Question 1

What exactly is Somni?

Accepted Answer

Somni provides professional smart home automation and building management, fully managed as a service. For homeowners: Enterprise-grade smart home with intelligent lighting, climate, security, energy monitoring - all automated and maintained for you. For property owners: Everything homeowners get PLUS property management features (tenants, leases, work orders) integrated with building automation. Think of it as having an IT department for your home or building, but without the enterprise cost.

Question 2

Is this just for landlords or can homeowners use it?

Accepted Answer

Both! Many homeowners want professional-grade smart home automation but don't want to DIY it or deal with fragmented cloud services. We handle everything: installation, configuration, monitoring, maintenance. You get the benefits without the complexity. Property owners get everything homeowners get, plus property management features for handling tenants and leases.

Question 3

How is this different from DIY smart home (Home Assistant, etc.)?

Accepted Answer

We're built ON Home Assistant (open-source foundation), but you don't have to touch it. DIY requires technical knowledge, constant maintenance, troubleshooting integration issues, and dealing with updates. With Somni, we handle all of that. You get the power of Home Assistant with white-glove professional service.

Question 4

Do I need to be technical to use this?

Accepted Answer

Not at all. We handle installation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance. You interact with simple dashboards and receive reports - no technical knowledge required. The complexity is hidden. You just get the benefits.

Question 5

Are you currently accepting new clients?

Accepted Answer

Yes, with limited availability. We're currently serving select Chicagoland properties and onboarding new clients on a managed basis. Clients receive premium white-glove service ($2,000-2,790 setup + equipment, optional Annual Care Plans from $750/year). You get direct team involvement, same-day to 48-hour response times based on severity, and rate-locked pricing.

Question 6

Why limited availability?

Accepted Answer

Quality over speed. By keeping our client base intentionally small, we can personally oversee every deployment, respond promptly to any issues, refine the system based on real-world use, and ensure exceptional service quality. We expand capacity carefully to maintain this standard.

Question 7

Is the technology proprietary?

Accepted Answer

Somni is built on an open-source foundation (Home Assistant, Kubernetes). There are no backdoors or hidden behaviors. If you ever leave, you can hire another integrator or manage it yourself—nothing is locked to us.

Question 8

Is this reliable enough for daily use?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The underlying infrastructure has been running in production for years with high reliability. Somni components are deployed across multiple homes/properties. We use this system ourselves - we're directly motivated to keep it reliable.

Question 9

Are there any hidden costs?

Accepted Answer

No. The only costs are: 1) Setup fee ($2,000 for homes, $2,790 for multi-unit), 2) Equipment (quoted after on-site assessment), 3) Optional Annual Care Plan ($750-1,500/year) or pay-as-you-go support. No mandatory subscriptions, no surprise fees, no 'enterprise features' upsells. You get exact equipment costs before committing.

Question 10

Is there a contract?

Accepted Answer

Setup fee is one-time payment (50% deposit, 50% on installation). Annual Care Plans are optional and paid yearly with no long-term contract. Your system runs independently with or without a plan - you can manage it yourself, hire another integrator, or call us for pay-as-you-go support. The hardware is yours regardless.

Question 11

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

Locally at your property. All processing happens on hardware you own. The only data that leaves your property is aggregated metrics sent to our operations center (for monitoring) and encrypted backups. Your raw property data, tenant information, and detailed building metrics stay local.

Question 12

Can I export my data?

Accepted Answer

Yes, anytime. You own the hardware, the database (PostgreSQL), all configurations, and all logs and metrics. Standard export formats available: CSV for spreadsheets, JSON for developers, and direct PostgreSQL access for reporting tools.

Question 13

What happens to my data if I leave Somni?

Accepted Answer

You keep everything. The hardware stays with you, the database is yours, and all configurations are exported. Because it's built on Home Assistant (open source), you can hire another integrator to manage it, manage it yourself if you're technical, or transition to another solution. No data hostage situation.

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