The Connected Home

There was a time when the commercial audiovisual experience could pretty easily trump what people had as their home systems, if they even had a home system. But now, just as with home-based IT, residential audio-video and control systems reflect what goes on in the workplace and entertainment spaces and vice versa. Everybody’s an end-user now, especially at home.

Commercial World

We know that the kind of reliability that’s seen in the commercial AV environment demands installation of the best equipment available, but we have seen the amount of products available suitable for home integration increase greatly. And it is has been proven by digital video and audio production, consumer and commercial do eventually converge.

IP Networks

With knowledge of both the residential and commercial worlds, it is important to us to get the message out about the new world of integrated systems.

Ten years ago, it was a luxury to have an ethernet network at the workplace. It was rare to have the IT department’s cooperation to understand that it was OK for AV devices to live on the network and that there were productivity gains that could be achieved by having them there.... 

- Now it’s a convenience and luxury that has grown into a necessity.

End-users want networks that talk to each other and networks they can access remotely and control from a web-based or phone-based graphical user interface (GUI). Being able to monitor their home, regulate it and ensure it’s energy efficiency is of prime importance. 

Client’s don’t want borders between audio-video, heating & cooling, lighting, IT and security but want immediate access from anywhere via the internet or their mobile phone.

Responsibility

As stewards of both our businesses and our customers’ needs within our industry, we appreciate today’s customer is increasingly influenced by professional advice and it is our responsibility to steer them toward the proven and the bulletproof in all aspects of installation within the home.

The Future

With a Cat5e cable backbone HDTV, audio, telephony and broadband internet can function seamlessly throughout. Even wireless connection can be made a stable option using access points connected to the IP network. This combined with lighting, heating and cooling functions, security and door entry systems makes for a fully connected home.

We are entering a new time in home system control where home cable networks will truly be the backbone of the property and reflect in it’s valuation - It will drive the demand for design.

Customers’ expectations are influenced by their experiences outside and understand the networks and the providers behind them offer what is now everyday living to them. Therefore we need commitment in delivering a quality infrastructure within the fabric of the home design which will set us apart from all the other system engineers who are talking to our customers.

Soon everyone will be speaking the language of ‘centralised control’ from their own viewpoint and vocabulary. We feel there is a responsibility now to voice how in-house entertainment should lead the way in home network installation, providing all the benefits that come with it to our mutual customers within the building industry.

The benefits

A home network enables the full integration of many sub-systems: 

• Independent control via wall mounted touchscreens, handheld remote control units or wifi tablets - All elements controlled through icon driven interfaces.
• Fast stable internet service and wireless network for whole house coverage.
• High Definition Video distribution to every screen location – streaming of video on demand programs, online film rental and other internet services to all TV’s.
• Speaker points in all rooms for ambient sound throughout.
• Multiple satellite systems with PVR (personal video recorder) functionality.
• Share video sources (one satellite receiver can service multiple screens).
• Centrally located music sources played through discreet speakers
• All audio-video components hidden away with no visible wiring.
• Interconnection of iPod docks, Music servers, Apple Products and internet radio sources throughout the whole house.
• Home office for file sharing and networked equipment like NAS (storage), faxes and printers.
• Linking games consoles and allowing online gaming in multi-rooms.
• Numerous data points for intercom system and VoIP Telephony options.
• CCTV and Door entry systems with sensors for security – viewable online.
• Automated Lighting Control  with motion sensors, timers and scene selection.
• Automated Climate Control for under-floor heating and air conditioning.

All this adds value to a property and allows for future upgrades in the home.

Understanding

It is only now it is being understood that many devices can live together and interact with each other for fully integrated systems and thanks to the continual success of the commercial world, integrated home installations can benefit from adopting those solutions that IT have already solved.

Summary

Whole environment automation requires that in-home entertainment be conversant and interactive with the environmental management, security and IT elements of the system - all of these control ‘islands’ now collide into a new ‘supercontinent’ we can now refer to as ‘home automation control.’