Product Line or Service

Notifact, utilizing fixed wireless technology, notifies equipment servicers and owners instantly and directly whenever equipment has failed or needs servicing. The user, typically the equipment servicer, configures the system with a standard web browser via the Internet at notifact.com. Configuration includes equipment type and location, alert descriptions and alert message delivery. The message delivery is very flexible and each diagnostic condition can be transmitted to different recipients via multiple delivery methods: e-mail, fax, beeper, computer or voice phone. The Notifact system also transmits each day to the Notifact Network Operating Center with equipment performance data. This data, together with the alert history of equipment failures, is used for equipment performance and reliability analysis.

The Notifact system is revolutionary because the Company is a first mover in this industry to merge both wireless connectivity and the internet. The monthly monitoring fee is significantly less than the cost of a phone line, yet is more reliable. The Notifact device list price is $800 compared to $5,000 to $10,000 for traditional building control and monitoring systems. Also, the user needs no special equipment or software other than internet access and a Notifact device installed on the monitored equipment.

Technology/Proprietary Rights

The product and Network Operating Center have been developed and operated for over one year with very high reliability. The product and system is proven and ready to go to market.
Notifact utilizes fixed wireless technology and an internet user interface. Several patents have been filed and are currently pending that may ultimately secure very broad proprietary protection in the field of equipment remote monitoring. Notifact has a worldwide, exclusive license to this technology for use in the HVAC/R field.

Market Opportunities

Traditional monitoring systems have relied upon extensive in-building wiring, complex and expensive controllers, phone lines and centrally manned monitoring operations. Notifact eliminates all of this infrastructure and provides communication directly between the equipment and the servicers in the field that need to receive the information. It does so at a cost level that opens up a huge market segment of light commercial buildings that, until today, have not been able to afford the remote monitoring systems typically installed in large commercial buildings.

The HVAC/R market in the US is over $80 billion. The immediate market opportunity for this remote monitoring business is substantial: more than 2.5 million light commercial buildings in the targeted market segments of retail, lodging, offices and healthcare depend on over 7.5 million pieces of essential mechanical equipment to operate their buildings. The Company’s primary customers will be independent local contractors and national building service contractors who perform commercial HVAC/R building service. The company needs to achieve less than 10% market penetration in a very targeted market to be highly successful.

The Notifact business model is a cumulative business because the recurring monitoring revenue will grow with the installed base of Notifact devices.

The captive audience of Notifact users will create high volume traffic of industry professionals, positioning Notifact as a vertical market portal for the HVAC/R industry. The Company plans to leverage this market portal to be a leader in B2B e-commerce for this industry by providing one-stop shopping for servicing contractors.

Also, the equipment operating data reported daily into the Notifact database creates a very valuable and powerful tool to analyze equipment performance and reliability. As the database grows, this information will become an equipment benchmarking resource for the industry.

Marketing/Sales and Distribution

The equipment servicer (contractor) will be the primary customer to purchase the Notifact device and to subscribe to the monthly monitoring service. To leverage our impact on the market our direct salesforce will focus its efforts on the large national service organizations and contractors. The Company has recruited three senior sales executives to focus on these customers.

We will capture the business from the smaller fragmented segment of servicing contractors through our marketing efforts and from resale by the distribution channels of the HVAC/R equipment manufacturers.

All of the major HVAC/R equipment manufacturers (Carrier, Trane, York, Lennox) have expressed a strong interest in developing a cooperative relationship with the Company to make their equipment “Plug & Play” compatible with Notifact. These major equipment manufacturers also seek to have their large national service organizations use Notifact as tool to expand their service business into the light commercial market.

Manufacturing

The company will focus its management time and financial resources on those critical competencies that will have the greatest impact on its competitive position. For that reason, the Company has outsourced manufacturing of the Notifact devices.
Competition

Notifact is a first mover to merge the internet and wireless connectivity for remote equipment monitoring in the HVAC/R industry. Notifact is the only remote monitoring system available on the market at a price cost effective for light commercial buildings.

While patents have been filed that may ultimately secure a very broad proprietary position, management believes that its first mover advantage, knowledge and relationships in the industry and its strategy to partner early with major HVAC/R equipment manufacturers will create significant barriers to future competitors. 

The major control system manufacturers are focused on the large and complex Energy Management Systems (EMS). The EMS systems they sell have been primarily restricted to the large commercial buildings due to their high installation cost and significant cost to maintain. The Company has targeted the light commercial building market where there is limited penetration with these EMS systems. 

The major HVAC/R equipment manufacturers have expressed their interest to partner with the Company rather than compete.