Residents of Kwa-Zulu Natal may be living in homes of the future sooner than they think with the opening of Atec Systems and Technologies' Durban office.

The Cape-based IT service and infrastructure provider for the South African property industry, will work with local developers from the outset to incorporate technology and the Internet as an integral component of the design.
Gerhard Loots, CEO of Atec Systems and Technologies, comments: "Kwa-Zulu Natal has come into its own as a major business metropolis. We quickly realised that it was no longer adequate to have offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg only. With the opening of this office, we can truly say that we have a national footprint. And, with the local property market becoming increasingly competitive, we know that KZN's developers will use technology such as ours to create properties of distinction."
Atec Systems and Technologies has appointed Daniel Weimer as regional manager to do just that. Weimer's first task in this new role will be to nsure that the company's first development in the province to boast the new technology runs to plan. Notably, Kindlewood Estate, a prestigious residential estate by Tongaat Hulett's Developments (THDev) in Mount Edgecombe.
"Savvy developers such as THDev, are using technology to create a point of difference for their properties. Kindlewood Estate is a prime example of that. It shows how an ecologically sensitive development with a premium architectural vocabulary which harks back to a bygone era, can embrace user-friendly technology to offer residents all the benefits of a technologically enabled home of the future," says Weimer.
"And, wired homes are the future. Instead of adding a wired or wireless network as an appliance or part of the furniture, connectivity will automatically be built into them. Not only is it neater, studies have shown that it enhances property value, very much in the same way as a swimming pool does," he adds.
Weimer adds that 'triple play' technology, which is enabled by high-speed networks similar to that being installed in Kindlewood, provides services such as low- or no-cost telephony, the ability to communicate via video links and the ability to send and receive files which can include music, video, television and more.