The Bradford Group - Whole Home Automation

What is the one thing that almost all of us do, at some point, after work each day? More times than not, at some point, we sit down in front of the television, remote in hand. And whether you enjoy watching the news, watching your favorite sitcom with the family, or watching the day’s sports highlights, most of us would agree that we sincerely appreciate our remote control. Remote controls are so standard now though, that it’s easy to forget what it was like without one. However, many times that one little plastic remote control is what helps us relax and regroup after a long day at work. It’s one of those added conveniences, through technology, that has become a standard in our daily lives.

The only issue that most of us have now is that we use electronics for everything, and every single one comes with another remote. So in a way, things are almost getting re-complicated for us. We walk into new clients’ homes every day, only to discover four or five remotes on the coffee or side-table, and a confused look on the homeowner’s face. Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this.

There is absolutely nothing complicated about a home that is “Controlled”, which is all that Home Automation really is anyway, just “Home Control”. With a Home Control System, instead of just controlling your television from your seat, you would have the ability to control most of the components in your home, and all from the same seat as before. One of the things that make Home Control so great though, is how flexible it can be, so that each client’s exact needs are met, no matter how simple or how complex those needs may be. Here is an example that may help you understand just how necessary home control may be for you:

John, a local businessman, flies into Chicago, IL for a three day business conference. While catching a cab, John sees a person walking their dog, which only reminds John that he just left his pet at home for three days, and without a sitter. In addition to this, while John considered who he should ask this favor of, he also realized that he had used his home’s spare key last week during another situation, and had never returned it. So John calls around for this favor, but because of the last-minute request, the only person available to do this was someone John didn’t know very well. Whereas this could be a fairly tough situation for most, John was able to make it look easy. John had the dog-sitter call him that evening, once he arrived at John’s home. From his laptop, sitting in his hotel room in Chicago, John was able to log into his home’s control system. From his laptop, John pulled up his surveillance cameras and saw the dog-sitter at the front door (all this while having the sitter on his phone as well). From his laptop, John disarmed the security system, unlocked the front door, and turned on the lights in his home that led the sitter to the pet’s food. From his laptop, John was able to watch the sitter very closely from the surveillance cameras. The sitter walked John’s dog, and replenished its necessities. As the sitter exited John’s home, from his laptop John was able to turn off the lights, lock the door, arm the security alarm, and watch the sitter drive away. However, while logged into his home’s control system, John noticed three things. He noticed that he left the thermostat on 68 degrees, so from his laptop he adjusted it to 76 degrees for the duration of his trip. Second, he noticed that he had turned all of his home’s lights off, forgetting to turn on the vacation setting. The light’s vacation setting allows the lights in John’s home to automatically come on and off as needed, making the home look occupied to any potential burglars. And third, John realized from the surveillance cameras that he left all of the drapes closed, so he set a timer that opened the drapes during the day for the dog, but kept them closed at night for privacy. For the remainder of his business trip, John had someone at home look after the dog, while he looked after them.

Although John regularly uses his Home Control while at home, this example shows some of the safety and security benefits that the system brings him while away. We can configure almost all of the Home Control systems to be controlled remotely, as needed. We configure each system so that not only does the system “tell” the equipment what to do, but each piece of equipment “tells” the system what its status is. This allows the homeowner to be able to log into their system and automatically see what may have been left in a status that is different that what the homeowner wants, so that they can change it. The example below tells more about the convenience a Home Control system can bring.

Janice and Tom, a middle-aged couple here in town, had a little problem. They have a home theater on their second-story that Janice and the children cannot operate when Tom is away, and as an owner of multiple successful businesses, Tom is rarely home. They do not want to have control of their entire home, just the home theater, and all of the electronic components that make it up, but they do want something with the option of expanding later. After meeting with Janice a couple times to fully understand her needs, we are able to configure and install a system that meets her needs and her budget. Whereas before, Janice would have to refer to a two-page list, pushing buttons on every component, to only hope the equipment would work as planned, now she or the children only have to push one or two buttons and get the same affect. To explain this in more detail, imagine wanting to watch a movie. Before, to watch a movie, Janice had to turn on the projector, the surround-sound receiver, and the DVD Player. Then she had to put the projector on the correct input, put the receiver on the correct input and output, put the receiver on the right audio mode, and press play on the DVD Player, and still then it would only work if everything was perfect. When configuring and installing the Home Control System, we configured all of those same commands, just as someone would physically stand there pressing buttons. We would configure those commands under a button saying something like “Watch Movie.” Now when she or the children press that one button, the system does all of the work for them, plus it allows for them to view exactly what is connected and the status of it. Basically, the most complex collection of electronic equipment can be configured to all work in perfect harmony with each other, and all with the touch of one or two buttons, depending on the wishes of each client.

Home Control is extremely difficult to explain, but very simple to understand once you physically demo the unit for yourself. It can be very affordable, and is easily customized for each and every client. Similar to the remote control, Home Control will soon be a standard on all of the new homes.

Call us today (337.456.2332) to schedule an appointment for a complete demonstration, or to just hear more about what Home Control can do for you.