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INTERVIEW
– Simon Leblond and Ken Sinclair
Simon Leblond,
Director Strategy & Customer Experience, Viconics
Technologies Inc.
• Serial entrepreneur with a background in economy and a strong understanding of technology markets.
• Co-founded SCL Elements (CAN2GOŽ) in 2009.
•
Previously co-founded and headed SCL Medtech from 2004 to 2009, a
manufacturer of specialized equipment for medical and industrial
research.
•
Began his career in 2000 as an entrepreneur and investor with Manolson
& Leblond, a real estate investment and management company that he
co-founded.
•
Holds B.Sc and M.Sc. degrees in Economics from the University of
Montreal. Has complementary training in Biology from UQAM, Accounting
from HEC-Montreal and in Technology Entrepreneurship from the MIT.
Partnership
between Viconics and SCL Elements
opens new horizons for control systems
Sinclair:
Viconics Technologies has recently
joined forces with SCL Elements, can you tell us a little about this?
Leblond: Viconics is
very excited about its new partnership with SCL elements. Together we
are working diligently to bring our innovative building management
system to the next level. This partnership opens new horizons and
establishes Viconics as a center of excellence for building solutions
and wireless technology. The expertise we have gained in the
industry over the years is being melded together to create a very
unique solution. This new “Small Building System,” will provide power
and flexibility which goes beyond what currently can be achieved with
other systems on the market and will allow integrators to offer
customers a more complete control solution.
Sinclair:
What changes can your customers
expect to see as a result of this partnership?
Leblond: Our customers
can expect to see more great innovative solutions being added to our
existing product line in the coming year. We will continue to focus on
control systems which integrate both wired and wireless solutions into
small building systems. This offers greater flexibility and lower
installed cost to the end user. We can now greatly extend how
many wireless devices can be controlled with our new system, allowing
us to offer a complete ecosystem of peripheral devices which we can
control. This includes Thermostats, Valve Actuators, Carbon Dioxide
sensors, switches, key cards and much more!
Sinclair:
What will be your main focus for
the near future?
Leblond: Providing
energy savings and occupant comfort is still at the forefront of our
objectives for our customers but now we can compliment this and go
beyond simply controlling HVAC systems. We can now provide improved
methods of monitoring your building remotely via a web browser. We can
also tap into new areas such as lighting, metering, usage trending and
other areas of control management which were not readily accessible to
us in the past. Together we are able to offer a complete wireless
ecosystem providing the flexibility to achieve most any control
applications. This can all be done with a lower deployment cost so both
facility managers and building owners will benefit from a much quicker
return on investment.
Sinclair:
I attended the Haystack Connect
event in Chattanooga and I noticed that Can2Go was a sponsor at this event,
but the booth at the event was Viconics. Can you explain the evolving
relationship?
Leblond: For the
remainder of the year the Viconics and Can2Go brand will be appearing
at various trade show events together. We want our customers to clearly
understand that the Can2Go solutions are being integrated into the
Viconics product line and will continue to be available and evolve
through the Viconics channels. Having experts for both solutions at
such events allows us to answer any questions quickly and accurately.
The Haystack Connect event was a very good example of this. We received
many interesting questions regarding both solutions and traffic to our
booth was very active with visitors throughout the event!
Sinclair:
Also when we click on Can2Go link
it still takes us to their web site? Will they still operate as a
separate identity or will they become part of Viconics?
Leblond: This is an
excellent question. Currently Can2Go will continue to operate as usual
but the products will eventually be integrated into the Viconics web
site where they will be presented alongside the Viconics products and
solutions. This will be a seamless process which will not cause any
issues with any existing customers. Products will continue to be
supported and information and training will always be available to our
customers.
Sinclair:
When you click on (How and Where
to buy) it states "We will put you in
contact with the sales rep for your region." Will the Can2Go
dealers be maintained? Or will this switch to the Viconics network?
Leblond: Yes the
sales and support for the Can2Go products and solutions will be
maintained but will eventually be integrated into Viconics where they
will be increased. Existing customers can contact their usual sales
representatives for any questions they may have. These channels of
support will continue to be available under the Viconics brand moving
forward. There will be no disruption of pre or post sales support as
the integration process is completed and with our sales teams joining
forces we will be able to offer even more sales presence to our
customers moving forward.
Sinclair: This sounds very exciting, when will we
be able to see some of these new solutions?
Leblond: We are
certain that both our new and existing customers and partners will be
extremely pleased with our new offerings which will be available this
summer and ramped up during the rest of the year. They will be
showcased at the 2014 AHR Expo which will be the 22 consecutive year
Viconics will be exhibiting at the show.
The future is brighter than ever for
the new technology which is being developed at Viconics with the added
expertise of SCL Elements. We are taking definite steps in the right
direction in facilitating how energy management systems can be more
effectively deployed in order to achieve greater energy savings optimal
reliability and easy installation required to make your next project a
success!
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