If you or your customers have become frustrated with smart home set-ups, perhaps it’s time for a re-boot, or a complete change? There may also be a lot that home users can learn from newer, smart building systems.
► Continually adding to systems can make set-ups over-complex
► Smart home users can learn from smart building systems
Everyone experiences issues with connecting and configuring smart home devices. And as more are added, the complications and issues tend to multiply. One of the reasons is that new devices and capabilities are often ‘bolted-on’ to systems that were not designed to cope with the higher degree of complexity that this entails. Rather like untidy business networks that have been added to and extended over the years, smart home setups can tend to reach a point where they just don’t function in any meaningful way anymore.
In a recent article in Wired magazine, one frustrated technophile wrote: ‘I ended up running a network of prosumer-grade smart home products on an operating system that, let’s face it, was designed to add dishwasher tablets to a shopping list and remind the kids to brush their teeth. It's not ever really been cut out to manage low-latency state changes across a hundred different devices.’
The solution in this case was to start again and take control at a local level. Smart home users who have really wanted to embrace the technology, but found themselves in a bit of a tangle, might need to do the same. By starting with a blank sheet of paper, you can design a set-up that really works. There are plenty of good options available.
Smart home users could also learn from the way that smart spaces and building management systems are being deployed and used in businesses. Systems designed to manage collaboration and hybrid working are sophisticated and streamlined and seeing them in action can be a revelation - both for partners and end-user customers.
Smart meetings and Collaboration technology
We recently spoke to Mark Glasspool from our TD SYNNEX Maverick team about the evolution of video conferencing and meeting room technology, and how our partners can benefit from these fast-growing areas of the market.The TD SYNNEX Maverick team also has a Technology Centre set-up in Basingstoke that you can visit if you want to experience how good these systems are. Read our recent article – Thinking beyond the technology in the meeting room.
Contact the team
Get in touch to visit our Maverick technology centre
