“Alexa, play ‘Ophelia’ by The Lumineers.” With a spoken request or a few taps of a thumb on our smartphone screen, home automation products have turned our homes into technological wonders. We can play music, get information about the weather, turn lights off and on, open and close shades, and operate our door locks remotely — without ever leaving the couch or even being at home.
Many people don’t realize that when you tie your home security system and home automation products together, you don’t just get convenience; you get a safer home and greater peace of mind. Here are some of the most popular kinds of home automation products and how they can make your home and family more secure.
Geofencing Devices
If you’ve got kids or elderly family members living in your house, it can be a challenge to monitor who goes where at what time in order to keep everyone safe. This is why many parents and caretakers turn to geofencing devices.
For those who are unfamiliar with this technology, geofencing involves using GPS signals to create a virtual boundary, as well as software that triggers something to occur when someone leaves or enters that boundary.
How is this helpful to you? Geofencing software can track cell phones — specifically, the cell phone belonging to your 17-year old son or your 83-year-old mother. If your son has trouble remembering to turn off the lights and lock the doors when he leaves the house, geofencing devices can tell when he’s left the premises and enable those actions for him (as well as send a notification to your phone to let you know he’s out and about … Sorry, Junior!). Forget to arm the security system? No problem, you will receive an alert when your device exits the geofenced area and send you a reminder.
The same technology can assist you with elderly loved ones by letting you know when they come and go from your home. If your mother is OK driving and running errands on her own but struggles to disarm the security alarm once she returns, geofencing can automatically detect her presence and let you know to turn the alarm off for her.
Z-Wave Home Automation Products
Mobile home control is here to stay, and there are many different companies making devices that work through apps on your smartphone. Z-Wave is a wireless communication protocol that has home automation covered, from home security all the way to climate control and lighting.
What can Z-Wave home automation products do? Lots! You can install Z-Wave locks on your doors and garage doors. Forget to lock the front door before you got in bed? No problem; simply grab your smartphone off of the nightstand and lock it using the app. Since the front door is the most common entry point for crooks, it’s nice to be able to make sure it’s locked even if you’re not at home.
Z-Wave lights give you control of the lighting in your home anytime. Lighting is an excellent way to deter burglars, but you can’t simply leave them on all night for them to be effective. If you’re out of town, criminals will notice if your home is constantly illuminated. They’re also excellent at figuring out if you have your lights set on timers. Z-Wave gives you access to your lights from anywhere, whether you’d like to adjust them while you’re away, turn them on right before you return home with a carload of groceries, or establish a sunset to sunrise schedule.
Z-Wave thermostats allow you full control over your heating and cooling systems remotely. Need to make the home cooler before you get home? No problem. A Z-Wave thermostat can be managed remotely from your security system app.
Finally, these home automation products and your security system are integrated with the Amazon Echo and can be managed using an Alexa skill. Now you can control your security system and home automation devices by simply calling out Alexa commands, like “Alexa, lock my front door” or “Alexa, arm my system home.” Now you have total control over your home using simply your voice.
At ProTech Security, we have a strong history of experience, innovation, and customer service. The ProTech Security Advantage is more than 30 years of service in Northeast Ohio and a strong commitment to providing quality, cost-effective protection for homes, businesses, educational institutions and government facilities. To see what ProTech Security can do for you, contact us today.
