Remote Management

Enhancing Convenience with Remote Smart Home Management

An important—and valuable—aspect of Smart Home technology is the ability to control the technologies from afar. This could range from monitoring and controlling the temperature of your cabin at the lake, or simply adjusting a light when the dimmer is located across the room. In many cases, the goal of remote management is simply convenience.

Other examples of remote management for convenience include:

• Turning on, or off, the lights in the garage or basement.
• Checking that the swimming pool gate is locked, and locking it if you forgot.
• Adjusting the volume level in the zones of a multi-room music system.
• Turning on the heat out in the guest house before your guests arrive.

Today, we have more and more electronic devices in our homes that can be controlled remotely. In addition to the all-important entertainment components mentioned above, they include lighting, security cameras, alerts & alarms, heating & air conditioning, electronically-adjusted window coverings, smart appliances, and many others. The more devices we have, the more we come to value remote monitoring and control.

In addition to convenience, remote management can provide other benefits as well. Here are some examples:

Simplifying Use

Without remote management, turning on a home theater, for example, typically requires a number of steps: turning on the projector, dropping the motorized screen, turning on the surround receiver, adjusting the receiver input to “Blu-ray”, turn on the Blu-ray player, dimming the lights, and closing the shades. With smart remote management, the push of a single button labeled “Home Theater” on an Advanced Remote Control gets the job done simply and accurately.

Accommodating Special-needs Family Members

Let’s say there’s a vision-impaired parent at home, who enjoys watching TV during the day when the rest of the family is away. Because she can no longer see the writing on the TV remote buttons, a special “flat screen” remote can be programmed to accommodate her needs. It shows four large squares—Red/Green/Blue/Yellow—plus a long strip in the center with a bar, to control the volume.

When she taps the color that represents the network she wants to watch, the TV turns on, and the cable box adjusts to that network. If she’s having an off day, and cannot remember what she wants to watch or where it is located, she can simply toggle through the four squares until she finds a show that will meet her needs.

A small black triangle, programmed into the upper right corner, converts the screen into a standard, full-function remote—for other family members to use.

Controlling Technologies that Lack a Remote

Smart Home Experts know how to adapt devices that are not suppled with a remote, using simple adaptations that allow for remote control. Examples: Using a remote camera to see who’s at the front door, then using the remote control to unlock the door; Turning off the sprinkler system upon awaking, when you realize that it is has begun to rain; sending a special message to your friendly neighbor that water is leaking in the basement—while you’re on vacation.