by Shane Henson — July 4, 2012—The Siemens Building Technologies Division has added a Touch Panel solution for room operation to its growing line of room automation products. The solution is based on Web standards and provides intuitive operation of lighting; shading; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) installations and other equipment, says Siemens.
A variety of operating controls are typically found in rooms with a large number of different elements (HVAC, lighting, shading, projectors, etc.), or those that have a complex floor plan. For facilities managers or anyone preparing a room for a meeting, having to find and then fumble with various controls can be both frustrating and a time waster. With its new Touch Panel solution for room operation, the Siemens Building Technologies Division eliminates this common problem.
According to Siemens, this solution integrates all operating controls used in the room into a central touch-sensitive screen, thus providing a single user interface for intuitive operation of all disciplines and devices. The Touch Panel solution from Siemens is suitable for meeting, conference and training rooms as well as for open-plan offices, and offers central control of entire floors and zones. In addition, the system is ideal for use in hotels and hospital rooms.
The Touch Panel solution from Siemens is nearly infinitely scalable and maximizes customer flexibility, adds the company. The more control options that are integrated, the easier it is to see the cost advantages over a conventional solution based on switches. Changes to room usage or new room partitions resulting from organizational or tenant changes can be made right in the software. This often eliminates the need to lay new cables or install additional switches. The Touch Panel solution can be used with screens of different sizes permanently installed in the wall as well as wireless mobile panels.
Busy facilities managers will also appreciate that the graphic-user interface of the Touch Panel solution is both user friendly and clearly organized. The interface is designed so that users can access predefined scenarios and frequently used functions right from the start screen; only in rare cases is it necessary to switch to the detail settings. The integrated disciplines, such as lighting, shading, heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as other equipment, can be controlled together through these scenarios. For example, when selecting the projector presentation scenario, the blinds are lowered, the lights are dimmed, and the ventilation system is turned on. If needed, all settings and values can be edited manually on the detail pages for each discipline.
