Voice Control in the Smart Home - What you Need to Know

It is now common to ask Alexa or a Google speaker to play a song or order something online. But did you know that voice control in the home has evolved and is now a simple, hands-free way to operate your home technology?

We have all been there — with wet hands, full arms, juggling five things at once or just in the middle of something when the doorbell rings. Inevitably, we desire more light or would like to change the channel on the TV or switch to a new song. Sure, we could stop what we are doing and free ourselves up to get to the various controls. But it is easier, faster and more convenient with voice control to tell our home to handle the task.

Voice control is a more emotional, fluid way of controlling your home electronics.

At The Audiohouse, we are experts at controlling lighting, shades, air-conditioning, the garage door, locks and entertainment systems with remote controls, touchscreens and keypads. Now there are a wide variety of voice-control devices — interactive voice assistants and smart speakers from Josh.ai, Apple, Amazon and Google — that can control your home while allowing you to be hands-free.

Voice Control – Gaining Momentum

Over a quarter of U.S. adults now own a smart speaker and most of them use them daily as part of their routine. It is becoming increasingly popular to use voice assistant technologies over traditional user interfaces.

Voice control has been embraced by all ages and genders

It is not just tech enthusiasts who have adopted voice as a means of gathering information and controlling the home. “Voice control has simplified the operation of complicated systems,” says Brett Ringeisen, Director of The Audiohouse. “It is being embraced by all ages and genders for its simplicity and is recognized as a solution for those with poor vision and mobility or a fear of technology.”

Continual Refinements Create Better Experiences

In the beginning, voice assistants and smart speakers sometimes struggled to hear users’ verbal requests, often misinterpreted the commands and only responded to particular phrases. Moreover, these commands could control only a few select smart home devices. The systems have been engineered to improve intelligibility with advanced speech recognition engines and are designed to integrate with many popular home control systems. Saying “I’m home,” can now command several devices at once—turning on the foyer light, adjusting the thermostat, opening the living room shades and selecting a favorite song. Voice control platforms have eliminated the need to tap buttons on a smartphone or tablet to retrieve music, find a keypad in the dark to turn on the lights or type information with your remote control to find a particular movie to watch.

Josh.ai voice control device installed in the wall - Image courtesy of TRUFIG

Voice is Now a Valid Method of Home Control

There are a wide variety of applications which make voice control ideal. It is extremely helpful when your hands are occupied and quicker to cue music, tune-in to a particular TV program or set thermostats to specific setpoints via a voice command than manually scrolling through menus on a touch panel or mobile app.

Is Security and Privacy at Risk?

As great as voice control is, the one big concern is security and privacy, which ranks as the primary reason why people are leery of the technology. Amazon, Google and Apple make inexpensive devices that one can use to control the home’s subsystems. These mass market, DIY voice assistants and smart speakers typically lack robust security features and can be a potential gateway for hackers. This is the reason why The Audiohouse recommends the Josh.ai voice control system as a better option. Engineered from the start with advanced privacy features, the Josh.ai platform offers a more comprehensive and secure alternative to Google ‘s Home Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri.

Josh.ai Delivers a Simple, Magical and Private Way to Interact With Your Home

Unlike the big tech voice control systems, the Josh.ai voice control system is designed to control your home technology while not compromising your privacy or selling you something.

Voice control is definitely a viable control option for the home and a great way to make things more readily accessible and easier to use. Stop by The Audiohouse today for a demonstration on how it simplifies control of the technology in your home.