We’re currently in the middle of a global crisis.
The coronavirus has swept across the world, overwhelming the health system of many countries, killing thousands, and costing millions of jobs.
Every country is dealing with the pandemic in its own way, but most are enforcing home lockdowns to some degree.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the brave decision to swiftly lockdown the country before things got worse.
It was a decision widely praised around the world and in New Zealand, but everyone staying indoors presents different kinds of problems. From keeping the kids entertained to continuing to work and earn income, a national lockdown can be made much easier with the help of a smart home.
Work from a smart home
Unfortunately, this pandemic will result in millions of people losing their jobs and tens of thousands of businesses closing their doors permanently. The hospitality sector is one of the worst-hit, but for those of us lucky enough to be able to work from home, life goes on.
Smart home technology is so advanced today that it offers solutions to working from home that was impossible twenty, ten, or even only five years ago.
High-speed fibre connections not only allow you to video chat with your work colleagues, and there’s no problem joining a conference call with a dozen other people.
In a smart home, you can add Alexa or Siri into your work, by using voice commands or asking questions. Smart homes can correlate all your calendar info, creating a plan of the events ahead for the day, week or month, making sure you never miss that important call with a client or your boss!
But working from home isn’t just about getting things done – it’s also about having the right environment to work in. With the Control4 system in your home, you can minimise distractions, set the perfect lighting, and play your own background music as you work.
Keep the kids busy with a smart home
One of the toughest aspects of this lockdown is having children at home 24/7 for weeks on end and presents different challenges according to the age of the children.
For teenagers, well, they mostly stay in their rooms all day anyway, so that’s not much of a problem as long as they have music, Netflix, and the internet.
Ages 9 – 13 will be more of a problem because, while they still enjoy watching TV and movies, they will soon get bored. Young children aged 5 – 9 will need to maintain their routine and planned activities, while kids under 5 usually need constant supervision.
This is tough for any parent, especially if they are working from home, and while we’re not saying a smart home is an answer to all your problems, it certainly helps!
One of the great things about a smart home is how each room can be treated individually by the system. This means that your surly teenager can listen to their music in their own room, while the younger kids can enjoy nursery rhymes in theirs.
The same goes for television and movies, so everyone has their own things to do in their respective bedrooms, out of each other’s way.
Very different from the days when, if someone picked up the phone they would cut the internet connection off!
Family movie nights with a smart home
Routine is important for everyone, and a movie every night under lockdown is a great way to pass the time.
With a smart home, a night in watching a movie is even better than a night out at the cinema. With a touch of a button or a simple voice command, you can set the mood for a movie in seconds.
Imagine the curtain pulling themselves, the lights dimming, and the doors locking as your home cinema gently lowers down from your ceiling and plays your favourite flick!
Communicate with the outside world
Human beings are social animals, which is why this lockdown will be so difficult for many of us.
We need to be around other people, to communicate, chat, catch up and gossip and if we can’t do it over a flat white, then we’ll just have to do it over a screen.
Skype, Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp… it doesn’t matter what platform you use, or on which device, a smart home has everything connected, wired and running smoothly.
Even if the kids are on YouTube in one room and playing X-Box Live in another, while your partner streams a movie in the living room, you can still have all your devices working together without any lag.
Everything runs smoothly and seamlessly with a Control4 state-of-the-art home network at the heart of it all.
And in these strange and scary times, keeping up with friends and family is paramount.
A Smart home will transform your life
During this emergency, living in a smart home is simply preferable than not living in one.
A smart home can help a family plan and carry out household chores, entertain everyone to their own personal tastes, and stay in touch with the outside world.
If you haven’t already installed a smart home, then this national lockdown might just have you thinking that you need to, once it’s all over.
If that’s the case give us a call and we can take you through any questions you may have so once we are operating again, you will be first in line!
We are the country’s experts when it comes to smart homes. We’ve been helping Kiwis install and adapt the latest smart home technology for years, always staying ahead of the curve.
We are a “Platinum Dealer” for Control4 – one of only three accredited businesses to have this status out of 95 dealers in New Zealand.
With our years of experience, dedicated customer service, and faultless professionalism, we are the number one choice for all your home automation needs.
Make life easy for you and your family and join the future today.
