Poll sees future of residential in smart home integration

YARMOUTH, Maine — Security Systems News readers are looking ahead at the residential market and seeing a future in smart home device integration and AI, according to the results of a recent news poll. The poll sought to gather industry perspectives on the factors influencing homeowners' decisions to invest in security systems, the prevailing preferences for residential security solutions, and the emerging technologies expected to impact the market. Looking to the future at what emerging technology or feature will have the biggest impact on the residential security market, perhaps somewhat surprisingly only 28.57% believe that artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced threat detection and analysis is the big bet being made by the industry. The majority believe that integration with smart home devices and platforms is what will be making the biggest splash. A little more than 14% are betting on enhanced communication protocols and faster response times. “Adding to (this questions): Looking for better featured based smart locks and better performing and wallet-based mobile credentials,” one reader commented. A slight majority of respondents (57.14%) believe desire for peace of mind and protection of property is the primary factor driving residential customers to invest in security systems. The rest (42.86%) believe it’s driven by concerns of rising crime rates. As for what residential security systems integrators found were most requested or preferred by their clients, none seem to see a demand for traditional wired systems with professional monitoring. A majority (57.14%) responded with hybrid solutions combining wired and wireless components, while the remaining responded with wireless DIY systems offering remote monitoring capabilities.  One commenter pointed to continued hybridization and integration, writing, “Niche systems will be created to work with cross-platform industries like solar RE.” That’s it for this month’s poll. Join us at securitysystemsnews.com and participate in our latest poll where we ask readers to reflect on the industry’s performance in 2024 Q1.