We’ve all been there—you leave a key under the door mat for a friend, babysitter, or relative who needs to visit while you’re away. But it seems too obvious right? If everyone left a key under the welcome mat for emergencies, it would just be too easy for a person to break in and steal your belongings. You could get creative hiding the key in plants or lawn decor, but leaving it out is still a risk. Smart locks not only eradicate this problem, but they also offer a lot of other practical benefits related to home security. Read this blog to learn more.

SEE ALSO: How to Protect Your North Carolina Home with Security Cameras

How to Use Smart Locks

Most smart locks have a numerical keypad that enable you to unlock the door with a personalized code instead of a physical key. You can create a code for each member of your family, and even temporary codes for guests. The Integrated Home can even connect these smart locks to your control system, allowing your family to open and close doors at any time with mobile devices. For example, if your spouse forgets his or her code, you can simply open the door using your smart phone. Smart locks can also send you an alert if the door is ever left open, or when anyone comes inside your home. You can stay informed of when your kids come home from school and also if anyone leaves. If you have a full smart home automation system, these smart locks can connect to your Away and Welcome scenes. For example, press “Away” using the Control4 app on your smartphone and all the doors will lock, the security system will arm, the thermostat will adjust to an energy-saving level, and all the lights will turn off.

Connecting Your Gate or Garage

It seems like everyone keeps saying, “there’s an app for that.” But if you continue to add apps to your smartphone, not only will you overload your phone, but you’ll also get app clutter. When it comes time to clean out the closet so to speak, you have to assess which ones you actually use on a daily basis and which ones you can do without.

DIY smart homes create app clutter because each time you buy a new device you have to download the app onto your phone. Buy a Sonos speaker for your Charlotte, NC property? You have to use the app to stream music wirelessly. Have a Nest thermostat? You have to open the app every time you want to change the temperature from afar. 

But what if you could simply open one app and use it to control your Sonos speaker, Nest thermostat, Lutron lights and shades and so much more? The answer is integration. The word may sound very lofty and you may even be reaching for a dictionary right now, but it means that you are connecting separate systems into one unified system. With smart home automation you can control every separate device with just one user interface. 

One amazing benefit of working with a Control4 dealer like us, is that you don’t have to get rid of the brands you know and love. We can connect them together and put them under the Control4 app. 

One App, One Solution

Did you know that more than half the population in America owns a pet? According to the Humane Society, 66.5 million American households have a pet with about 65% of them considering it a member of their family. Whether you have a dog, cat, bird, or turtle in your Charlotte household, we know pets are important to you. Smart home automation can be a convenient tool to care for your animals. Here are some ideas on how to use surveillance cameras to watch over them at all times. 

SEE ALSO: 3 New Ways to Control Your Home’s Climate

Skip the Kennel

There are some benefits to leaving your pet at a boarding kennel while you are on vacation, but there are some negatives too. Firstly, some places require that your dog or cat is spayed and you’ll also run the risk of your pet getting depressed and anxious being away from their usual environment. 

Use surveillance cameras to watch them instead, and smart locks to let in pet sitters. You can give your dog or cat watcher a temporary code so they can come inside and walk the dog or feed the cat. Another benefit of having a smart security and surveillance system is that you can know when a door is left unlocked or if an emergency occurs. Since you can lock doors remotely with your smartphone and check in on your pets using live video feeds, there’s no reason you have to send them to the kennel. 

If you have a smart home system, it will need regular updates and on occasion some repairs. Our team members will come out and work on your system. But what about the moment you need assistance immediately? Remote monitoring gives The Integrated Home the ability to access your smart home from afar. Even if we aren’t that far from your Charlotte, NC property, on many occasions we can still fix your house faster by logging in remotely as opposed to driving down the road. Here is some more information about the benefits of remote monitoring.

SEE ALSO: 3 Signs Your Smart Home Needs an Update

What is Remote Monitoring?

Remote monitoring is the process of monitoring network or other system activities through the use of remote devices. Remote monitoring is often used in the IT world to solve technical problems from any location in the world. There are many benefits to using it for smart home maintenance and repairs.

Save Time

Sometimes adding a surround sound system to your Charlotte-area home is a fairly simple project. But what if the room you want to watch movies in is oddly shaped or is made of materials that complicate the installation? We want to assure you that when you work with a professional audio/video installer you can overcome any challenges. Read this helpful guide for more information.

SEE ALSO: Take Your Gaming to the Next Level with Media Room Design

Oddly Shaped Ceilings

Positioning two or four speakers in the ceiling is key to creating 3D audio where you can hear the sound coming from above you. If a movie includes a plane flying overhead or other sounds that come from above, you’ll need them. But what if your ceiling is a dome, caved, or made of a difficult material like brick or glass? In cases where the speakers can’t be installed in the walls or mounted on the ceiling, you can use upward firing speakers, which play the soundtrack directly upward so the sound reflects off the ceiling and back down towards you. Keep in mind that these work best when the ceiling is made of a hard and smooth surface.

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