SMART HOME TECH IS CHANGING THE WAY WE LIVE
The benefits of technology in the home are virtually endless, and the rapid adoption of smart home tech proves that customers are in love! From waking up, to cooking, and answering the door, activities at home are so much more fun and convenient with smart home tech. Just think of the things we can do today with smart home gadgets:
We can monitor home security systems from across town when we're stuck at the office.
We get push notifications and video when visitors approach our front door, and we can communicate with them without even opening the door.
We can control lights all around our home with a simple voice command.
But when these smart devices are managed by different apps and are not unified by a powerful smart home OS, they can become tedious to manage. And, sometimes, the smart devices that you bought to make your home more convenient turn out to be a little less straightforward than you'd originally thought.
IT’S ALL JUST SMART STUFF WITHOUT A SMART HOME OS
Take Smart Lighting, for example. If your phone isn't handy and your kids are screaming too loudly for Alexa to hear you, it's nice to know you can count on your old-fashioned light switch— but if you have a DIY smart lighting solution, you know that switching those lights on will disrupt the smart connection between your lights and mobile phone and mess up your default settings. Don't get me wrong! Most smart home tech is worth the hassle, but once you have a half dozen kinds of devices in your home, troubleshooting issues and getting multiple devices from different brands to work together can become a part-time job. You end up telling yourself, "There's got to be a better way!"
USING A SMART HOME OS TAKES YOUR HOME TO THE NEXT LEVEL
A smart home operating system, like Control4 Smart Home OS 3, is designed to unify hundreds of connected devices across the home and control them all from a single platform that gives homeowners the control and personalisation you want while also offering concierge-style professional support when needed. Phew! I know— there was a lot of information in that one sentence, but in a nutshell, that's what a comprehensive smart home OS does. So let's break it down, point by point.
1) A smart home OS unifies every device in your home
A smart home OS creates a truly intelligent home by supporting and controlling products across all categories of electronics, appliances, and systems in your home (or at least most of them). For example, the Control4 product line includes:
Smart Lighting
security cameras
a video door station
a smart thermostat
universal remotes
multi-room music and video
home cinema audio and control
All of these devices are then unified and orchestrated by the Control4 Smart Home OS—and it's not just for Control4 products. A great smart home OS embraces choice because every home is a mix of products from a variety of companies. That's why the Control4 Smart Home OS is compatible with over 13,500 third-party products like smart sprinkler systems, pool controls, smart locks, and more.
A great smart home OS embraces choice, because every home is a mix of products from a variety of companies.
So what does the unification of all these devices look like? Let's say most nights, you and your family sit down for dinner. You tap “Dinner Time” on your Control4 keypad in the kitchen, and the window shades roll down, the upstairs bedroom lights flash twice to let your family know dinner is ready, your favourite playlist comes on, and your smart pet-feeder gives the family dog his dinner so he's not begging under the table for scraps. Then imagine that after dinner, you move to the living room, fall asleep on the couch, and forget to lock up. Well, you don't have to worry, because at precisely 10 p.m., your front and back doors lock, the security system arms, the downstairs lights dim, and all the entertainment in the house turns off. Oh, and if it happens to be a Wednesday, your outdoor sprinklers turn on and water your lawn. All this is possible, without the headaches, thanks to a powerful smart home OS.