ATLANTA—Honeywell, a global leader in connected buildings, announced the launch of its next generation thermostat for the hospitality industry. Honeywell’s INNCOM e7 Thermostat (e7) is the first enterprise grade environmental control and energy management solution that incorporates Amazon Alexa voice control for an effortless guest experience that includes room temperature, lighting, drapery and amenities services. With its modern design with easy-to-use controls, the e7 is based on a patent-pending Smart Wall Plate design that provides hotel staff with an easy and reliable back-up of the device configuration. This makes routine maintenance or replacement of the e7 energy management system simple, even for other staff which helps reduce ownership costs.
The e7 automatically reduces energy costs and is compatible with most HVAC solutions and equipped for Honeywell’s Connected Guest integration. Now available for installation, the e7 can maximize guest comfort, energy savings, and operational efficiency. Honeywell’s INNCOM hospitality solutions are used in more than 1.5 million guestrooms around the world.
Honeywell’s INNCOM e7 Thermostat expands on its industry-standard energy management and network solutions. Honeywell integrated the newest voice-ready technology with an attractive flat panel to create a modern thermostat that goes beyond comfort. The e7’s guest-centric user interaction detects a guest’s proximity and displays appropriate information for guest interaction. The e7 Thermostat’s easy-to-understand user interface gives guests straightforward controls for guestroom comfort and other functions. The e7 also integrates with technologies from other companies including Crave and Intelity to control the entire guestroom environment from a designated tablet. These integrations and controls can even be expanded to any other in-room user interfaces such as smart TVs or video-on-demand boxes.
“The e7 is the first enterprise-grade voice-ready guestroom control solution,” said Thurman Melson, Vice President and General Manager, Honeywell Home and Building Technologies. “The e7 thermostat is designed for hospitality and compatible with Amazon Alexa voice control for temperature, lighting, drapery and amenity functions.”
Runs Atop Amazon Alexa Platform
The guestroom voice functionality of the e7 can also be deployed in conjunction with partner companies like Volara, the leading fully integrated voice-hub for hotel technologies. “Honeywell INNCOM is working with Volara to implement voice-based guestroom controls at multiple hotel properties,” said Dave Berger, CEO of Volara. “Our solution—which runs atop the Amazon Alexa platform—integrates seamlessly with Honeywell’s INNCOM. It enables guests and staff to control the thermostat, lights, drapery, and do not disturb signs from Honeywell, as well as other hotel technology. Volara provides the voice interface for these systems and the collaboration delivers a guest experience that is simply remarkable. We are proud of our work with Honeywell.” Berger noted that Volara is currently working with 25 hotel groups to enable guests and staff to engage hotel systems by voice.
The networked e7 Thermostat integrates with all major property management systems (PMS) to create a seamless solution for energy savings and guest comfort. When rooms are unrented, the e7 automatically sets back the room temperature until the PMS signals a guest has checked in. While rented, the thermostat provides guests with functionality that delivers personalized comfort control. The e7 helps reduce the total cost of ownership by minimizing room downtime and automatically capturing the thermostat configuration. Its wired or wireless flexibility enables simplified installation in new-build or retrofit properties. For maximum flexibility the e7 also provides standalone HVAC control and occupancy-based sensing that customarily requires a door switch monitor and motion sensor.
When used as a networked system, the e7 provides real-time and trended guestroom data to Honeywell’s INNCOM INNcontrol3 centralized property environmental system. This comprehensive property system monitors and displays room status, energy management efficiency analysis, and equipment malfunction alert reporting. This combined system enables the property team to proactively manage each guestroom’s environment to deliver guest comfort and efficient maintenance staff scheduling. Aside from the integrations inside the guestroom, the e7 can even provide the backhaul network communication for applications such as Central Electronic Lock Systems (Saflok, Timlox, Salto), guest amenities (Axxess), and even minibars (Bartech), making the e7 an intelligent choice as the Hotel Guestroom Gateway device.
With its connected building solutions, Honeywell designs, installs, integrates and maintains the systems that help keep facilities safe and secure, comfortable, productive and energy efficient. Honeywell’s solutions are in more than 10 million commercial buildings, including more than 1.5 million guestrooms around the world.
