Hotraco increases their systems’ added value with white labelled IXON products

Hotraco is a provider of innovative automation systems for livestock farming, horticulture and crop storage. With their large network of dealers, the systems are used worldwide in barns, greenhouses and at farmers to control the core processes. The goal is to provide end customers with reliable information and control over their systems to make the right decisions.

In order to meet customer needs, improve their own service and strengthen collaboration with partners, Hotraco has chosen to work with IXON. The full IXON solution is entirely marketed in their own corporate branding and is an addition to their own products. 'IXON is the perfect remote service application, it’s easy and simple to use to remotely access the barn or greenhouse, also for our customers,' says Martien, Service Manager at Hotraco.

The service application is perfect and easy to use to remotely access the barn or greenhouse.

_{Martien Selten Service Manager at Hotraco}

All devices in one central portal

Service and maintenance is now provided from one single online portal from Hotraco's headquarters. Martien manages all systems and rights via the IXON platform. 'We want to have access to all systems, but we want to prevent customer A from accessing customer B's system,' says Martien. The simplicity of use and installation are one of the reasons why Hotraco chose for IXON. 'We were looking for a stable, plug & play system that we could connect to the internet,' Martien recalls. 'We used to have difficulty with port forwarding because each farm needed a different local router configuration,' Martien continues.

'There are as many as 1,000 routers in the field and in order to keep an overview, we set up a comprehensive tree structure. The Hotraco account includes our divisions, such as Agri. These cover all the dealers with their own sub-company which in turn include end customers,' says Martien. The pre-configured routers with the right Hotraco labels are kept in stock. 'When the systems are delivered, the router only has to be activated, then it is sent to the right dealer and the end customer is invited,' says Martien.

Remote service completely free of charge, that’s our distinguishing feature!

White labelled app

'We offer the router as an option, but we strongly advise to purchase it in order for us to be able to provide remote service and maintenance,' Martien explains. 'In 90% of all cases we solve problems via VNC or HTTP. The other 10% we log in to our own linux application via VPN. Then we can run SSH commands to check the PC,' Martien says.

Hotraco published the IXON smartphone app as 'SyslinQ Remote App' in the app stores. This is a total package offered to customers. 'We offer remote service completely free of charge! That's our distinguishing feature,' states Martien. This free service is included in all Hotraco systems that are equipped with an IXON router.

The customer also gains access to his purchased system. Via the SyslinQ app, the touch screen can be controlled remotely. 'The farmer wants to keep an eye on his livestock, while also being able to go to a restaurant,' says Martien. 

White labelled routers

The pre-configured IXrouters with Hotraco stickers, equipped with remote control of touch panels via VNC, are stocked in a virtual warehouse. 'Everything has a fixed IP range. When the systems are delivered, all you have to do is activate the router and the end customer is invited,' says Martien.

Benefits IXON Cloud White Labelling offers Hotraco:

• One total solution for remote service and maintenance
• The Hotraco brand applied across all levels
• Global control over systems and users
• No license model allows for free remote service

Want to know more about IXON Cloud white labelling? Learn more

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