A North Carolina family is resting easier every day knowing its investment in a full smart home did its job in protecting the children from a scary situation.

The 8,000-square-foot home has a fully integrated (Nortek Security & Control) NSC Flagship system, anchored by an Elan control system, installed by Interactive Interiors in Denver, N.C. One of the owner’s top concerns was that the home become extremely secure, and they went above and beyond standard protection by installing a panic room with one-button access through the Elan system.

Brian Berg, president of Interactive Interiors, installed several hidden buttons the family can press to activate the secret door to the panic room., Simultaneously the Elan system notifies their security monitoring service and local authorities. Before long, this next-level security was put to the test.

“One night while the parents were out to dinner, an apparently inebriated man banged on the front door, frightening the children who were home alone,” says Berg. “While no harm was done, the system worked exactly as expected — the older child activated the panic button, the parents got an instant alert on their phones and left the restaurant, and police arrived within minutes to diffuse the situation. Afterward, the husband and wife said, ‘this alone is worth what we spent on the whole home system’.”

It’s usually the media and automation features that excite clients, Berg said, but in this case, providing ultimate peace of mind was the number one benefit. Multiple outdoor surveillance cameras can be viewed instantly on any TV in the home and through the Elan mobile app on the owners’ mobile phones, making them accessible from anywhere in the world.

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NSC Flagship System Transforms Home

The Elan security system is just one aspect of the NSC Flagship system. Having never owned a smart home system before, the homeowners completely transformed how they interact with their lighting, security, entertainment and much more.

“This is a big home at more than 8,000 square feet, but I had recently completed another Elan system on a 30,000-square-foot home down the street, and that basically sold the owners on the full package,” says Berg. “They figured that if the Elan control system could deliver a great experience in a home three and a half times the size, it would certainly satisfy their needs. And they were correct.”

The family wanted to integrate nearly every possible system in the new home, so Berg told them about the NSC Flagship Program that includes a 5-year warranty extension on vital components as long as the project includes a few specific Nortek Security & Control products.

Now, the Elan system provides control of the whole home’s lighting, 20 zones of multi-room audio, multiple TVs with distributed video over IP, electronic door locks, garage doors, pool and hot tubs, motorized window shades, irrigation, surveillance cameras, intercoms and even the home’s generator.

“Once we talked about what could be controlled from a smartphone or touch panel, they were saying ‘yes, yes, yes’ at every step,” Berg adds. “That’s a dream client.”

Elan, SpeakerCraft Entertainment with Control

“In the basement there’s a video wall with three large TVs,” Berg adds. “The owner asked me to set it up so that he can turn on all TVs with a single button, and one of them automatically shows live surveillance camera feeds. By combining instant surveillance access with scheduled automation for events such as the irrigation system and notifications when the electronic door locks are activated, the family always knows what is going on at their home.”

Also, integrating a full complement of NSC components means there is little visible technology in the home – no more cable boxes in every room, no hanging wires, and even the speakers are almost invisible. More than 40 total SpeakerCraft in-ceiling speakers provide music in almost every room with a total of 20 distinct controllable zones. Music sources include Apple TV and an Autonomic music streamer with access to all the homeowners’ streaming music services.

All equipment is centrally located in two full-size racks, further simplifying the home’s aesthetics and enabling full protection of all vital gear through Panamax power conditioners, surge protectors and UPS backups.

The family can access and control the system through several Elan HR2 handheld remotes or five Elan wall-mounted touchpanels in main living areas or use the Elan app on their mobile devices from anywhere in the world.

“The family hadn’t owned a smart home system before this, but we installed the best system available for their needs, and that’s the Elan Control System,” Berg says. “It needed to be easy enough for the whole family to use, and super reliable, while still offering the advanced technological customization that allowed us to create panic functions. I think it’s safe to say this one event turned the family into evangelists for Elan.”

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