Out-of-Sight Service - Overview of Home Technology

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2024


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Overview of Home Technology

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OVERVIEW

Home technology is about much more than just a home network or a home theater. It is about developing the foundation upon which you can easily deploy services to improve your productivity, security and quality of life.

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Good technology should not require a PhD or days of training to be useful. It should be easy to understand, always available and highly customizable for individual preferences. In essence, the technology should be Out-of-Sight and only the benefits should remain.

The starting point for all future home technology services will be the network. The home network will expand to encompass a home server, the home entertainment center(s), digital video/audio and home management software. This will allow all home services to be integrated into one common system that provides productivity, entertainment and cost savings to the home owner.

Home technology can be broadly grouped into six basic categories:

Connectivity [ BACK TO IMAGE ]

The “always on home” brings with it great opportunity, as well as significant risk. It opens up a world of possibilities regarding information access, high-definition television, video on demand, audio entertainment, online gaming and digital photography. At the same time, it exposes some of your most critical information and loved ones to undesirable elements. The three basic points of connection are a) Broadband, b) Video (cable or satellite) and c) phone. It requires good planning and continuous monitoring to ensure that the benefits are realized while safeguarding that which is most precious.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure [ BACK TO IMAGE ]

The basic wiring and wireless infrastructure in the home will set the stage for all future capabilities. It is the structure upon which all other home technology systems will operate and through which they will interact. It is necessary for the infrastructure to support not just the technologies of today, but the advances of the next twenty years. A combination of a wired and wireless network is required to support the bandwidth needs of audio/video distribution and the roaming capability for mobility. The basic wiring will include network and control cabling (CAT5e and CAT6), coaxial cabling for video distribution (RG6), audio / home theater cabling (16/4) and high definition video cabling (RGB / DVI). The wireless capability will include the 802.11b standard (Wi-Fi) which can achieve speeds up to 11 Mbps or, better yet, the 802.11g standard which can support up to 54 Mbps.

Productivity

Productivity [ BACK TO IMAGE ]

Sharing access to broadband and internal network resources in a secure fashion provides both productivity gains and cost savings to the home owner. The home network allows each family member to access the resources that they require, when they need them and from where they are located. Add on a wireless network, and in-home mobility allows you to work or play where you are most comfortable. When properly configured, the network will also provide critical functions such as: VPN access, Firewall protection, Virus protection, Data backup and Content filtering.

Entertainment

Entertainment [ BACK TO IMAGE ]

The typical home theater is only the beginning of what is possible today for entertainment within the home. It is now possible to add features such as: whole house audio, whole house video, digital picture management and online gaming. These capabilities will allow you to add an audio/video server to distribute multiple digital entertainment feeds to any or all locations in your home. You can store your digital entertainment content (audio, video, or pictures) in one central location so that you no longer have to own multiple source devices and use "sock net" to deliver the content to the device. This will save time and provide flexibility that will greatly improve entertainment in the home.

Control

Controls [ BACK TO IMAGE ]

The area of home controls is about automating or enhancing routine tasks to provide benefit to the home owner. The typical elements of home controls are: Security, Video monitoring, Lighting and Climate. New technology can expand this list to include Internet appliances, Energy management, Water management and Digital pictures. When home controls are connected to the home network, it becomes easy to use those functions to add value.

Management [ BACK TO IMAGE ]

The element that will tie all of the home technology together and make it easy to administer will be home management software. The software provides a comprehensive, yet simple, way to manage and link multiple home functions. It allows the home owner to customize the home functions based on individual preferences and the current activity within the home. It provides the ability to inter-connect multiple sub-systems within the home and to gain remote access to those systems.

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Out-of-Sight is dedicated to working with home builders and consumers to deploy technology in the household to improve quality of life, security and productivity.