Half of U.S. broadband households are concerned about data and identity theft from connected devices

Monday, December 28, 2015

Companies offering tech support need to focus on bringing in new subscribers, and consumer concerns about security and privacy present an opportunity, where even consumers who have never considered a technical support service show strong concerns. According to recent Parks Associates research, 50% of U.S. broadband households are very concerned about viruses/spyware and 50% are very concerned about data or identity theft when using connected devices.

Additional Parks Associates research shows:

75% of U.S. broadband households have never had a tech support subscription for computers, smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices.
43% of U.S. broadband households intend to purchase a smart home device in the next year.
Over 50% of households planning to purchase a smart home device are willing to pay $9.99 per month for a privacy and support service.

During the 2016 CONNECTIONS Summit at CES, Parks Associates analysts and industry experts will discuss how to attract and retain customers within smart home and IoT markets. The session "Support Solutions: IoT and the Connected Home" will specifically focus on comprehensive support strategies.

Parks Associates would like to thank the following sponsors for their participation in this year's event:

Radialpoint makes instant, simple and complete support the standard for customers. They provide tech support software and services that help technology vendors and IT help desks remove barriers on scope of support, so they can focus on creating more happy customer experiences. Major technology brands like Rogers, Virgin Media, and Square Trade use Radialpoint PTScx to relieve customer frustration, increase loyalty and differentiate their products and services in the marketplace. Over the years, Radialpoint has proudly helped over 20 million consumers solve tech support issues with a measurably superior customer experience.

Jeremy Hill, VP Product Management and Marketing at Radialpoint, will speak on the panel session "Support Solutions: IoT and the Connected Home" on January 7 at 11:00am.

Palo Alto based ROC-Connect provides and supports full end-to-end solutions for connected home players. Based on their state-of-the-art IOT-platform and application framework they rapidly create comprehensive and consistent smart home brands, with excellent user experiences, high technical standards, and operate them on reliable services. They help their clients to design and execute their business model, select and design their products and services, and support them in all phases of their market entry and operations.

Marcus Scheiber, CEO of ROC-Connect will participate on the panel discussion for "Integrating IoT into Smart Home Platforms," January 7 at 10:00am.

Support.com, Inc. enables partners to unlock the potential of technology services. They help leading brands create new revenue streams and deepen customer loyalty through programs that enhance their customers' technology experience. Their solution includes a comprehensive Service Delivery Platform, mobile and desktop apps, a scalable workforce of technology specialists and proven expertise in program design and execution. Their partners include many of the nation's leading communications providers, retailers and technology companies.

Lee Gruenfeld, VP, Strategic Initiatives at Support.com, will speak on the session "Support Solutions: IoT and the Connected Home," January 7 at 11:00am.

The ULE Alliance is an international association, which promotes the worldwide allocation and market adoption of the ULE technology, the leading control network ecosystem for home and building use. The ULE Alliance is based in Bern, Switzerland with founding and promoter members: DECT Forum, Dialog Semiconductor, DSP Group, Gigaset and Vtech, and contributor member companies: Arcadyan, AVM, Cisco, Crow, DeutscheTelekom, Lantiq, Panasonic, RTX and Sercomm.

Avi Barel, Director Business Development of ULE Alliance, will speak during the panel session "Ease of Use, Interoperability, and Mass-Market Adoption," on January 6 at 2:30pm.

Vivint is a leading provider of smart home technology. The company delivers services through a cloud-based platform that integrates a wide range of wireless features and components to provide simple, affordable home security, energy management and home automation. Dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services, Vivint serves more than one million customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Matt Eyring, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer of Vivint, will be speaking during the session "IoT: Smart Home Solutions and Value-Added Services" on January 7 at 9:00am.

WeatherBug Home combines data from more than 10,000 Earth Networks weather stations with customer energy use information and a comprehensive set of analytics to bring a new approach to residential energy efficiency. The WeatherBug Home ScoreCard is an easy-to-understand monthly report analyzing consumer’s energy use compared to the weather, providing energy-use forecasts for the next month - and suggested improvements. WeatherBug Home is a complete Integrated Demand Side Management (IDSM) service that optimizes residential thermostat set-points for EE every day, and DR when necessary offering flexibility to layer on analytics-informed behavioral EE techniques, variable rates or Peak Time Rebates (PTRs).

Amena Ali, Senior VP and General Manager of WeatherBug Home, will participate on the panel "Monetization Strategies for IoT and the Connected Home," January 6 at 9:15am.

Zonoff empowers the worlds leading brands to deliver smart, seamless living to the mass market through our Consumer Internet of Things (CIoT) software and services platform. Zonoff offers a proven, enterprise-scale CIoT Platform with the interoperability, flexibility and reliability needed to successfully support mass market Smart Home offerings. Zonoff’s end-to-end, white-label solution includes the world-class Z1 software suite, an exceptional user interface framework, proven hardware reference designs, robust data analytics, a comprehensive device ecosystem and subscription-based services.

Kevin Garton, Chief Marketing Officer at Zonoff, will speak during the session "Monetization Strategies for IoT and the Connected Home" on January 6 at 9:15am.

For more information on attending or sponsoring CONNECTIONS Summit, visit www.connectionssummit.com.

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