February 4, 2004—In a recent study on the North American HVAC Thermostats Markets, Frost & Sullivan recognized Invensys’ I-Series programmable thermostat, calling it the most revolutionary product to hit the market in recent years.
For its leadership in terms of technology innovation, product innovation, and new product development, Invensys has been named the recipient of the 2003 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award in the thermostat market segment for its I-Series. Frost & Sullivan presents this award each year to the company that has best demonstrated the capability to develop or advance products in more innovative ways than other market participants. It recognizes the company’s successful adoption of new or existing technologies that have become a part of its well-designed product family.
In its analysis, Frost & Sullivan found the Invensys I-Series successfully combats a major industry challenge—the customer perception that programmable thermostats are too difficult to use. As energy prices have increased, sophisticated electronic thermostats have been introduced for energy conservation. Many consumers have avoided this change, settling for the mechanical thermostats rather than programmable thermostats, due to perceived complications in use.
Invensys’ easily comprehendible I-Series thermostats are largely the result of its accurate perception of customer requirement and its ability to deliver exactly what is expected in a programmable thermostat. In order to do so, Invensys formed focus groups comprising of contractors and the actual end users that are the decision makers in thermostat purchase.
Invensys asked these contractor focus groups to list product features such as quality, availability, brand strength, price, ease of use, and innovation, and to evaluate their importance, providing valuable feedback on the attributes contractors look for in a thermostat. Consumer focus groups were asked to choose their favorite programming methods, followed by a one-on-one interview for refinement and final evaluation.
Since the menu-driven programming method was the overwhelming favorite, Invensys launched the menu-driven I-Series programmable thermostat. Invensys also incorporated multilingual capability. The Invensys I-Series thermostat display has three language options—English, Spanish, and French.
For more information, contact Invensys.
