Brivo, a global player in cloud-based physical security, has acquired Parakeet Technologies, a provider of smart building solutions which include sensors, thermostats, wireless locks and lighting controls. The acquisition — the first in the company’s 20 year history — accelerates Brivo’s ongoing push to enhance its in-building capabilities beyond its current access control, video and security. The companies had already been working together as partners, and now plan a deeper integration between their products, including a common user interface, unified billing and bundled services.

“We saw Parakeet’s IoT platform as an ideal way to quickly bring smart office capabilities to our channel partners and end users,” said Steve Van Till, president and CEO of Brivo. “Parakeet has a great track record of providing highly reliable remote management to widely dispersed properties, and they share our core values around customer service, cyber security and innovation.”

The Parakeet product leverages cloud services, mobile apps and an on-premise IoT gateway. The gateway provides connectivity to Z-wave sensors, locks, thermostats, lighting and other devices. Internet connectivity to the gateway is supported via WiFi, Ethernet or an integrated cellular modem with a built-in service plan. Parakeet’s responsively designed web app enables property managers and security personnel to manage smart building infrastructure from one central dashboard, while collecting data to track, monitor and manage staff.

Parakeet launched its product in 2015 in the vacation rental market. 

“Among property managers who cover large geographic territories for dozens or hundreds of clients, we uncovered a need for a remotely managed IoT service that would boost productivity and save money,” said Brad Huber, founder and CEO of Parakeet. “Being able to provide our products through Brivo’s international base of security dealers will give our customers the convenience of professional installation and ongoing service.”

The Parakeet platform will continue to be offered as a standalone solution for the vacation rental market under the new name, Brivo Vacation Rental, and will be unified with Brivo’s billing system. All current Parakeet customers will continue to be supported on the existing product, with options to add Brivo offerings to their current service plans.