Raising the standard of the professional smart home experience
For installers, control systems continue to evolve to make smart homes simpler and more reliable to integrate, manage and operate. By reducing the complexity of programming, installers have enabled the industry footprint to grow faster, bringing the benefits of integrated smart home technology more quickly within the reach of many more homeowners.
The software development taking place with the operating systems behind platforms, such as Control4®, are delivering an experience which not only saves time for the installer in configuring and commissioning a system, but they also support an improved and more personalised user experience and a consistent level of aftercare service.
A smooth service from start to finish
Our Control4 Platform allows native access to cloud-based features in the OvrC® platform, our industry-leading, cloud-based remote management system. By enabling OvrC Pro on a Control4 Controller, integrators can provide network monitoring and management for troubleshooting, rebooting, self-healing and handling software upgrades without having to visit site.
A key feature of OvrC is that there is no recurring software cost or sign-up fee, so integrators can easily incorporate it into customer service packages, resulting in no disruption or extra cost to the client. At the same time, they can develop effective service level agreements as a critical part of their business growth strategy with complete confidence.
With RMM tools, like OvrC, it’s possible for installers to automatically push OS upgrades out to a client’s existing system as part of an agreed aftercare service package. RMM provides a centralised database of client systems making a comprehensive aftercare service much simpler to administer.
Using OvrC also offers a great route in to project upgrades. By seeing how a customer actually uses the system an integrator has provided, gives a better understanding of where improvements can be made and the insights needed to suggest improvements.
We’ve been working on several innovations to support Partners with providing a consistently high level of service, solve problems, and maintain strong relationships with clients. As such, Pro Tools has been a key addition to OvrC. Pro Tools includes a series of familiar, helpful tools that installers use every day on projects, that have been rebuilt in the cloud to make it even easier to support clients remotely. For example, temporary credentials for the Control4 App, clear/restore project, view logs, manage log levels and capture log snapshot.
Empowering the end user
Ultimately, a smart home is designed to be more convenient, more comfortable and more enjoyable for the end user. It’s their home, and their investment, so it’s important that they also feel in control of the technologies within it – long after an installer has completed the handover.
At Control4, we recently updated our operating system to OS 3.4.0 with a new Customer Empowerment Suite. This includes new functionality and settings that make it easier for the end user to manage their Control4 smart home. For example, clients can create their own system notifications, add or remove secondary users, and have greater personalisation and remote functionality via the Control4 App, for example the camera page now supports multi-cam livestreaming.
A fully integrated Control4 Smart Home can be customised to the client’s specification and lifestyle and meet their expectations by seamlessly integrating a wide range of technology onto the automation platform whilst providing an exceptional user experience.
Meanwhile, integrators can leverage the opportunity provided by software enhancements that enhance personalisation and improved remote access to take their customer service offering as well as their business revenues to the next level.
We’re only at the start of this journey, and it’s going to be really exciting to see the impact that new features, functionality and servicing capabilities have on our industry over the coming years.
