Can’t We All Just Get Along? Integration and Home Automation Control and Home Theater Systems 09/30/2011
As a provider of home automation control systems and home theater solutions for commercial and residential clients, one of the largest issues we come up against is making numerous components and systems work together – integration. Ultimately, it is our job as integrators to provide the best customized solutions for our clients, making complex components, software, and systems work together harmoniously in a simple way. Each client has different needs and requirements for their specific systems, and at Certified Connection, we aim to cater to each and every client to suit their exact needs.
Customized home automation and/or home theater systems often require that we pull from the top-of-line components available in the market in order to provide the best system for each client. This means making products from manufacturers x, y, and z work together event though they may have different operating systems or software.
For example, when we work with a customer to install a home automation solution with lighting control and environmental controls, that customer wants to and should be able to access all of these controls from one device, whether it’s a universal remote, an iPad, or a smartphone device.
Manufacturers often claim that certain components will work together seamlessly or provide software or modules that are intended to allow them to work together. But in reality, and unfortunately, this may not be the case – which makes our job even more difficult.
Of course, the companies that provide specific components have proprietary systems, which is what keeps them on the cutting edge and keeps them at the front of the market. But it seems that there could be and should be some common ground from which they can work together to provide more easily integratable components and systems to benefit integrators and ultimately their customers. If a source vendor claims to have patches or modules that integrate components with another company’s components, they should be tested and tested again to make sure they truly work.
As integrators, we want to be able to provide the best products and services to our customers, giving them the best seamless, high-end systems. It would benefit everyone if source vendors could figure out a way that we could all just get along.
Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers. For more than 10 years, Certified Connection has served homeowners and businesses in and around Boston, throughout the South Shore, and the entire Cape.
Additional Reading
Getting the Most Out of Your Audio/Video System
Lower Energy Costs and Increase the Value of Your Home by Making it More Energy Efficient
Home Entertainment Technology in Europe vs. the United States
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