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What to Call Home Automation: CEA Survey Says ‘Home Monitoring’
How the heck should you describe your home automation business?
I might rethink this pitch, though. About seven years ago, the Consumer Electronics Association surveyed consumers about this thing that we know as home systems integration, asking them what term best described this concept.
The answer was “smart home.” That is the term that most resonated with consumers.
I advised dealers to use that term as a result of the survey, and I began using it myself.
Fast forward to now, and the latest CEA research suggests that “home monitoring” is the term that makes sense to consumers.
Of the respondents who were already familiar with the concept of home systems, 75% thought “home monitoring” described it well, compared to 62% for smart home, 55% for home automation and 53% for connected home.
Home monitoring won by an even larger margin among respondents who were not already familiar with the concept of the integrated home. “Home monitoring” resonated with 52% of these respondents, compared to 32% for “smart home.”
We might have an industry term to describe our trade – like electronic systems contractor (ESC) or home technology integrator (my preferred term) – but let’s consider terms that are most readily understood by consumers.
If you’re keeping score, here’s what some of the big brands call their home integration offerings:
ADT Pulse
Xfinity Home (changed from Comcast/Xfinity Home Security; tagline: Your total home security and home control solution)
Vivint (no brand for offering but calls it “comprehensive security and home automation”)
Time Warner Cable IntelligentHome
Verizon Home Monitoring & Control
AT&T Digital Life
Honeywell Total Connect
URC Total Control
Cox Home Security
Source: Consumer Electronics Association: Consumer Perspective on Home Automation
RELATED RESEARCH: CEA: 67% of Consumers Want Professional Home Automation Installation
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11 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
hmmm ... that could be a problem.
What’s wrong with simply using “home control system?” The term home monitoring is clunky, with too many syllables, and only describes one aspect of what a comprehensive home control system provides.
Yeah, CEA missed a couple of good terms. Home control is one of them. Home technology also. I assume these were weeded out for some reason.
Looks like we picked a great name for our Home Monitoring and Controls. Thanks for the shout out, Julie.
I was thinking the same thing, Verizon. But wait a couple of years ... it’ll be something totally different!
verizon can name its software:
Computerized Home Environment and Energy Service Endpoint and then they can update their collateral to offer
HMAC and CHEESE
I would prefer Cloud Home Electronics, Energy, Security, Environment, but yeah, HMAC & CHEESE makes a lot of sense.
Why is an iPhone called an iPhone. I use it for everything else more than a phone, yet it’s still an iPhone. Not a pocket computer, handheld web device, pocket tablet, game, camera ....
It’s because that’s the way it’s MARKETED. Apple says it’s a phone, so everyone knows it as an iPhone.
We in the industry can’t even agree on what to call ourselves, never mind what we do. And we wonder why the consumers are confused? We need a group to standardize things, to educate the public, to… oh never mind someone tried that once and it didn’t work out, CEDIA.
OK, the HoMo is a definite problem with a large portion of our customer base, and home monitoring is definitely a small portion of what we do, but the important lesson is that Home Monitoring is what the customers are currently identifying with. We might want to try to change what the consumer perception is, but that is a theme for a marketing campaign (Think Happy Cows and “Pork - The Other White Meat), not a strategy for selling our current products and services.
We need to recognize that Home Monitoring is the portion of our business that CURRENTLY resonates with the customer base, and tailor our services to that while at the same time seeking to educate and expand the perceptions that our customers have.
I use the term Electronic Systems Integrator (the installer) or Electronic System Integration (the profession/trade). We integrate the clients electronic systems.
“for $4000 we can install a HoMo system in your home”
uhhh no