[July 28, 2011] National Technical Systems First Lab Qualified to Perform ZigBee Smart Energy 1.1 Certification Tweet CALABASAS, Calif., July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- National Technical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTSC) (NTS), a leading provider of engineering services, announced today that it is the first lab that has been qualified by the ZigBee Alliance to offer certification testing of the enhanced version of ZigBee Smart Energy version 1.1 standard. Additionally, NTS has also released an update to its ZigBee Smart Energy test harness - NTS SETest 1.1 - designed to pre-test ZigBee Smart Energy devices before they achieve ZigBee Certified product status. ZigBee Smart Energy is the market leading 2.4GHz ZigBee standard that has already been adopted by countless utilities and manufacturers for the design of devices that connect to the Smart Grid. These devices include thermostats, in-home displays, and smart meters, millions of which are being installed by utilities and energy service providers around the world. The enhanced ZigBee Smart Energy standard features metering, demand response and load control, pricing, and text messages, along with standardized over-the-air firmware updates, security and data encryption. "NTS has been a consistent leader in ZigBee testing and certification services for our members," said Benno Ritter, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development of the ZigBee Alliance. "We look forward to continuing work with NTS on new application standards that bring more ZigBee products to market." Having participated in the early stages of the certification effort for the enhanced ZigBee Smart Energy, NTS was selected to test the new "Golden Units." These are devices by which all future ZigBee Smart Energy devices will be compared. In addition to being the first laboratory qualified to perform testing for certification of these devices, NTS has also designed the only test harness, NTS SETest, which has completed qualification at the official ZigBee test events. Based on a ZigBee Certified Ember platform, the NTS SETest test harness is designed for use by manufacturers to pre-test devices to verify they meet ZigBee Smart Energy requirements prior to submitting products for final certification. In addition, NTS' SETest test harness is also designed to help utilities pre-test devices to ensure products will meet their requirements. NTS SETest has been used by the overwhelming majority of ZigBee Smart Energy products that have passed the ZigBee Certified program to date for both pre-testing and official certification testing at NTS' facilities. The new version includes many new features resulting from three years of experience and customer feedback. New features include the ability for customers to write their own test scripts, the ability to simulate a real time meter, improved options for debugging purposes and many more. "NTS is pleased to offer ZigBee Alliance members testing and certification for the enhanced version of the ZigBee Smart Energy standard, and we look forward to helping them bring their latest products to market quickly," said Osman Sakr, NTS CTO. "We are also glad to be able to assist our customers in getting their products ZigBee Certified with greater ease and efficiency with the use of our NTS SETest test harness." ZigBee: Control your world ZigBee offers green and global wireless standards connecting the widest range of devices to work together intelligently and help you control your world. The ZigBee Alliance is an open, non-profit association of approximately 400 members driving development of innovative, reliable and easy-to-use ZigBee standards. The Alliance promotes worldwide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org. About National Technical Systems National Technical Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of engineering services to the aerospace, defense, telecommunications, automotive and high technology markets. Through a world-wide network of resources, NTS provides full product life-cycle support, offering world class design engineering, compliance, testing, certification, quality registration and program management. For additional information about NTS, visit our website at www.nts.com or call 800-270-2516. Forward-Looking Statements The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for services and products, development of markets for the companies' services and products and other risks identified in the companies' SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The companies undertake no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding National Technical Systems' business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year. Contact: Allen & Caron Inc National Technical Systems Jill Bertotti (investors) Aaron Cohen (corporate) [email protected] [email protected] Len Hall (media) (818) 591-0776 [email protected] Derek Coppinger (technical) (949) 474-4300 [email protected] (800) 270-2516 SOURCE National Technical Systems, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]