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New App Allows Occupants to Tap Into 
IoT to Address Building Issues

Nov. 15, 2016
The Honeywell Vector Occupant App combines the convenience of mobile devices with connected-building features to give users more control over their comfort.

A new mobile software application from Honeywell addresses building occupants’ frustrations at not knowing whom to call when their work area is too cold or how to gain access to a facility when they forget their access card at home.

The Honeywell Vector Occupant App is said to combine the convenience of mobile devices with connected-building features to give users more control over their comfort levels and the ability to securely move about the workplace.

“Smartphones and apps continue to enhance our everyday lives, from allowing us to hail a cab to giving us direct insight into where we stand on a restaurant waiting list,” John Rajchert, president, Honeywell Building Solutions, said. “We’re now applying these same concepts of insight and control to how one interacts with a building. Buildings are alive and teeming with opportunities for users to interact with them—if you can make the right connections.”

The new app provides digital identification and integrates with core building functions, including access and comfort control, to enhance building occupants’ experience with the touch of a screen. The app’s access-control capability eliminates the need for physical cards or fobs and gives users secure access via their smartphones. Additionally, occupants can quickly and easily communicate temperature discomfort to prompt real-time adjustments instead of having to seek out a facility manager.

Facility managers are said to benefit from immediate insight into where and how comfortable occupants are, which allows them to make adjustments more quickly and easily. Meanwhile, the app’s digital identification and access-control capabilities are said to make managing occupant credentials easier, eliminating the need to keep track of and replace misplaced access cards.

“Occupant engagement is an increasingly important aspect of intelligent building solutions,” Casey Talon, principal research analyst with Navigant Research, said. “The smartphone app is an innovative new platform for gathering insight that can refine environmental conditions to optimize workspaces.”

Backed by a cloud-based architecture and enabled by HID Global’s Seos credential technology, the Honeywell Vector Occupant App works independently of underlying building systems, enabling widespread use and adoption. Facility administrators can use the app to manage user identification and credentials. Users who download the app must receive an invitation from the administrator to gain access to its features, which include:

  • Digital identification, which eliminates the need for plastic badges or temporary tags and solves the issue of outdated photo IDs by providing an up-to-date photograph.
  • Convenient access control, which builds on the app’s digital-identification feature, offering mobile-based access control that can be managed easily and eliminate the need to track and replace cards or fobs. Occupants have one less item to carry and can open doors from greater distances than with traditional key cards and fobs.
  • One-click hot/cold calls, which provide a quick and direct way for occupants to indicate when their work areas are too hot or too cold and to receive confirmation that their issues are being addressed. Facility managers are alerted to occupants’ discomfort right away and are able to view the location of the call, identify patterns, and quickly make adjustments.

The Honeywell Vector Occupant App works with Apple and Android products and is available on iTunes and Google Play.