Blog | SoundVision

Managing Projects For Success

Home remodel and building projects never come without issues. You will run into unexpected problems, get frustrated at times, and may even want to give up. But when you work through your project, all the issues will be resolved and you will end up with the beautiful home of your dreams. Through all the stress, we want to help the process go as smoothly as possible for you. There are a few things you need to be sure to do to make sure this process is as hassle free as it can be.

To take away a lot of the stress of the project, it is important to plan out every detail beforehand. Before you dare to break ground on your project, it is vital to know exactly what you want. The best projects we have worked with, plan for months, or even years, and make sure every detail is planned out before starting construction. If you attempt to plan out your project as you go, you WILL run into issues. Without planning ahead, you won’t be able to spot problems ahead of time, and your project will be slowed considerably. Without good planning, the cost estimate you are given will be very loose. This means more change orders will come about as you go, and your project can end up being more expensive then necessary.

As a general rule, the more detailed your drawings are, the smoother the job will go. If you try to begin a project with drawings that are basic or lack detail, your project will take longer than necessary and most likely will not fit your vision (or budget). If your drawings are detailed, you can spot problems ahead of time, and you will only have to change your details instead of having to change the actual construction that has been done. The work will get done quicker and less expensively. Additionally, with good drawings you will be able to get a visual idea of how your finished product will look, and you can decide ahead of time if you like the way it will turn out. With well detailed drawings, you will be able to get a much more accurate cost estimate ahead of time, saving you from unexpected costs at the end of the project.It is imperative to your project that you have a solid channel of communication with the team or teams you are working with. After all the time and money you are putting into your project, it is not worth it to hold your tongue on any part of the job and end up disappointed in the end result. When working with a SoundVision team, we would much rather you tell us if you want something different in your design than to stay quiet about your vision. Do you have an idea for something you want in your house, but you’re unsure if we can make it happen? Let us know, we love the challenge! We would much rather you ask and get an answer than to complete the project and have you forever wonder if it was possible. Odds are, with the team of true professionals we have on staff, we will be able to make your idea a reality.

Building or remodeling a home is stressful enough without adding the unnecessary issues of poor drawings, poor planning or bad communication. Great projects only happen when a group works well together. Follow these steps, and make the process to your finished product as easy and stress free as possible.

For questions about your home improvements or if you would like to work with us on your project, give us a call or set up a meeting!

(415)456-7000

Wi-Fi Vs. Ethernet Network Connections

In today’s world, we feel the need to constantly be connected to the Internet. Whether we’re going on social media, checking emails, surfing websites, etc., we are constantly connected and looking for faster speeds. This has lead to great advances in wireless networks. Almost every building you enter has some sort of WiFi available, whether public or private. With the increasing power of these networks, we are asking the question: Do we need wires anymore? Can we go completely wireless? Although wireless networks have advanced greatly, wired connections are still better. Let’s talk about why.

Wired networks are faster. Although wireless speeds have increased substantially in the past years, they still do not compare to the speed of wired connections. The speed of wireless internet is usually enough for simple tasks and almost everything on a smartphone, but once you start using your computer for more complex tasks, such as transferring data or online gaming, you will notice the difference in speed by using a wired connection.

Wired networks are much more reliable than wireless. Wireless networks have to wait for a break in traffic before they can transmit, they have to deal with interference, and have the tendency to crash or become unavailable for a variety of different reasons. Their connection can be blocked by the floor or walls. Other devices can interfere with the signal. If you are in a part of the house far away from the router, there can even be black spots where WiFi does not reach. With a wired network, you are significantly less likely to face these issues.

Wired connections are much more secure than wireless networks. With an Ethernet cord, only those devices physically connected to the cord can access the information on the network. With WiFi, data is floating around in the air and can be intercepted by others using the network in the general area. Although most of the time there are security measures in place to protect your personal information on a wireless network, it is still not as safe as a wired connection.

Wireless networks have allowed us to make great advances in technology. Having access to the internet from nearly anywhere you wish has opened up the possibilities for what can be done on smartphones as well as other WiFi connected devices. As time goes on, we expect WiFi will continue to grow and advance.

To see the differences between wired and wireless network connections, or if you would like a network installed in your home, give us a call or set up a meeting!

SoundVision Showroom – All The Systems On Display – All In One Place

At SoundVision, we offer the highest quality and most innovative products available on the market. Most customers are not aware of some of the options available to them. Even more have never seen these products in use. We can’t expect anyone to choose a solution without seeing and understanding how it works. For this reason, we have turned our office into a showroom. While we enjoy the benefits of these products ourselves, we love to show them off even more. Whether you are looking to install a system in your home or are just curious about how some of these products work, we enjoy showing them off and letting our customers see our difference in quality first hand. Here are some examples of products we have installed in our showroom.

Motorized Shades and Window Treatments

You will not see any dangling cords or pulleys on any of the shades in our showroom. Instead, they are all motorized. We can open and close our shades by pressing a button on the wall, an app on our phones, or by telling Alexa (the voice control service by Amazon) to do it for us. We use Lutron and Q-Motion wired and battery powered roller shades, roman shades with natural fabrics, and motorized drapery tracks. We offer a wide variety of motorized window treatment products from roller shades, roman shades, motorized drapes, skylight shades, outdoor shades, bottom-up shades and more.

