ADT to install panel in pilot

BOCA RATON, Fla.-ADT Security Services has been tapped to provide the security equipment and installation services for a four-month pilot program that will integrate General Motor's OnStar in-vehicle program with automated features in the home. Through the pilot, called OnStar at Home, consumers will be able to use OnStar's in-vehicle communications to remotely perform home security and home control functions such as locking or unlocking doors and operating the security system, thermostats and lights. Consumers can also view the interior of the home using webcams. The remote access can also be controlled by the use of cellular or standard telephones as well as a PC, wireless PDA or WAP phone. ADT technicians will install the company's high-end residential panel, the SafeWatch iCenter, in about 100 homes in the Detroit area and provide the homeowners with all other necessary equipment to use the OnStar at Home system for a four-month period, said Jay Stuck, vice president of residential marketing and corporate communications for ADT. "It's really going to be a four-month in-home focus group," Stuck said. "We'll come away with learning as to how we can better tailor product offerings to meet specific applications in the future." The equipment will be installed during the first quarter of this year. Three homes are already outfitted with ADT's Safewatch iCenter, Stuck said. ADT will also provide monitoring for the pilot program. Company officials at OnStar said the pilot was an opportunity to test how consumers will react to the different type of services offered through the program. "It also gives us the opportunity to validate the technology that allows the connectivity between the vehicle and the home systems," said Geri Lama, a company spokesperson. "There's a wide range of services here, touching many aspects of home connectivity; the pilot will help us figure out if any have real consumer appeal." The program also relies on an Ivensys in-home communications infrastructure, a Panasonic network camera and telephone system, a Hewlett-Packard application interface and the OnStar service. The program was announced by the Internet Home Alliance.