TOLL BROTHERS, INC. The future of home automation is here, and for buyers of Toll Brothers homes, it’s on the menu.
The national luxury home builder began offering home security monitoring services more than 20 years ago through its ancillary business, Westminster Security. Today, Westminster Security has expanded its offerings with innovative products and services related to home automation, and recently changed its name to TBI Smart Home Solutions.
“While the name change for us is new, we’ve been in this space for many years and think we have created something no other builder can match,” explains Felicia Ratka, president of TBI Smart Home Solutions.
Still providing home security monitoring for more than 7,000 Toll Brothers homeowners nationally, TBI Smart Home Solutions has seen a steady rise in the desire for smart home control. In response, Toll Brothers built home automation into the process of choosing options for the home.
TBI Smart Home Solutions provides each buyer with the opportunity to consult with one of its low-voltage contractors at either a Toll Brothers Design Studio, or in a model home in their community of choice. Buyers are given a selection of home technology options available for their home to begin making the technology choices that will positively impact life in their home.
“The expansion of our platform of services has allowed Toll Brothers to become the first national home builder to offer this level of smart home products in all of our communities,” says Ratka. “And with more than two decades of experience in home control and automation, we have a strong understanding of what it takes to prepare a home, coordinate installation of systems, and most importantly, expertly execute setup of these systems.”
With a goal to deliver a “smart home” that meets the needs of each buyer, TBI Smart Home Solutions offers choices ranging from a home security system—which Toll Brothers homeowners receive for free with the purchase of a monitoring agreement—to smart home systems which allow the buyer to control security, lighting, room temperature, locks, and more, through their web-enabled device. All systems have the ability to integrate voice control through both Amazon’s Echo speakers with Alexa and with Google Home Devices.
Much like the Toll Brothers approach to home building, the TBI Smart Home Solutions approach to building a home automation system is about offering buyers choice. With two platforms to choose from (Alarm.com and Control4), Toll Brothers home buyers can make selections that meet their smart home goals, and their budget.
“Smart home control is such a highly personalized thing,” states Ratka. “What matters to me in home control might not matter to someone else. Offering a solution to fit each buyer’s demands is not easy on a national scale. We are proud we have been able to accomplish that.”
If a buyer is uncertain about their preferences, they can demo almost all of the solutions at one of the Toll Brothers Design Studios or in the model home in their community of choice. With specialties including security and video, comfort and energy savings, and audio and video for entertainment, Toll Brothers provides buyers with the expertise they need to get what they want.
Ratka explains, “True home automation innovation in home building requires a ton of research to find the right selection of products and services which can be leveraged across all home types, in all communities, and will meet the buyer’s wants and needs, not just today, but also five years from now. Plus, it needs to be easy, which is probably the hardest part about offering home technology.”
Home control solutions are offered to buyers in all single-family, estate, and carriage collections, as well as townhome communities.
An award-winning Fortune 500 company founded in 1967, Toll Brothers embraces an unwavering commitment to quality and customer service. Toll Brothers is currently building in 20 states nationwide and is a publicly owned company whose stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TOL). For three years in a row, Toll Brothers has been ranked the #1 Home Builder Worldwide on the FORTUNE Magazine “World’s Most Admired Companies®” list. The company was also honored as national Builder of the Year by BUILDER magazine, and was twice named national Builder of the Year by Professional Builder magazine.
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Cheryl Spais Toll Brothers, Inc. 215-938-8221 cspais@tollbrothers.com Kira Sterling Toll Brothers, Inc. 215-938-8220 ksterling@tollbrothers.com
