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.

Open Spaces

A smart thermostat is certainly a key feature in any smart home. Being able to control the temperature of your Charlotte, NC home quickly and easily is quite convenient. Today we are sharing a few new ways you can access your climate control system. Our Control4 smart homes have many different options, from using an app on your smartphone to geo-fencing technology. Keep reading to learn more.

SEE ALSO: What is the Best Wireless Thermostat?

Geo-fencing

Geo-fencing technology allows you to control your smart home using your location. Your smartphone uses GPS to pinpoint where you are and then start or stop certain functions. For example, if you want your home to be nice and cold when you get home from work, create a setting that turns the air conditioning on to 72 as soon as you are one mile from home.  Geo-fencing creates an invisible perimeter around your property so that when you step inside that fence, your smart home goes into action turning on the air conditioning or heater, turning on the lights, music, or TV as well.

Voice Control & Smart Scenes

Many Charlotte, NC smart home owners have a limited understanding of the terms and equipment associated with Wi-Fi and networking. Understanding how your home network is setup and operates is the first step towards ensuring your smart home performs reliably and effectively. Then, you need a trusted home network installation partner to provide the essential pieces of equipment and services you need to ensure a secure connection in your house. Our goal is to educate our customers and clients on all things related to home technology, and the network is a large part of that discussion. Read this guide on Wi-Fi to learn about the basics of a network in a smart home.

See Also: Reasons to Consider a Wireless Networking Professional

The Essentials

What pieces of equipment do you need for a reliable connection? We start this guide on the smart home network with a look at some the essential components that make up a robust Internet connection. You probably already have some of these pieces of equipment in your home already, but do you have an understanding of their purpose and how they work? 

Routers and Access Points: We use wired routers to establish a strong connection in your home and wireless access points so you can get a signal at any location. Access points work by connecting to the network cable and converting it into a radio signal. That signal is picked up by network cards in your wireless devices in order to connect to the Wi-Fi. Routers need to be upgraded regularly—both the hardware and software. Work with a local professional like us to find the right one for you.