With widespread adoption of smartphones and smart technology, a new trend is emerging in the world of home security: personalized security and control.
The everyday homeowner is no longer simply looking for protection against home intruders; instead, they want a more customized approach to peace of mind, with more personal controls and awareness, timely alerts and protection for the things they love most.
Now that many homeowners are becoming accustomed to technology being used throughout the home, a more typical home security standard is evolving that provides expanded awareness to the homeowner.
For example, parents can receive a notification once their child gets home from school and disarms the system, and they can be alerted if the alarm has not been disarmed by a predetermined time. Thanks to technology, homeowners can now be notified when the doorbell rings and have the ability to see and talk to whomever is at the door through their smartphone. Further security system enhancements can even enable the homeowner to unlock their front door for a friend or open their garage door for a package delivery, see the delivery personnel leave, and immediately shut and/or re-lock the door, ensuring their package is safe and their home is still secured.
Now, evolutions in sensor technology have emerged to protect many more aspects of the smart home. Thanks to these technologies, the days of a simple burglar alarm is the thing of the past. Now homeowners can protect valuables, reduce the chances of property damage, and of course, protect loved ones.
Specialized Sensors
The number-one residential insurance claim is from water damage. New devices like a water leak detector give homeowners timely notice of a leak, and where it is coming from, providing advance protection to their home. Imagine being on vacation for a week and coming home to a basement flooded from a water leak or a frozen pipe. With early detection and notification, homeowners can be in the know while on the go, giving them more time to respond and prevent damage. Beyond enhanced peace of mind, this also gives a financial benefit to the homeowner – reducing the chances of expensive water damage.
Accidentally leaving a stove burner on is another application where smart home sensors can mitigate the risk. Sensors can now enable homeowners to receive alerts to their smartphone and/or to their security system letting them know they have left their stove or grill on.
Additional opportunities for residential security integrators are protection of property outside the home, such as sheds, pools, or mother-in-law or guest house type of areas. With outdoor sensors featuring advanced, smarter technology, homeowners can disarm these individual areas while leaving the rest of the home secure, and vice versa. This gives them the ability to have constant awareness of activity at the pool for example, or the option to remotely unlock a guest house for visitors or renters while leaving their main house armed.
The average gun-owning household has at least six firearms. Specialized sensors – such as the 2GIG gun guard – provide both the benefit of a trigger lock, but also real-time alerts when a gun is moved from its location. This gives residential integrators an exciting new opportunity to deliver a solution to the homeowner, and sell more security in the process. Whether the integrator is selling a sensor for each gun individually or a sensor for a gun safe, they can offer peace of mind, protection and deter tampering of weapons – all while tying it into the security system.
To go even further, personal health and wellness technology advancements enable fall detection and related devices to integrate into the security system, adding additional peace of mind.
Editor’s Note: Be on the lookout for the release of many more specialized smart home sensors in the near future, especially coming from the CES show on early January. Look for full coverage online at www.securityinfowatch.com/ces – and a special section in the February issue of Security Business.
Missy Dalby is the Product Marketing Manager at Nortek Security & Control. Request more info about the company at www.securityinfowatch.com/10215766.
