to create the high-tech home of your dreams.

IVCi Home began as a natural progression of the work we do at IVCi. IVCi specializes in audio visual systems for corporations, so it was only a matter of time that we progressed into the residential market, using our own exceptionally qualified and experienced in-house resources. We have in-house project managers, CAD engineers, Crestron Certified programmers, and lead installers. In this way, we offer our IVCi Home clients the same superb level of service and support that IVCi clients have been experiencing for years.

At IVCi Home we work closely with our clients to deliver solutions that are equally as stylish and sophisticated as they are high-tech. Each client's concept of high-tech home living is unique, and this is reflected in our designs. Clients want their homes to enhance their distinctive lifestyle, and they come to us to turn their vision into a reality. We have designed this newsletter so as to share some of our success stories with you.

Each quarter we showcase interviews with industry experts, top architects and designers who use systems integration, products to watch, and more. We encourage feedback form our readers, so please take the opportunity to ask our home automation experts any questions you may have at info@ivcihome.com—we will respond in the next newsletter if your question is selected.

n this suburban Westchester County, New York new construction, we were given the challenge of a full home automation and audio visual project. The home is over 5,000 sq. ft. with direct water views and a private dock.

For this project, the client, who is in the entertainment business, entertains and travels quite a bit. While home, he wanted to enjoy home entertainment; while away, he wanted to monitor his house. The requirements for the project included lighting control, HVAC control, security system integration whole house audio and a home theater.

We worked extensively with the electrical contractor on proper lighting requirements and placement. The HVAC contractor on balanced temperature settings and outside temperature readings. The security contractor on monitoring the security settings and emergency procedures.

The architect was instructed to maximize the views of the water and the placement of our electronics. Structured wiring, wireless networks, telephone system and multi zone audio were put into play. Displays through the house were all wall hung for a clean, fresh look.

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Bill Shafer of Crestron

1. What is the origin of Crestron?

The company was started 35 years ago in New Jersey primarily as a small business focusing on control systems for the commercial marketplace - specifically, commercial A/V control systems. That evolved into other types of markets including residential which really took off in the mid 90's. In addition to those areas, we are also in the gaming, government, university, casinos and airport markets.

2. What makes Crestron such a great product and why do people use it in their homes?

That's a great question and I like to use the automotive industry as an analogy to the homes. If you go back 20 years ago to a car—if you got power steering and power brakes, that was a big thing or even power windows—that was a luxury back then. In homes, 20 years ago, it was about the layout, the location, some new things in architecture were happening like great rooms or a deck. But if you look today, the technology that we live with has greatly increased. In our cars—GPS technology, audio hard drives, Bluetooth, built in telephones, cameras and other luxuries are now standard in some vehicles. The same thing is happening in our homes; we've got home theaters, we're spending much more time in our homes—we want to be entertained in our homes and entertain in our homes now more than ever. Therefore, things get more complicated with aspect ratios for plasmas, 7:1 surround sound settings, motorized blinds. The thing that Crestron does is bring all these different sub-systems into one easy-to-use touchscreen—where with one touch of a button—things go into motion behind the scenes—while staying simple.

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LIGHTING CONTROL

Q and A with Richard Hollander

An integrated lighting control system is an essential element of a complete home automation experience. The days of five, six or seven switches on one wall are gone. You can now operate all of those lights using a single wall-mounted keypad.

Q: How can I use automated lighting as a way to protect my home while I'm away?

A: One of the best security features is a lighting design called vacation mode. The system recalls the past two weeks of lighting sequencing for the entire home, and can play the sequence back while the home owner is away. In this way, the appearance of activity is suggested even when you are not there.

Q: How I can get all the lights in my house to be at the perfect setting every time I walk in the room?

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