GUIDE TO NAVIGATING SMART HOME TECHNOLOGY

PARTNER SERIES

GUIDE TO NAVIGATING

SMART HOME

TECHNOLOGY

DIY VS. PROFESSIONAL

GUIDE TO NAVIGATING SMART

HOME TECHNOLOGY

Use this guide to equip your clients with the knowledge they need

to make decisions about smart home technology.

From voice control to smart thermostats to lighting control to the Internet of

Things (IoT), awareness of every category of smart home technology is growing rapidly. Unfortunately, consumers are generally perplexed; there are so

many smart home options available and decisions to be made, it is easy to be

caught in ¡°analysis paralysis¡± and often they end up doing nothing.

That¡¯s where custom integrators come in. You are the thought-leaders with

the expert knowledge necessary to help your customers make the best decisions for their smart home lifestyle.

This special ¡°Guide to Navigating Smart Home Technology¡± will help integrators impart valuable knowledge to their customers to help them make the

best smart home technology choices, and set expectations around a Do-ItYourself (DIY) system versus a professionally installed system.

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CE Pro: Partner Series: Guide to Navigating Smart Home Technology: DIY vs. Professional

Selecting Smart

Solutions that will

get smarter over time:

? Choosing the right

technologies to match

your client¡¯s lifestyle

and budget

? Identifying the

differences between

DIY solutions vs.

professionally

installed systems



SELECTING IOT EQUIPMENT: KEY CONSIDERATIONS

When speaking with potential clients, it¡¯s important to use terminology they

will understand as well as terms that are unambiguous. For example, the

¡°subsystem¡± term that an integrator commonly makes reference to is likely

an alien word to most consumers. ¡°Subsystems¡± might be best referred to as

¡°smart home amenities¡± such as:

?

?

?

?

?

?

Lighting control

Automated shade control

HVAC control/energy management (smart thermostats)

Audio/Video (both multiroom A/V distribution systems and home theater)

Home networks

Security/surveillance

In every product

category, there are

MAJOR differences

in the capabilities

between DIY/entrylevel products and

professionally

installed systems.

Remind your customers that connecting multiple subsystems together is

your area of expertise. Product compatibility is important. From the wireless

communication protocols to cable to the type of LED light bulb, it often takes

only one incompatible product to shut down an entire smart home ecosystem. In every product category, there are MAJOR differences in the capabilities between DIY/entry-level products and professionally installed systems.

It is vital to provide clients with a basic understanding of several key smart

home product categories to help them set expectations.

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CE Pro: Partner Series: Guide to Navigating Smart Home Technology: DIY vs. Professional



Consumer Smart Home Device Acquisition Plans for 2017

Parks Associates/SS Residential Market Report

22%

22%

21%

Smart

Speaker

Smart

Thermostat

Smart Smoke

Detector

Smart

Doorlock

19%

19%

17%

16%

Video

Doorbell

IP

Camera

Smart Garage

Door Opener

Here is some basic information about the key product subsystems that integrators can explain to their prospective and existing customers.

Internet of Things (IoT) ¡ª The smart home of today is much more than

audio, video, networking and control systems. It now potentially encompasses

scores of physical devices in the home ¡ª from major appliances to laptops

to smartphones to automobiles ¡ª all with embedded electronics, software

and sensors connected to the network. The term being used to describe this

whole-scale interconnectivity is the ¡°Internet of Things (IoT).¡±

In five years, there will be an estimated 20.4 billion IoT devices in the United

States, according to Gartner Group, an industry research firm. The rate at

which household IoT devices are being connected to the internet rises 31 percent per year. Indeed, the average U.S. household already has 10 IoT devices.

Clients might be dumbfounded to discover they have so many IoT devices in

their home already, such as smart TVs; streaming devices like Apple TV, Roku,

Google Chromecast or Amazon Firestick; smart speakers like Amazon Alexa,

Google Home or Apple HomePod; laptops or PCs and their printers; smartphones; tablets; smart thermostats like Nest; surveillance cameras; smart

bulbs and more. Very soon, all kitchen appliances ¡ª large and small ¡ª will

have IoT interconnectivity, predict industry analysts.

The proliferation of IoT in the home opens the floodgates with customers

to imagine incredible possibilities in their smart home. One way to take full

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20%

CE Pro: Partner Series: Guide to Navigating Smart Home Technology: DIY vs. Professional

Smart Lighting

Control System

¡ø For many of these subsystems, consumers say they desire

to purchase the smart home

device in conjunction with a

security system.

Configuring a smart

home system can get

complicated. There

are different wireless

protocols, compatibility

issues between various

brands of products,

cybersecurity threats to

guard against, and more

to consider.



Parks Associates/SS Residential Market Report

Fastest Pro-Installed Smart Home Product Categories in 2018

4K TVs

Home Networks

High-end

Home Controls

Multiroom Audio

advantage of the IoT is to have a whole-house control system installed. Using

a single interface, a homeowner can dim and brighten light fixtures, adjust the

settings of thermostats, provide status reports of household electricity usage,

and choreograph the operation of complex home entertainment systems.

Security ¡ª Integrated security systems are an increasingly important

product category for smart-home owners. Video surveillance systems can be

simply and effectively deployed, but this product category, like several others, has huge differences in capabilities between the DIY offerings and the

professionally installed equipment. The ubiquitous nature of home Wi-Fi has

enabled the home video surveillance market to blossom. Indeed, according

to the 2018 CE Pro State of the Industry Study, surveillance cameras are the

fifth fastest-growing product category among integrators, with 87 percent of

custom integrators expecting to see increased sales and installation in the

category in 2018.

At the DIY level, there is a proliferation of wireless cameras that can be set

up to watch the dog or the nanny, or provide a general level of peace of mind

by looking out for intruders. However, in many cases these cameras do not

communicate with response authorities, but instead notify the homeowner of

movement. Many do not include any form of image recording capability. The

latest iteration of these entry-level surveillance systems are video doorbells

from companies like Ring and August.

At the professional level, integrators offer sophisticated surveillance cameras with cloud-based or on-site recording capability. Cameras can include

advanced analytics to identify motion (and record only when motion is

detected) and night-vision capability to see exterior images in pitch-black

darkness. Typically, a professionally installed camera system will be fully

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CE Pro: Partner Series: Guide to Navigating Smart Home Technology: DIY vs. Professional

Surveillance

Cameras

¡ø According to integrators,

these are the fastest-growing

product categories for professionally installed equipment predicted for 2018.

Typically, a

professionally

installed camera

system will be fully

integrated with a

home¡¯s intrusion

and fire detection

system...



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