A major technological breakthrough allows users of Zamil air-conditioners to operate their units by telephone for the first time in the Middle East.

Zamil Air Conditioners (ZAC) said in a statement that users can now operate their Classic and Cooline mini-split or digital room air conditioners by phone.

ZAC, a leading AC manufacturer in the Middle East, recently launched its revolutionary TeleSmart system that turns a fixed or mobile telephone touchpad into a remote control, allowing full control of the house or office air-conditioning system, simply by dialing the telephone number.

"We all want to go to a cool home during summer and a warm one during winter. This was only possible by leaving the air-conditioning unit on throughout the day. But now, this is history", said ZAC senior vice president Abdullah Zamil.

"TeleSmart is a revolutionary concept that eliminates distance barriers between the user and his air conditioning system. This will result in much appreciated convenience, energy savings, and long-term environmental benefits."

ZAC said it had introduced the new TeleSmart technology after more than a year of research and sizeable investments to develop the new product.

One of the unique features of TeleSmart is said to be its compatibility with existing connections to the telephone line, like answering machines, faxes and Internet connection.

The TeleSmart technology is also upgradeable to more exciting features that ZAC will reveal in the future, it said.

Existing owners of Zamil's Classic and Cooline brand will soon get benefit of the new technology.

TeleSmart technique is installed simply by purchasing, from any of ZAC's dealers in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, a small unit that will be placed in front of the AC unit and connected to the home or office telephone line, and to a power socket. The user will be able to turn the unit on or off and adjust the temperature by dialing the commands from a touch-tone phone.

ZAC is believed to be the only company in the Middle East to manufacture a full range of air conditioning systems.

It has manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia, Italy and Austria and exports to 30 countries in Europe, America, Africa and the Far East.

The company produces up to 440,000 room air conditioners, 60,000 mini split systems, and 36,500 central air conditioning systems per year. ZAC was the first to be awarded the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) certificate for air conditioning units.

It is also recognised internationally for its standards of achievement with awards such as the ISO 9002, the European CE certificate and the UL certificate of US.