Van Nuys, Calif. — October 20, 2008 — AVAD LLC, America’s leading distributor of custom home electronics, has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Exceptional Innovation LLC, the Westerville, Ohio-based manufacturer of award-winning Life|ware–software that seamlessly merges home-automation and digital entertainment into a single, easy-to-use interface for homeowners.
With Life|ware, AVAD dealers can offer their customers a complete home automation solution that is simple and efficient to install, without requiring a full-time programmer on staff to make all the components work together. Also, Life|ware’s ease-of-use for the homeowner contributes to greater customer satisfaction and fewer call backs, leading to more repeat business and referrals for AVAD dealers.
As an AVAD Integration Partner, Life|ware gains access to AVAD’s network of more than 10,000 certified dealers, significantly expanding its reach within the custom installation market.
AVAD’s Integration Partner program creates repeatable and scalable solutions among its roster of best brands in custom home electronics, including Aprilaire, Escient, Lutron, Marantz, NetStreams, Niles Audio, Phillips, Panasonic web cameras, Polk, Pronto, RTI, Sirius, Universal Remote Control and now Life|ware. Each brand’s respective engineering department works together to provide a robust feature set with seamless interoperability.
The partnership with Life|ware strengthens AVAD’s commitment to providing dealers with the best brands in the industry, offering a multitude of complete and up-to-date products, including control, lighting, HVAC, security and distributed audio/video solutions. AVAD serves as a centralized resource center for a professional installer’s complete purchasing, support and training needs, eliminating the complications in dealing with multiple vendors. This provides dealers with a true, one-stop shop for projects on virtually any scale.
“Our dealers are looking for simple, yet sophisticated, solutions for whole-home integrated systems,” said Wally Whinna, executive vice president of marketing for AVAD. “That’s what makes Life|ware a great fit with AVAD’s product offering. Life|ware brings together home automation and digital entertainment with a simple touch of a button.”
Life|ware and AVAD will team together to provide in-field support, local dealer training at AVAD’s 37 US branches, and after-sale customer support to ensure dealers have all the information and tools they need to maximize their profitability with each Life|ware installation. Every AVAD branch will also feature a Life|ware Experience Center where dealers can bring their clients to interact directly with a fully-integrated Life|ware home automation system.
“We have recognized the need for dealers to get more pieces of their solution from one resource. Our hardware neutral approach and AVAD’s brand selection gives a dealer the best of both worlds,” said Steve Cashman, chief strategy officer of Exceptional Innovation. “Our programs with AVAD offer the most comprehensive approach for dealers in the integrated systems category.”
Talking Points
• AVAD has announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Exceptional Innovation, maker of Life|ware software that seamlessly merges home-automation and digital entertainment into a single, easy-to-use interface for homeowners.
• With Life|ware, AVAD dealers can now offer their customers a complete home automation solution that is simple and cost-efficient to install, without requiring a full-time programmer on staff to make all the components work together.
• Life|ware gains access to AVAD’s customer base of more than 10,000 certified dealers.
• Life|ware will be offered as part of AVAD’s innovative Integration Partners program, which creates repeatable and scalable solutions among AVAD’s roster of home technology manufacturers.
• All AVAD branches will feature a Life|ware Experience Center where dealers and their clients can interact directly with a fully-integrated Life|ware home-automation system.
About Life|ware
Based in the Westerville suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Exceptional Innovation produces Life|ware home control software and hardware for digital living. Life|ware creates a lifestyle experience that allows consumers to enjoy their digital entertainment, wherever and whenever they want, as well as manage their lighting, multi-room audio, HVAC, security, appliances and other subsystems, through a single interface by integrating the digital entertainment functionality of Media Center with whole-house automation and control. Led by software industry professionals with extensive experience with distributed computing based on open standards and open architecture, Exceptional Innovation combines Microsoft development expertise with years of home control experience to deliver simple, seamless, life-enhancing solutions for the digital home.
For more information about Life|ware, visit www.life-ware.com
About AVAD, LLC
AVAD, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ingram Micro, Inc., is the most complete home integration solutions provider in the United States. Offering customers the most trusted brands, AVAD stocks complete systems solutions for home theater, lighting controls, distributed audio/video, central vacuum and more. Further, the company is dedicated to dealer education, training and skill advancement, as evidenced by AVAD University’s over 450 online and classroom continuing education classes held each year. AVAD ensures just-in-time delivery from each of its 37 US locations and new Toronto and Calgary facilities.
Product lines that AVAD distributes and supports include: Acme Brackets, APC, Aprilaire, Artison, Atlantic Technology, Belden, Bose, Carlon ChannelPlus, Chief, Coleman Cable, H-P Products/Dirt Devil Central Vacuum Systems, D-Link, Draper, Dymo/RhinoPRO, Encore!, Escient, Fujitsu, Gefen, Goo Systems-Visual Reality, Inc., Harman Kardon, InFocus ScreenPlay, iPort, JVC Professional Products Company, Key Digital, Labor Saving Devices, Life|ware, Lutron, Marantz, Middle Atlantic Products, Inc., Midlite, MuxLab, NetStreams, Niles Audio, OmniMount, OnQ Technologies, OpenHouse, Optoma, Panamax, Panasonic Phones, Pantel, Peerless, Philips, Polk Audio, PROconnect, ProFlex, RTI, Rockustics, Samsung, Sharp, SharpVision, Spaun USA, Terk, Toshiba, Universal Remote Control, Velodyne and more.
In July 2005, AVAD was acquired by Ingram Micro, Inc., making its parent company the leading distributor for solution providers and custom integrators serving the fast-growing consumer electronics and home automation markets in the United States.
For more information about AVAD, visit www.avad.com.
Company Contact: Wally Whinna, Executive Vice President of Marketing, AVAD
Tel: 847-434-0888 x1101
Email: wally.whinna@avad.com
Media Contact: Coleen Sterns Leith, Marketing Matters
Tel: 954-925-1511
Email: coleen@marketingmatters.net
