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Whole house automation is something for every homeowner to consider.  With the fast-paced nature of modern life, it serves those able to invest a little of time and money to increase the efficiency of the domestic spaces in one’s home.   The fatigue that comes with maintaining the many systems of the household, such as lighting, security systems, medical alert systems, home entertainment systems, phone and telecommunications systems, thermostats, pet feeding appliances, and irrigation for lawns and outdoor plants, can be prevented through foresight and planning.  While detractors might question the need for such “luxuries” what is actually saved is time.  The accumulation of minutes can be restored into unexpected hours to spend in quality activities shared with loved ones or family.  With smart home technology, instead of struggling to identify cables and outlets, plugging and unplugging items tangled atop electrical strips, all activities in the maintenance of house and landscape and even some household chores can be managed by wireless home automation.

 

In addition to the time and energy conserved, clients should consider the potential dollars saved in automated regulation of things such as the electricity used for home lighting and temperature control.  A well designed home climate plan can save the average customer significant amounts of money (which can then be reinvested in worthwhile improvements to the property). Sensors can alert the heating and lighting systems to when people are present in a room and shut off resources when a room is not in use.  The automation of home security prevents the normal failures of human attention to details such as the proper closing of doors and windows and setting of alarms. Where there is room for error, there is room for smart home technology to stand-in as a solution.  Why risk the safety of your family and belongings when a more reliable option exists?

Have you ever thought about updating your entertainment system to include newer kinds of technology?    A pair of old speakers with your TV could mean that you are missing out on all the possibilities that new audio technologies can provide for you.  There are also new kinds of systems that make things easier and faster to use like with smart home systems.  Utilizing smart technology along with your home theatre means that you can adjust all the levels from anywhere in the house using a remote that can be set up with your own phone or tablet.  With this type of system you can enjoy the convenience of smart technology with all kinds of items in your home including your home theater.   Smart technology is not only easy for you to control it is also a type of home automation systems that means you will not have to worry about taking care of your equipment.  Everything will function automatically from a centralized control system.

The great thing about using smart technology for your own home is that it will carry over to your entire house.  You will not only be able to use smart technology for your audio system in the living room, you can also set up whole house audio to work for everything.  Imagine being able to walk around throughout your whole home and hear great quality audio in every single room.  You can hear music while you are cleaning all the various rooms in the house or even when you are having a party and all your guests will be able to enjoy the music.

Not everyone is concerned about having the best entertainment system with really high quality audio.  But for some people that truly love watching movies and television it can be unacceptable for them to have thin or poor audio that makes it difficult for them to understand the dialogue or really have a good experience.   It is not enough for movie lovers to use the simple speakers that come with their television.  They need the best sound New York can offer through an audio visual company that is up to date with all the new technologies that people need for a good sound system.  If you want the best home theatre system that you can find then it is best not to attempt to take care of it yourself especially if you are not very experienced with audio equipment.  Leaving it to professionals can save you time and ensure that you will get a better sound and have a system that runs smoothly. 

The most important thing to think about when you are setting up an audio system with the help of experienced audio visual companies is what kind of amenities you would like to have along with your system.  Do you want easy access and control through a centralized remote or do you want to use the advantages of smart technology?  All the things that you want out of an audio system are available if you find the right company that can change your entertainment system into a real home theatre.  With a good set up, you can truly enjoy all your favorite movies and experience new audio in a way that you never thought possible. 

  So which did you actually get when the last AV guy finished that installation?

 

Did they over deliver on their promise to provide you a fabulous AV technology experience that would both wow you and simplify your life? Or…was it the deluxe smart home technology package with extra hot air? Or the extra value package with low satisfaction?

 

Whether you're a former customer, a potential customer, architect or designer or one of the audio visual companies who may specify these whole house automation systems to your clients, if you're reading this then you have already taken some position on the question above.

 

The Sound Of Silence…

 

And why are you reading such questions from a company called Ultimate Sound & Installations, whose business it is to design and yes, sell these smart home systems?

 

Because something doesn't sound quite right in our industry. It's the sound of silence. A silence that we in the industry have heard for many years but often goes unanswered until it's too late. It's the silence of many former or soon to be ex-customers of audio visual companies that aren't even aware their relationship status is about to change.

 

These are customers frustrated by what they feel are overpriced AV systems that have underperformed on what they were promised or worse, enslave them to a life where they can't even enjoy this AV system that cost them a very pretty penny. They feel locked into a feedback loop of endless service calls and empty promises by their audio visual companies and they're angry. At some point, they throw up their hands and simply move on to another company.

 

When Opportunity Knocks…What’s Lurking Behind the Door?

 

Recently, we received a phone call from someone who found us online (That's a good thing! Our marketing efforts are paying off. Hooray!). He was having problems with his whole house automation system that was installed by one of our well known home automation vendors (still a good thing…for us). His address was in a desirable neighborhood on New York's very wealthy upper East side. (So far so good, right? What’s the catch?).

 

So we arrange an appointment to see what his issues are and arrive to have a look. Beautiful apartment with wonderful river views. It was a good sized whole house automation system on a par with something we would certainly design and install for our clients. I am there with our head technician and strike up a conversation with the client while my tech looks into an issue with his HVAC control.

