Vivint, a home automation company, announced that it has launched the nation’s first smart grid training center. Richard Guerra, vice president of Vivint’s Smart Grid Division, will look after the facility.

The training center will prepare technicians for full scale AMI deployment, including the installation of home area network (HAN) and load control devices, EV chargers and much more. The 10,000-square-foot facility in Texas houses two fully equipped model smart homes outfitted with Vivint’s home automation, energy and security solutions.

Vivint will hire technicians from the project area and offer an extensive training program that will be specific to the awarded contract. All individuals will be certified as a class D, C, B or A level technician.

The training includes safety aspects, meter reading, handheld use, work order management, and customer service skills. Technicians will receive practical training in identifying and exchanging electric and water meters correctly, as well as the retrofit process for water and gas.

“It is very important that the data provided by a Smart Grid system be reliable and accurate,” said Guerra, in a statement. “This all starts with a quality installation. With this training facility, Vivint is establishing a new benchmark for what it means to be a well-trained smart grid installer.”

Vivint has set up the training facility to meet customer demands. AMI vendors and utilities are demanding better quality when it comes to the deployment of their meters. Industry players need to offer incredible benefits and better experience to customers if they want to succeed in smart grid industry.

Recently, Vivint announced it is rolling out a new fleet of branded vehicles to serve the company's expanded services offering and growing customer base. Vivint began distributing 330 Dodge Nitros to the company's field service technicians in 178 cities throughout the United States and Canada.

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