How voice control in your smart home could be more than a gimmick
If you’re thinking a voice-controlled, automated home is just rich celebrities and their gadgets you’re thinking too small. Having said that, it’s the small things that can make a big difference. Let’s take a look at what an automated home could look like.
Is your home working as hard as you?
...Have you ever asked your home assistant to play your favorite music? Yes?
Have you ever asked it to open the garage door? No?
This 2019 report discovered 5.7 million Australians owned a smart home assistant. That’s 29.3% of the adult population. That number will have only increased in 2020. We imagine most of those owners only ever use their device to set a timer, ask about the weather or listen to the radio.
We work hard for our money and try to make our money work hard for us. We expect family members to pull their weight to make our homes run smoothly. But does your home work hard for you?
Could your home assistant actually do more for you and create a fully automated home?
If you’re thinking a voice-controlled, automated home is just rich celebrities and their gadgets you’re thinking too small. Having said that, it’s the small things that can make a big difference. Let’s take a look at what an automated home could look like.
Your very own personal assistant: Running scenes
Admit it, who hasn’t dreamed of having someone to do all the annoying little things in life? Let us run a scene for you...
You come home after a long day at work and it’s pouring with rain. You ask your garage door to open as you arrive home so you can get out of the car dry and warm. You head upstairs and the lights turn on automatically.
You put on your favorite old clothes and head back downstairs for an evening with the TV. When you turn it on, it’s automatically on your favorite channel. The movie starts, the lights dim and change color, and the heating turns on. It’s a movie night with all the atmosphere and none of the hassle.
This is no fantasy, this is called running scenes. With your home assistant, you can create a set of actions that trigger when you make a simple command.
Say, ‘hey google, turn on Bedtime,” and your HVAC adjusts, the lights turn off and your whale sounds turn on. If you already have a few smart devices, buying automationbridge from Smartlink Automation can bring together all the smart elements of your home to really work for you.
What is automation bridge?
The Z-Wave automation bridge is designed to work with the Fibaro Home Center, Fibaro Home Center Lite, Vera Edge/Plus/Secure and Homey Z-Wave Gateway Controllers.
Once connected you’ll be able to control your living spaces through Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
It brings all the home automation and smart systems that can’t usually talk to each other into one cohesive network, operated by voice control.
automation bridge isn’t just about making things easy, or a fun trick to share with your friends. It’s about creating the perfect system for you in the only place you can really control: Your home.
Do you already have home automation devices and they aren’t giving you the convenience you thought they would?
At Smart Link Automation we understand that when home assistants are properly integrated into a smart home their benefits begin to have a real impact on the people living there.
Security
You might already have a smart doorbell and smart security system. With Smartlink Automation smart home designs they can work together and smarter.
Consider your home security system. To access it, do you have to fire up your laptop or press buttons on the TV remote control? Do you have to scroll through your phone’s apps to find the security camera? If it’s urgent that can be really frustrating.
With Z-Wave’s automationbridge, you can simply say, ‘Hey Google, show me the front camera on the TV.’ When it comes to security, fast matters.
When someone rings your doorbell at night and you’re not home, you can instruct internal lights to switch on automatically and deter anyone who shouldn’t be there.
If you live with teens who are likely to forget to lock the door when they leave the house (or maybe that’s you!), you can programme all the doors to lock and the alarm to set when all the family smartphones have left the house. That’s the power automationbridge gives you.
Assistance for the elderly and disabled
Here’s a benefit you might not have thought about. Do you have a family member starting to struggle with everyday activities? A fully integrated, automated home can give elderly and disabled people the independence they want. They can turn off appliances and lights, adjust the temperature, and make a phone call with just their voice. For those with mobility difficulties, voice control of their home could keep them where they want to live.
Something as simple as automatically locking doors at night through voice command can give peace of mind for them and for you.
How else can a voice controlled smart home work for you?
You can create any scenes or programs you like if you have smart technology and automationbridge.
At the last minute you find out you have company for dinner, you’re at work and won’t have time to vacuum. From your desk you can ask google to start your smart dishwasher and activate your Roomba.
Maybe you and your significant other have a difference of opinion on the perfect temperature and ambience of your home. With automationbridge you can adjust the HVAC for whoever is home just by voice control. ‘Hey Google, turn on My Climate.’
And of course you can always run the scene we described earlier: ‘Alexa, turn on Homecoming.’
Whatever you call your home assistant; Siri, Google, or Alexa; that disembodied voice sitting in your kitchen or keeping time on your wrist, could be radically improving your quality of life.
A fully automated home starts with your home assistant and ends with Smartlink Home Automation. Let us show you what your home assistant can do for you today.