 

What happened with Company X? I ask.(we know them well) I find out they came by a few times after the original installation to deal with some typical issues and added a new iPad control feature when that became available so he could operate his system with it.

 

But evidently they didn't provide a very satisfying experience where he could truly control the system as thoroughly as he was promised. So at some point he has to resort to throwing a circuit breaker to turn off certain lights that were supposed to be controllable as they were overheating and he ends up causing some problems with other devices that are no longer controllable with his system. The AV company becomes unresponsive to his ongoing requests to remedy his situation.

 

Now anyone on the sales or installation side of this conversation (which includes yours truly) would be quick to remind you that there are always two sides to every story. And there are. And sometimes, yes, there can be difficult customers with unreasonable requests. The jury is still out on this one as we're just walking into the situation. However, that's not the point.

 

One Bad Apple In A Socially Connected Fishpond

 

Our industry is built almost entirely on referrals from our customers and our associates in the design/build industry. So an unhappy customer, architect, designer or builder may be the end of one sales cycle and potentially many other future sales if that referral source decides to spread their story to the rest of their network in a very socially connected world; a network who turns out to be precisely our target audience.

 

More often than not, a client’s satisfaction or lack thereof is directly related to the follow through by the integrator after the sale and installation of an AV system. In our industry, with a client base of typically well to do members of the upper echelons in business, entertainment and politics, the old adage of no news is good news when we don't hear from them is a very bad policy to adopt.

 

Communication is absolutely key to taking the pulse of your customers and if you don't hear from them it's incumbent on the home automation vendors to reach out and check in to see how they're doing, especially if they haven't heard from a former customer in quite some time.

 

Smart Home Technology: The Key to Freedom or The Handcuffs?

 

At some point, this customer confides in me that he wished he never installed any of this technology in his home; a very expensive system that was supposed to enhance and simplify his life. It didn't.

 

He describes how he came from a country where he didn't even have a telephone as a boy. If you wanted to communicate with someone, you went out to meet them. It used to be called human contact. You could read someone's emotions by seeing them in front of you. Body language. Remember that? He was used to operating and fixing things with his own hands. Now he feels like he has lost that ability, not because he lost those skills but because the system prohibits him from doing so.

 

In the short term, this could seem like a new business opportunity for our company and it is. Great! A new client we've inherited from our competitor's lack of caring. Maybe we can sell him some upgrades. Fantastic! But in the long term, this is a bad thing for our industry.

 

Us or Them? Hint: There Is No Them

 

Whatever side of the fence you stand on in this conversation, you've probably heard this story before. It’s nothing new (unfortunately). The villain is always the same (the evil AV company and by default, the salesperson who sold the system). Likewise, the problem (complicated technology). Only the customer's name changes.

 

And while many of us have and know clients who are very happy with their systems and understand there's a right way and a wrong way to design and install them, we can't ignore this uncomfortable silence.

 

It's a poison arrow through the heart of our industry that creates a worldview in this particular niche of clientele that smart home technology sucks, is too expensive and not worth the trouble. The problem is that this clientele, the ones who can afford these elaborate integrated systems: the best home theater system, distributed audio and video, lighting and shade control and so on, are the bread and butter of our industry.

 

Your Choice: Hide Your Head or Dig Deeper

 

We as an industry have a choice: ignore stories like this one at our peril and write it off as simply one negative stance on an otherwise wonderful and thriving industry. Or suck it up and acknowledge that we've all heard stories like these and cringe when we do. Recognize that maybe today it's another company in the crosshairs of someone's discontent but tomorrow it could be us.

 

Decide that if each of us worked a little bit harder to hear our customers' frustrations, if only a whisper sometimes, we can catch them in time and correct them before the whisper turns to silence and the silence turns into bad press. Yes, AV companies reading this view each other as the competition. And each one promises something better than the other. But this silence only serves to poison the well we all drink from as an industry.

 

So if you’re an AV company, the next time you send out an email blast touting the latest Wow! in smart home technology to your former clients and don’t hear anything back, try picking up the phone and calling them. Human contact still goes a long way. And it works both ways! If you’re a former client, potential client or architect / designer reading this and have a smart home technology thorn in your side, as described above, you can pick up the phone too.

 

Silence is deadly.

 

Communication is healthy.

 

So can we talk?

  

Are you satisfied with the sound and visual quality you have with your home entertainment system?  Maybe you need a new TV or if you recently bought a new one you need better sound instead of the factory speakers.  It is a good idea when you want to get the best sound possible to look for audio visual companies that can lend a hand.  For the people that want a great sound system but are not familiar with the more technical side of things they can really benefit from a company that can quickly get everything done for an affordable price.  It will not take much to get exactly what you want out of your entertainment system when you find experienced sound companies in your area.  You can talk to them about what kind of sound quality you want and how it will be easiest for you to control in your home.

If you are thinking about how best to control and adjust all the important functions of your perfect home theatre, there are a number of new high technology options.  With all the new kinds of smart systems you can put together an easy to use theatre that operates through ipad home control.  Using your ipad can be a great way to keep everything centralized so that you can quickly open an application to make adjustments.  It will be an easy way to enjoy your entertainment system without any confusion or searching for the right remote.  Everything will be simple and clear for and your guests who come over to enjoy movies and television.