"smart home" articles

The COVID-19 crisis has put fixed and mobile broadband networks to the test. Shifting work patterns and increased consumer use of connected devices and services at home bring into sharp focus the critical importance of the networks that provide the foundation of our connected lives. At this same moment, major shifts are occurring in the fixed and mobile broadband landscape.   ISPs are re-evaluating their offerings as more and more consumers drop the broadband & pay TV...

DIY and smart home products are adding opportunity and volatility to the market for professionally monitored security and driving changes in the home security business. These solutions offer consumer advantages with lower-cost and contract-free monitoring options that attract new consumers. In the COVID-19 environment, direct-to consumer sales of DIY systems and do-it-with me services offered by dealers have provided a means to keep doing business. However, adopting these new offerings...

Independent living solutions, which encompass a variety of assistive technologies, enhance seniors’ ability to stay in their home safely and enhance communication with loved ones. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the seniors’ vulnerability and the challenges of remote caregiving. Companies across the spectrum from device manufacturers to monitoring providers to home health agencies are responding to the need for new solutions that help our oldest consumers live well and safely at...

Innovative companies are driving new revenue by extending professional monitoring services beyond residential security to new use cases in the connected home.    These include monitoring of loss prevention devices, personal emergency response systems (PERS), energy management, asset tracking services, and indoor air quality, among others. Parks Associates research finds that 28% of seniors with security systems in place are willing to pay for in-home...

The increasing average number of connected devices in a home creates a tipping point where the value of a unified experience becomes compelling to consumers. Today’s smart home platforms seek to deliver that unified experience by leveraging advanced data analytics, AI, and contextual awareness to create new value from a range of devices for use cases such as activity monitoring, energy management, video and audio analytics, maintenance monitoring, and contextually aware prediction and...

  With 2020’s unprecedented health, economic and social disruption, smart home providers are driven to adapt and innovate while closely monitoring the pulse of shifting consumer attitudes. This session opens with a presentation of voice of the consumer insights drawn from Parks Associates research from preCOVID outbreak through various stages of the pandemic’s evolution this year. Headwinds and tailwinds for the smart home ecosystem are explored as well as potential lasting...

Contextual awareness, AI, and machine learning are among the innovations elevating user experiences in the smart home device space by moving the market beyond scripted, pre-programmed automation scenes. These improvements can deliver a more streamlined onboarding process, interoperability between more devices, multi-modal access, and granular personalization that adapts to multiple lifestyles in the household. This session opens with a Consumer Perspective presenting first-hand...

Parks Associates is hosting its 24th annual CONNECTIONS conference this year as part of CONNECTIONS Community , with virtual sessions on July 15, July 29, August 19, September 16, October 7, October 28, and November 10-12. The upcoming session on October 28, titled "Privacy and Security: Protecting the Consumer" , will address how manufacturers, broadband service providers, and data security service providers are doubling their efforts to mitigate potential risks to...