This is what UAE's smart homes will look like

Dubai - Upgrading to a smart home will improve the quality of life for people across the country.

Think of controlling your home appliances, home curtains and lights, all through the touch of a button on your smartphone, that too from any part of the world. For UAE residents, it's not a matter of future but smart homes are real and they are already here.

Telecom provider du has announced the launch of its Smart Home Services which include home automation, home monitoring and home networking services.

Upgrading to a smart home will improve the quality of life for people across the country, claims the telecom provider.

To understand and experience the benefits of a Smart Home, du said consumers are welcome to visit its Smart Home experience centre first at du headquarters in Al Salam Tower, Media City. Upgrading to a smart home will improve the quality of life for people across the UAE.

"As a progressive nation with a high youth population, UAE consumers are used to being constantly connected. We are proud today to elevate this connectivity to the home and make the Smart Home a reality for consumers today," said Fahad Al Hassawi, chief commercial officer, du.

"Installing our smart home experience will enable you to elevate the comfort of your home to new standards and improve safety and security for you and your family. Moreover, it will give you constant control over the goings on, as well as monitoring in your home," he added.

Home automation enables users to automate and manage various in-home and out-of-home devices, equipment, appliances and environments - including lighting, air conditioning and curtain control. The user will be able to monitor and manipulate the automations via interactive switches and panels, as well as universal remote controllers and smart phones. Home automation is divided into two categories; pre-built packages that include wireless retrofit solutions for in-home and out of home devices, equipment, appliances and environments, as well as custom built packages with comprehensive wireless and wired home automation custom designs, for individual customers.

Home monitoring allows the user to remotely monitor and survey in-home and out-of-home environments through wireless or wired IP cameras - this includes indoor and outdoor cameras and sensors. It allows for notifications and alerts to custom destinations, based on output and triggers. The user is capable of monitoring and manipulating equipment and sensors remotely, via smart phones or tablets and dedicated web interfaces.

The pre-built package contains a predefined list of items in various product packages. The custom built solutions have no definite list of items; the project size and price is completely dependent on the size and depth of the customer needs estimated after the initial site survey, the sales engineer will agree with the customer on the desired experiences, type and additional 'add ons'.

Know the Smart Home

Smart home features controlled lighting, heating, air conditioning, video and security systems. They are all connected to each other, and can be controlled remotely from any room, or from any location in the world through an Internet connection - whether anyone is at home or not. Smart Home includes three services: Home networking, home automation and home monitoring.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com