Wiise become a Loxone Gold Partner
We’ve caught up with Dan Milne of Wiise to congratulate him and his team on achieving Loxone Gold Partner status! Read on to learn more about their journey to Gold, as well as how Loxone have helped grow their smart home business.
Hi Dan, can you start by telling us about your background and how you became interested in home automation?
I first started out as an electrician working with my Dad, who’s been in the industry for 50 years or so – I remember a time where he used to advise against using dimmer switches (only when they went wrong!). As I became more experienced, I started to take on the larger jobs, as he did the smaller ones.
The company has since expanded, and my colleague Melvyn was constantly telling me about the benefits of home automation and how we should offer it to our customers. He said that he’d visited the Loxone Showroom in Reading and seen some really cool things that smart home tech can do…
What made you decide to become a Loxone Partner?
When I saw how responsive the Loxone App was when dimming or even just turning lights on and off, I finally decided that it was time for us to ‘get smart’. Since then, it’s been full steam ahead for Wiise. We’ve always tried to be perfectionists and have been capable of handling large electrical jobs, and Loxone fits in with just that. Not to mention Melvyn’s programming background, and just how his brain works – he’s got the ‘smarts’!
The Wiise Team
Myself (Dan) – Boss Man/MD
I pretty much spend my time on the phone drinking coffee all day… well, that’s what the lads seem to think I do!
Melvyn – The ‘Bird Man’
There’s pretty much nothing that Melvyn can’t get his head around; the more complicated the better – Although I do sometimes have to filter his complicated jargon for the end user!
Mat – ‘Sparky’
He’s the guy who actually gets it all done, if it wasn’t for Mat, nothing would happen. If you need him to hurry up, you buy him a Wispa… He loves a Wispa bar.
Ben – Marketing Genius
Although the Marketing side of things is done from Australia, I’d say my brother’s doing a good job so far…
Simon – The IT Guy
My brother-in-law, supporting us when Luke is busy!
Also part of the team…
Luke
Luke’s always great encouragement; like Mat, he just gets things done.
Ben #2
Our newest addition to the team, he’ll be essential to the growth of the business as well as the smart home industry for years to come.
What makes Wiise different? What are your unique selling points?
Our selling point, although I’m not sure if it’s unique, is the fact that we’re experienced electricians. We’re just completing a retrofit job where we were required to move and consolidate the mains consumer units into one 3 phase consumer unit (confusing, I know!) We then spent a 5 day weekend whilst the customers were away, retrofitting Loxone Tree lights and switches across the home, and then move the mains unit.
I don’t think there are that many teams out there that can handle the complexity and scope of work that we can. Using Wiise means that there aren’t any grey areas on who’s responsible for something, we’ll take care of a project from start to finish. If it uses a wire, we’ll install, program, and maintain it.
What has your dedicated journey to Gold involved?
Our Journey to Gold has involved lots of hard work to meet all of the criteria of the Loxone Partner Program, however it’s all done now, and we’re better and stronger for it. The days that we just do general electrical work are a breeze now. All good fun though.
How would you encourage other Loxone Partners to reach for Gold?
Don’t think that you can fast track in the smart home industry – there’s a lot to learn; in fact, we’re always learning new things. However, I’d encourage other dedicated partners to go for gold, as it can really improve your business in a number of ways: increased turnover and profit are one thing, but it shows you have a high standard of installation and programming work too.
On top of this, your employees will find day-to-day work even more interesting. The industry is growing, and if you don’t grow with it, you’ll only be left behind!
What has been your biggest/favourite Loxone project? What challenges have you faced?
Our biggest so far is BIG. It’s still ongoing, but I’m not sure that we’ll ever complete another project of this size! Although the second fix isn’t due to start for a while yet, once it’s done it’ll be something for us guys to be very proud of. Loxone Tree has been an absolute godsend for this project, as it helped us immensely at the first fix stage. Although it’s been a huge challenge, we thrive on challenge.
The task that stood out most for us was calculating the UPS and generator backup for the entire house, working out exactly which appliances the customer wanted to stay uninterrupted in the event of a power cut, whilst the backup generator fired up. Where we installed RGBW Tree Spots everywhere, we thought them all going Red for a second or two could be quite fun, a bit like a submarine.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking of having Loxone installed, what would it be?
For anybody thinking of having smart home technology installed in their home, I would advise speaking to us. It’s absolutely essential that your smart home works smoothly and is installed by a professional team; the last thing you want is for it to be temperamental or clunky. Our main focus is to make sure that the end user really knows how Loxone’s fantastic features will help them in their day-to-day lives; it’s absolutely key that they fully understand all the possibilities available to them, and we pride ourselves in pushing the boundaries of electrical engineering combined with smart home technology and programming.
How have you benefited from living in a Loxone Smart Home?
Owning my own Loxone Smart Home is absolutely brilliant in so many different ways. It’s so convenient – now, when I enter a room, any room anywhere, I pretty much expect a light to come on for me. Not only that, I expect it to come on with the correct lighting mood for the time of day. Another one of my favourite features is how my Loxone Smart Home helps me save energy, meaning that I can look after the pennies as well as the environment!
What’s your favourite thing about being a Loxone Partner?
I may have said previously that, a few years back, dimmers and the wireless switching of outside lights was about as far as our company went in terms of venturing past standard electrical installation. Since experiencing the responsiveness of Loxone’s switches and control, we’ve never looked back. Business is busier than ever, and our day to day work is now much more interesting.
Working with Loxone is exciting given the growth of the company and the industry as a whole, and we are excited to grow with it as well as shape it for the better. One of our main focuses is the customer’s experience once we let them take control, however we’ll always be on hand to support them, as will Loxone.
Wiise Case Study – Wendover
Take a look at Wiise’s latest project – a prime example of how Loxone can create a truly smart home through intelligent design, comfort, energy-efficiency and more.