Rain Bird expands IQ Platform

Rain Bird Corporation announced that its IQ Platform can now be used with smartphones and tablets to meet demand for mobile-compatible water management tools.

Irrigation professionals who manage systems for homeowners’ associations, school districts or municipal properties can now manage those same systems on the go from their smartphones and tablets using IQ-Cloud v. 3.0. There are no recurring annual fees to use IQ-Cloud. IQ-Cloud access can be shared with authorized personnel who perform maintenance and to alert them to problems in the field.

“Today, our customers expect easy-to-use tools that give them access to their irrigation systems on their mobile devices,” said Sean Azad, product manager for Rain Bird’s commercial division. “It’s not only convenient and saves them time, but also allows for greater control over schedules to maximize water savings. Because we want everyone to manage water more efficiently, there are no annual fees with IQ-Cloud. We have made it really easy for customers to set up and start using it.”

For organizations with strict IT security protocols, such as military bases, financial institutions or government properties, IQ-Enterprise v. 3.0 allows implementation of IQ-Cloud on private servers. Current IQ users can continue to use IQ-Desktop v. 3.0 or can easily upgrade to IQ-Cloud or IQ-Enterprise for mobile compatibility.

Weather-based management is quickly becoming a necessity in certain parts of the world and is built into the IQ Platform. IQ will automatically adjust schedules based on weather data and apply water only when the landscape needs it. Further, by implementing IQ’s Flow Watch feature, users have added security that the system will monitor flow conditions and react appropriately to leaks and pipe breaks.