Starlink dishes are hooked up to routers that create a small wifi hotspot. — © AFP
The smart home concept continues to advance and increasingly people in high-income countries are using smart phones or tablets to control or monitor the home appliances both locally and remotely.
The smart home is pat of the Internet of Things, providing a connected home that interlinks all type of digital devices so they can communicate each other through the Internet.
These connected devices form a home area network where communications are enabled by different protocols.
The optimal technology for the smart home is Wi-Fi. In the past few years, the Wi-Fi signal has been leveraged for various sensing tasks, from security detection to gesture recognition, as a result of improved sensitivity to environmental dynamics.
The smart home of the future will use the power of Wi-Fi for far more than just broadband connectivity. Services such as home security, care services and energy saving can all be provided over Wi-Fi if end-users have a home network with the app and intelligence built into one service.
A wireless alarm system functions by utilizing wireless communication protocols, including proprietary radio protocols. This approach enables sensors placed around a home to communicate to a hub. The hub causes a cellular connection to communicate outside the home (some approaches also use Wi-Fi as a backup).
One way to achieve this is through the use of a new app. Broadband service providers and router suppliers have the option to reconfigure home networking by using an updated smart home management app. This has the additional potential to ‘double up’ as a customer engagement tool.
The new application was recently launched by Gamgee’s CEO Paul Hendriks. The technology leader stated ahead of Mobile World Congress 2023, in a statement provided to Digital Journal: “An application that is fully integrated with the end-user is a powerful engagement tool that can generate product-led growth for broadband operators. They can start small, perhaps with a free service, and once users are engaged, trial other elements and trigger customers to spend more and subscribe to more services.”
This technological approach can aid companies offering services like home security in developing revenue streams. Hendricks notes: “An application that is fully integrated with the end-user is a powerful engagement tool that can generate product-led growth for broadband operators. They can start small, perhaps with a free service, and once users are engaged, trial other elements and trigger customers to spend more and subscribe to more services.”
