How intelligent is your house? What if we tell you that in our days is very simple to transform the place you are living in into a smart one, and it is not as expensive as you might think. It can be cheaper than a last generation iPhone or a Galaxy Fold smartphone. More than this, in Moldova we have a company that developed its own software and system for smart houses. We are speaking about iDomus, which became a resident of Moldova IT Park amongst the first.

We visited the company to test the system and to better understand how they transform the world we’re living in. To our amazement, we discovered a simple to use system, adaptable to daily needs and to our realities.

Smart house is becoming more accessible

In our days, all of us are looking for comfort, safety and qualitative materials at a reasonable price. This is also the credo of iDomus, according to Olga Oncea, director of the company.

But wait, can a typical Moldovan house be transformed into a smart one? The company’s representative said its absolutely real and useful. There is only one thing to remember, this is better to be done when you start a renovation or when the new house is in construction. Home wiring is a very important part of “smarting” the house. Company is still using cables due to safety and security reasons. Radio or infrared transmission of information still can be jamming.

“We started to do smart houses when it was considered as a luxury thing, very expensive and hard to use. We decided to change this paradigm in Moldova and created a software-very easy to use, even by children or old people. But even more important is its accessibility as it has a reasonable price between 500 and 1.500 Euros”, affirms the company’s director.

After the house is connected to the intelligent system, the owner and house’ users need to install an app on Android or iOS devices with Internet connection. From it, the person can set different parameters for climate in the house, security and access into the building, environment and other utility services. Their entire system was developed by a local team, after consulting best practices from Europe and America.

“We are not doing automation of some individual processes, we are offering a complex service. This means that we can automate all the systems that you have in your house, from lighting and air conditioning to security. All these can be controlled by a simple app from your smartphone. One of the innovations that we bring is that our products cost 5 or even 6 times less than the foreign ones” concluded Olga.

What system is used?

The developing team had a lot of ideas on how to build a sustainable and accessible smart house. Some of them were not implemented because of security issues, some – because of price reasons. Finally, they concluded that will use Raspberry platform to develop own solution.

“The team had enough experience and skills to do this. And, as you can see, we did it” Olga affirms.

In the world, Raspberry was initially used to control computers, create game experiences, or handle sophisticated business tasks. Shortly, the systems became a cost-effective solution for managing smart products, including the one around the home.

In the world, Raspberry was initially used to control computers, create game experiences, or handle sophisticated business tasks. Shortly, the systems became a cost-effective solution for managing smart products, including the one around the home.

Who developed the idea?

Back in 2011, a small team of 5 people started to think about bringing smart home concept to Moldova. They are currently part of iDomus team.

“As iDomus we started to activate about 4 years ago, in 2015, but we are working together from 2000. We implemented projects in different domains: security, telecommunications and others. We did a lot of common activities and always were interested in technologies and bringing new ideas to Moldova. Always we wanted to do something new, innovative in Moldova” remembers Olga.

Now, the iDomus team means 10 people with different activity profiles, but with a common goal, to make the clients more loyal and to convince people that a smart home is not a dream, but a real and affordable system developed in our country.

Why local products?

“Market, as well as people that live in Moldova, were not ready for our product. We announced our idea at a national exhibition and people were coming to watch it like a show. They didn’t come to buy; they came to see what it is and were waiting for a show with unreal effects. They weren’t ready that smart home can be a simple software installed in your phone” says Olga.

However, even if people are still looking sceptic to the products developed by a local team, the market evolved very fast and the product was accepted. Some of them are thinking that a Moldovan product can be as good as a foreign one. Others are coming with so called homework done. They read on Internet about different systems, did some comparison and are asking for concrete aspects.

“In order to convince people to buy our product we show our advantages. Local solutions are more attractivebecause of its affordable price, first of all. Secondly, the technical support is located locally, no need to wait for foreign specialists to fix something. Not least, the scenarios in the system are set by the customer itself, no need to call for and pay an engineer. Nevertheless, our engineers arealways ready to help and offer support” told us company’s leader.

iDomus is the only company from Moldova that produce such complex system for smart home. Their clients are coming from Chisinau, and suburbs, as well as from Ialoveni, Ungheni and other districts. Also, the company is working on improving their software, and adding new functionalities. They enjoy this evolution andthus continue to explore solutions for smart-buildings and smart-cities, meanwhile looking to expand their activity on Romanian and Ukraine markets.

Moldova IT Park as a possibility for development

iDomus told us that they waited for this initiative, and consider that Moldova IT Park revitalized the IT sector.

“If the law wasn’t adopted and finally implemented, I think that a lot of companies would have closed their activity and specialists immigrated to other countries. It was a good solution, because the fiscal burden was so high. For our company, for example, it was reduced by over 3, and this help us a lot” concluded Olga.

At the beginning of 2018, when the iDomus joined Moldova IT Park, the company was in the phase of active development, based on research, product development and marketing investments.

“We had no doubts about joining Moldova IT Park, and we did it” Olga affirms.

Also, iDomus told us that they are ready to join big projects, where all the companies come with their own implication. So, if you have some ideas in mind, you can contact them.

Interested in finding out more about IDomus and other resident companies?
Take a look at their COMPANY CARDS.