Cover story: Home is where the Smart is

Oct. 9, 2014
More and more residential customers are demanding home automation along with their security

As most residential security dealers know, the idea of the “digital home” has been around for decades. What made it a pie-in-the-sky scenario in the early years was a lack of network infrastructure in the home and interoperability among connected products.

In the past few years, everything has changed. Just about every home has some sort of digital network infrastructure; the rise of Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, Zigbee and other wireless technologies are solving the interoperability question; and Apple and Samsung led the way in putting technology at the fingertips of nearly every homeowner in North America.

The dawn of the “smart home” has already happened. These days, it is “Welcome to the day of the smart home,” as the concept has graduated from the most expensive, high-end residences down to any sort of home — the playing field continues to grow.

What Customers Want

The best part of this new era for residential security providers is that security seems to be the driving force behind the concept. According to a recent Harris Poll study on behalf of home improvement retailer Lowe’s, security and home monitoring was one of the main reasons people said they would consider purchasing smart home technology.

“Smart homes are gaining greater mainstream visibility every day and this rise will continue to impact the security vendor community,” says Ralph Maniscalco, Director of Marketing Communications for Honeywell Security Products Americas (HSPA). “In this evolving landscape, security vendors must not only think about protecting people and property, but also consider technology that transforms the home into an asset that improves homeowners’ lifestyles.”
The “Lowe’s 2014 Smart Home Survey,” which polled more than 2,000 U.S. adults, found that a majority of American are generally favorable to smart homes, with 50 percent preferring do-it-yourself (DIY) solutions. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) ranked security and home monitoring as the most beneficial reason to own a smart home. Cutting energy costs ranked second on the list (40 percent), followed by overall convenience comes (35 percent) and protection from floods, fire and other disasters (29 percent).

Overall cost was cited by respondents as the most important factor in the purchasing decision of smart home products. Additionally, the survey found that Americans are more than twice as likely to prefer a DIY solution without a monthly fee over a professionally installed/monitored system with a monthly service fee (50 percent vs. 21 percent).

The Big Boys Take Notice

In 2014, Google and Apple both became players in the smart home space. Google acquired Nest Labs in January and DropCam in July. Apple announced smart home-related app that enables users to control connected devices in their home using their iPhone or iPad.

Companies with mega-sized national advertising budgets are further helping to push the smart home to the front of your customers’ minds. You have undoubtedly seen television commercials touting AT&T’s Digital Life offering — where from miles away, the homeowner turns off faucets, lights, appliances and other devices that his inconsiderate son left switched on.  While it may seem like a threat, this type of broad-based advertising should be a benefit to any company providing these types of services.

“Homeowners are captivated by flashy home automation technology,” Maniscalco says. “Dealers can leverage the interest in home automation to increase security sales by emphasizing how important security, life safety and property protection are as a foundation upon which to add smart home technology. After all, a connected home can quickly lose its luster if the premises aren’t adequately protected. Listening to customer needs and suggesting technology that fulfills multiple roles by combining home automation and security technology will drive sales and increase revenue for dealers.”

Other large manufacturing companies are jumping into the space as well. Forget about smart switches and dimmers — Philips has come out with smart lightbulbs that come complete with an app to control their brightness from your smart device. The list goes on — in fact, a recent Gartner study reports that an average family home in a mature economy may have more than 500 smart devices by 2020.

Get Smart

It is pretty easy to see the writing on the wall: The smart home will eventually be the driver of all things residential — especially security. For those security service providers who are strictly commercially-focused, building automation technologies — which have been around for years as well — may experience an uptick as business owners are migrating to similar technologies at home.

Still, for today’s security dealers and integrators already ensconced in the residential market, it is imperative to strike while security remains the driving force behind these technological enhancements. “Whatever the future of the connected home looks like, one thing will remain constant — no matter how flashy it looks, it won’t mean anything if the homeowner lacks one big element: peace of mind,” Maniscalco says. “People want to feel protected, and they want their belongings protected. Security and life safety will continue to play big roles in the connected home, regardless of what it looks like in the future.”

Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Dealer & Integrator magazine (www.secdealer.com).