When it comes to a smart technology, overwhelmingly the first thing that most consumers are interested in is home security. In a recent study by Icontrol, ninety percent of users said personal and family security was one of the main reasons they used their system. If you want to embrace the smart security movement in your Westlake, Texas home, you need to make sure your system offers these four features:

SEE MORE: How Does Automation Enhance Your Lifestyle?

Smart Locks

What’s the simplest thing you can do to protect your home? It all begins with locking your doors. So it should come as no surprise that smart locks are one of the first features adopted by smart home users. There are a variety of ways you can ‘smarten up’ your locks. Opening your doors through an app, creating key cards or using unique access codes.

Instead of having to leave a key under the mat, simply give guests or workers an access code. Each code is unique to the person using it, so from a touchpad or smartphone you can monitor who is coming in and out at all times. Want to revoke a person's access? Just erase their code from the system.

Surveillance System

There are two key components to a good surveillance system: having the right cameras and the right monitoring solution. We partner with IC Realtime for the best cameras in the industry. From its trademark Allie that covers 360 degrees (perfect for placing at the center of a room) to more traditional bullet cameras for outdoor use, IC Realtime has options for any environment. We let you know which cameras would work best and where to install them.

The smart home revolution has arrived in full force. Much of the movement revolves around smart gadgets that promise automation, acting without you having to input information. There are products available for every corner of your Dallas, Texas home, from a refrigerator that lets you know if you've run out of beer to security cameras that activate when they sense any movement. While some gadgets are admittedly more practical than others, there’s no better whole-home solution than a smart home automation system.

How do these systems differ from devices you can buy off the shelf? They bring all your technology together and get it to work as one. Through a Savant Systems solution, you can have control of your lighting, security, entertainment, climate and more at the touch of a button. Sensors and schedules are the primary ways smart devices create automated responses. In this blog, we explain how both work best in a connected home.

Sensors

Sensors are the main way automation happens in smart devices. Your lights turn off when a room is unoccupied. A thermostat notices you’ve walked into the room and adjusts the temperature. What a smart home automation system adds to this dynamic is that all your technology reacts to a sensor's message rather than just one device.

Instead of just having a camera recording when a sensor is activated, you can have the lights in the room turn on as well to get the clearest images possible. When you return from work, it’s not just the climate that adjusts. As soon as you walk into your foyer, the room lights up and the television turns on to your favorite channel so you can settle in after a long day.