Business Tech: Are you 'living' in the 21st century or just 'existing' in it?

Sure, you may be living in the 21st century, but are you actually living in the 21st century? No, this isn’t a trick question. Existing in the 21st century and dwelling in the 21st century are two completely different things. To find out which one you’re doing, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Can you unlock your front door from your phone?

2. Do you get motion notifications when you child “sneaks” home past the security cameras at 2 a.m.?

3. Does your thermostat track your usage and daily schedule so that it can adjust cooling and heating schedules to save you money?

4. Do your individual power outlets monitor and report their energy usage?

If you answered no to any of these questions, it is time to upgrade your house’s technology and begin dwelling in the 21st century.

Smart home technology is a natural byproduct of technological evolution. It was only a matter of time before the tech that makes our everyday lives better was incorporated into our houses. Companies like Vivint, Nest and SimpliSafe are just some of the companies jumping on this emerging trend.

SimpliSafe is home security equipment and monitoring company. They provide entry sensors, motion alarms, smoke alarms, flood alarms, cameras (indoor and outdoor) and alarm monitoring. While this does sound like every other security system out there, there are some key differences that set SimpliSafe apart from the others.

The biggest difference between SimpliSafe and other security companies is their price. SimpliSafe does not have door-to-door salesmen or teams for equipment installation.  Because of this, they can offer their security for much less than their competitors. But don’t worry, if you’re not up to the task of self-installation, you can pay $75 extra for an expert to come and install the system.

Along with their lower equipment pricing, they have multiple options and pricing for alarm monitoring. Their professionals contact you the moment your alarm sounds and are on the phone with you until the issue is resolved. If there is an issue that requires police assistance, the police are dispatched 350 percent quicker because they verify every alarm first.

SimpliSafe’s top-notch security monitoring is accompanied by their top-notch equipment. The base station is a sleek design and comes in multiple colors. The entry keypads also come in multiple colors and were designed to be removed from their stationary mount if desired. The entry sensors are small and quickly disappear from view. Their security cameras are wide-angle, HD and offer some zoom function. Every motion can be recorded and stored on their cloud service for up to one month. Oh, and their careful algorithm is designed to detect people, not pets so you won’t have hours of video of your dog or cat running through the house. Because of all this, SimpliSafe has been named the No. 1 security choice from PC Magazine, CNET, The Verge, Wirecutter and more.

The vast majority of smart home technology will never actually pay for itself, nor will it help reduce our energy footprint. Nest is not like the rest. Nest claims that its thermostats have saved over 40.9 billion kWh of energy. They were also the first thermostats to be Energy Star certified.

Nest learning thermostats aren’t just beauty, they’re also brains. After a week of studying your house's behavior, it creates a heating and cooling schedule designed to make you as comfortable as possible. If you constantly turn the heat up in the morning and down at night, it will begin making those changes for you. It can pair with your phone’s app to check when you’ve left the house and it will go into “Eco” mode, saving you from potentially wasting money.

Being a self-learning thermostat means that as the seasons change, your thermostat will automatically adapt. After a few days of consistent temperature changes, Nest will learn that you prefer your house to be five degrees warmer in the morning than before. This technology has reportedly led to savings of 10 percent to 12 percent on heating bills and 15 percent on cooling bills, paying for itself in less than two years.

If you are from Utah, then you have surely heard of Vivint. And in case you didn’t know from the full-sentence-long name of the Utah Jazz’s arena, they also sell smart home technology and are one of the biggest companies doing it.

Forbes calls Vivint a “one-stop shop to building a smart home” and they aren’t wrong. Vivint offers doorbell cameras, outdoor and indoor cameras, smart locks so you can lock and unlock doors from your phone, element thermostats and garage door controls. Everything can be easily controlled from their mobile app or voice-controlled from a connected Google Home device.

Unlike SimpliSafe, Vivint sends out a fully trained technician for installation of all your equipment, including the hard-wired touch-screen control panel. Their tech and service does cost more, but they are able to offer a one-stop-shop for a complete smart home.  As PC Magazine says, “You don’t have to lift a finger; Vivint technicians come to your house and install everything.”

With all the options of smart home technology, choosing what to purchase may feel overwhelming. Obviously, security systems are practically a necessity these days, but you may not need all the bells and whistles that come with some packages. So, shopping custom packages is important. 

Another important thing to ask yourself is if you are looking for a financial return out of your purchase. If so, Nest is a good choice for you. 

Whatever you choose to update your house with, you’ll surely enjoy the enhancement.

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Bahar Ferguson is president of Wasatch I.T., a Utah provider of outsourced IT services for small and medium-sized businesses.