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Choosing the best smart home and workplace systems has never been easy. One has to wade through hundreds of smart home or workplace devices and that can be a daunting task–and there’s no telling if some of these are even going to survive the competition in a few years.

It has reached the point where consumers can no longer handle setting up home automation systems themselves, because there are more smart devices now beyond virtual assistants, remote controls and motorized blinds people these days.

Imagine coming home to a home theater system, with smart lighting, automated window treatments, climate control, surveillance and CCTV, secure networks, enhanced Wi-Fi routers — all with structured wiring that’s neatly tucked from view and yet also expandable if one is going to add more automation to their spaces.

The job is just too much for one person to do and there’s also the challenge of seamlessly integrating everything together. There are lots of moving pieces when building a cohesive smart home or workplace and one needs professional installers or integrators to do the job.

6 reasons you need professional integrators

But who can one trust to do the job? Here’s how to pick a professional home automation installer or integrator — plus 6 reasons why you need to rely on them:

1. Professional integrators plan ahead. The best integrators know how to plan and design and work with architects, interior designers and electricians, the latter being a critical part in the automation of many electric-based automation work. They should be able to envision what the clients want even in an empty room or house and work well with others.  

2. Professional integrators need to be trained programmers to do their job. This industry is growing and smart home brands have ramped up ever-expanding ecosystems that make it harder for consumers to catch up — and learn everything on their own. Unlike consumers, professional installers not just keep up with trends but also train for programming. Programming skills are critical when integrating products that’s incompatible with their home automation systems. A professional would be able to personalize a system’s user interface on some wall touchscreens, even their smartphones.  

3. Professionals need to make their customers feel at ease. The industry is in a constant state of flux as new challenges crop up when making these devices talk together. The best professionals guide their customers to meet and even surpass client expectations. Often, there is some maintenance needed when it comes to running a home or workplace automation, and one needs professionals who can troubleshoot issues or take care of bugs in a system.

4. Professionals know that technology can help raise a property’s value in Florida. Professional integrators are always up to the challenge of planning and designing while also implementing custom solutions. Charles M. Adams, owner of a 30,561-square-foot smart home in North Palm Beach, is selling his smart home for a staggering $37 million after purchasing it for $1.5 million in 2015. He custom-built it with a chef’s kitchen, a private salon and spa, a glass elevator, movie theater, a full-house generator and a six-car climate-controlled garage.

5. Professionals that provide a white-glove service in this industry mean they make sure they keep areas clean and undisturbed after each job. This has been the case for Premium Digital Control, which has worked on many projects. These include whole homes, restaurants and bars, conference rooms, hotels, fitness and spas, clinical offices, and conference rooms.

6. Professional installers trust a few names to deliver on their claims. These prestige brands, Control4, Crestron, Ketra, Lutron and Savant, are not the leaders in smart home and workplace automation for nothing. Together, they have more than 150 years of combined experience with continually evolving technology that’s ahead of everybody else.

Brands that professional integrators rely on

But these professionals know that to be able to do their job, they also need the right tools. Enter the 5 prestige brands and systems that they trust to work with them — Control4, Crestron, Ketra, Lutron and Savant.

Professionals rely on the billion-dollar company, Control4, to stay and even grow with their growing global company. More than 7,500 individual products from hundreds of different manufacturers are able to join its ecosystem.

Control’s OS 3 visual user interface can do many things. It helps people set up their favorite rooms and devices, plus helps them see the status of their security or the song playing on a multi-room audio through a screen. One or a few clicks and it can set up lighting, music, temperature and video. In 2020, it deservedly won the prestigious CE Pro Mark of Excellence Award for Whole-House Control Product of the Year.

Crestron offers similar capabilities as Control4. It offers a comprehensive range of integrated solutions that makes controlling everything with ease — from unified communications, displays, audio-visual to room schedulers, digital signage, projectors and AI/voice automation.

Digital transformation for commercial and residential applications has never been more customized for client’s needs than now, so it uses many ways of improving operating workplace efficiencies or for transforming lifestyle. Both Control4 and Crestron can do the job.

For next-generation lighting systems, Ketra is a LED lighting manufacturer known for creating the highest quality, most accurate Natural Light, which mimics the exact color temperature and intensity of sunlight, but setting it up properly requires certified professionals, like how it is with many automation systems whether in various parts of a home — kitchen, living room, etc — or offices and workplaces, which include commercial establishments.

Shaun Elwin, Project Manager and Design Engineer of Premium Digital Control & Automation, is one of those certified professionals. He received his Contractors’ Limited Energy Systems Specialty license from Florida’s Electrical Contractors’ Board recently.

Ketra’s parent company, Lutron has been an integrated lighting solutions leader for 30 years with an open architecture that easily integrates with many systems. It has robust and reliable wired and wireless communication protocols. In 2020, it won three major awards for its Athena lighting control system — the Interior Design Best of the Year; Products of the Year–Lighting; and Top 25 Products of 2020. Caseta by Lutron will lower shades and darken the lights when you say movie night: lights, camera, Lutron.

Also getting more popular these days is Savant. It can control an entire home or office — and even provide what Rolling Stone called the Best High End Audio System in its reviews of the Best Products of 2020. Its WISA technology eliminates the need for any wiring to the soundbar and subwoofers while still providing custom-designed surround sound experience. It declares: “It’s tuned to deliver a more accurate audio experience, with the speakers pulling out details and nuances that standard store-bought sets can’t get you.”

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