Bond, a company known for its smart home system compatibility, has announced that its Bond Bridge Pro now integrates with Mecho, a manufacturer of window shades for commercial applications.
“We’re excited to bring the Bond Bridge Pro integration to Mecho shades, enhancing user experience with seamless app control. For over 50 years, Mecho has led the way in commercial shading innovation, and this integration marks another step forward. Previously, only property managers could customize settings for end-users. Now, occupants in centrally managed commercial and MDU installations can personalize their shading experience directly through a dedicated app – delivering greater convenience and control,” comments Ray LeMonds, technical product manager, Mecho.
With the Bond Bridge Pro being a solution that can be used to bring app and home automation control to RF-remote operated motorized shades, this move represents Bond’s advancement from residential into large-scale commercial and multiple dwelling unit installations. It also brings, for the first time, app-based, voice-assisted and extensive automation systems control to Mecho shades.
“Bond’s expansion into large scale commercial shade installation with Mecho is an important milestone in the maturity of the Bond Bridge RF-to-WiFi platform,” says Zohar Shinar, CEO, Bond. “Bond got its start in the consumer DIY market in 2018, expanding into the window covering, ceiling fan, and home automation channels, where it has become the leading smart control platform for motorized shades today.”
Prior to this announcement, the company had also been on a tear adding new capabilities to its device ecosystem that would give it a stronger value proposition for outdoor installations with new additions to the portfolio being a weather sensor and weatherproofing kit.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
With the Bond Bridge Pro, users of Mecho motorized shades can now control individual shades from their phones, create groups and schedules, and command the shades by way of virtual assistant applications like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
“True to the nature of the Bond Home platform we have made sure that the setup of the app is simple and responsive,” notes Shinar. “Once a Mecho shade system is installed and fully wired by a Mecho authorized dealer, users and dealers can discover shades on the same subnet with a press of a button. Mecho entrusting us to deliver their first smart app experience is a testament to the level of the Bond user experience and the cooperation between the two companies.”
According to Bond, the Bridge Pro works with Mecho’s iQ2+, iQ2-DC, iQ3-DC, and iQ3-DC-RF motorized shades. Through this integration, Mecho shades can also be controlled with virtual-assistant applications such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and automation systems that include Crestron, Control4, Savant, Nice, Loxone, Josh.ai, URC, RTI, Hubitat, Homebridge and more, with the Bond Bridge acting as the gateway for these protocols.
“While Bond is known for bridging the gap between RF-controlled shades and ceiling fans in residential applications, what is special about our relationship with Mecho is that even though Bond has advanced in RF-to-WiFi, this integration is IP-to-IP [Bond Bridge Pro to MechoNet] delivering an App-based user experience. Our platform was tested extensively in Mecho installs for the last two years and now we are officially a go to bring Bond control into the demanding world of commercial installations,” adds Shinar.
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