In a day and age where grandparents have Facebook accounts, and babies are using iPads (and of course where people are blogging about babies using iPads), it’s no surprise that companies are making usability a top priority when designing new security systems and devices for today’s consumer.
We’ve become accustomed to technology and mobile devices enabling a more active approach to everything from planning travel to managing personal finances to discovering new music. Why shouldn’t we expect the same in home security systems and home monitoring services? Many of the latest offerings in home security are new products and services that allow just that; Helping customers to proactively manage not only their alarm systems, but their entire residence from the web or from any web enabled smartphone.
At My Alarm Center, we’ve noticed how innovators in the home security system industry tend to take interactive home monitoring several steps further than simply putting out an iPhone app and calling it a day. They’re taking advantage of what leading behavioral scientists like BJ Fogg and others at Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab are proving around the world: Technology can persuade people to change their every day behaviors!
For instance, in a June article by Alarm.com, the author points out there was a time not long ago where homeowners frequently left house alarm systems disarmed because the interfaces and the wireless home security systems themselves were too complicated. Top home security system providers today are helping people to change that type of behavior, by developing more intuitive alarm systems and designing mobile interfaces that make home security and home automation easier-to-use and more valuable to the consumer.
As customers find the experience more rewarding – in the form of peace of mind, in catching potential extreme damage caused from storms or leaks, in seeing lower energy bills each month as a result of on demand remote thermostat control and more – they’re likely to use the wireless security system more frequently.
…And people who use their home alarm system properly and more frequently are likely to be… You guessed it – safer .
When benefits like these at the individual level are realized and coupled with projected smartphone user trends at a national level, the potential for consumers to take advantage of truly intuitive home management is astounding: As the research firm In-Stat predicts, within five years, more than 200 million people in the U.S. will own a smartphone or tablet – many of whom will insist on a reliable mobile-to-home connection.
While projected smartphone adoption rates and predicted consumer preferences are hypothetical, it’s still exciting to think about how interactive home monitoring fits into the grand scheme of technology in our daily lives. For example, what will we do on our morning commute when we don’t have to wonder if we left the iron on, or the front door unlocked?
Have interactive home monitoring services made your life easier? The team at My Alarm Center would love to know how! Email us at info@myalarmcenter.com – and you might be featured in our next blog post!
Looking forward to sharing more of what’s next in proactive home security services, safety, and home automation!
-Your Friends at My Alarm Center