Lighting Control

All of the lights in our office are controlled by keypads as well as an app that allows us to control individual lights or areas very easily. If the last person to leave the office happens to leave the lights on, we can check from home and turn them off from there. From this app we can turn all the lights in the office on and off at once, individually, or by room. Additionally, we have set scenes that will connect our lighting to other automated parts of the office. For example, if we tell Alexa to “Turn Conference Room TV On,” the shades will close, the lights will dim, and our projector or TV will turn on.

Audio and Speakers

We have a large number of overhead, in-ceiling and in-wall speakers, and invisible speakers and subwoofers throughout our office. We also have a 15.2 (17 speaker) Dolby Atmos Theater. Regardless of where you are, you will hear our music with crystal clear sound that seems to surround you from every angle. Our audio system is all automated as well. From a phone or wall mounted iPad, you can turn the music on and off in the whole office or by individual room.

Hidden TV’s and Wallpaper TV

If you were to walk around our office, you would be under the impression that there is one TV in the whole place. This is our 1/8 of an inch thick wallpaper TV. This is mounted on the wall and lays virtually flat against the surface. When turned on, you would be amazed that such a thin product could produce such a bold and vivid picture quality.

After the awe of this incredible product wears off, you will be even more shocked to hear that there are six more TV’s hidden throughout the office. The first is in our conference room inside a framed painting of the Golden Gate bridge and the bay around it. When turned on, the painting raises up and a TV appears in the frame. The second is also in the conference room, in the form of a screen and projector that both drop down from the ceiling. Our third is behind the large mirror in the front of the office. When turned on, the TV shines brightly through the mirror. There is another TV in the mirror in our bathroom. The fifth is hidden in the cabinet in our showroom, and pops out of the top when turned on. The last one is similar to the first in that it is hidden behind a framed painting, but when we turn it on the frame itself lifts up and the TV is revealed behind.

Outdoor Speakers

Outside of our office, we have a number of speakers installed. They are nearly undetectable, as they are all well hidden and fit into the elements. These outdoor speakers are weatherproof, and can survive harsh winter weather and scorching summer heat. They can be hidden in a bush, shaped like a rock, hidden in the ground, and more. The goal is to have great sound with even coverage, without compromising aesthetics.

Automation

With all of the different products we have installed, we want them to be as simple to operate as possible. Our automation system connects all of our products and devices together, making it easy to control all parts of the office. Our shades, lights, music, TV’s, heater and air conditioning can all be turned on and off from the same place. We have an iPad mounted on the wall that controls all of our connected products. We also have a universal remote control and smartphone app with the same capabilities.

If any of these products caught your attention and you would like to see them for yourself, let us know. We enjoy showing off all of our great products and systems. Give us a call or set up a demo, we’d love to show you around!

(415)456-7000

Wireless Networks- Don’t Cut The Cords

The world of wireless internet has evolved over time to adapt to our increasing needs. The wireless networks we used ten years ago are no longer sufficient for the usage we need from them now. In my family of five, it is not uncommon for up to nine devices to be in use on our network at once. Between laptops, phones, Apple TV, and more, there is a lot of traffic for our network to attempt to deal with. For this reason, there is a greater need for a powerful wireless system to accommodate everyone’s devices.

Traditionally, all wireless networks have had a similar setup. They start with a modem, which connects your network to the internet through telephone or cable lines. Next you need a router, which essentially directs traffic for your network. Next you have a switch, which connects the wired devices on the network together. From here, you need to connect to a wireless access point. This is the central spot from which Wi-Fi is transmitted. If you buy a basic level modem/router, it comes with a modem, router, switch, and access point built into one piece of hardware. If you have a home that is 1500 square feet or less, one access point is often sufficient for Wi-Fi coverage throughout the house. However, if your house is bigger, or you would like Wi-Fi available outside as well, you will need to add more access points. These access points should all be wired back to the router.

A new type of wireless network is becoming marketed as an inexpensive solution to get better coverage throughout the house. This is known as a mesh network. This system consists of a number of radio nodes (essentially small access points) that wirelessly communicate with each other to give you a wider range of Wi-Fi coverage. These nodes are plugged into the wall in different spots around the house and communicate with each other wirelessly. This type of network is great in theory. It does fix the problem of dead spots in the house, and is cheaper than a traditional system. However, it is NOT the best solution to poor Wi-Fi. It solves the coverage problem, but does not deliver consistent download speeds.
With mesh networks, a user’s device connects to one of the wireless nodes, which then retransmits the data through one or more wireless repeaters to the router. Each wireless “hop” from one device to another is subject to interference, data loss and latency. For this reason, even though it appears that you have full bars on your device, this is not an accurate representation of your connection. Although you are close in proximity to a node, your network speed will be considerably lower than it would be if the access point was wired back to the router. Most of the time, there is too much noise and interference for a wireless network to work at its top speed. With the traditional system, your device communicates directly to your nearest access point, which communicates uninterrupted through a wired connection with the router. This is a much faster and more effective way to send and receive information.

In addition to poor internet speed, mesh networks severely lack in security. With each computer acting as a router in this type of network, a stolen computer or device can grant access to the network and can allow the thief to easily enter the network and install malicious software. Without added security, hackers can also create zombie computers in the networks, which can passively collect website passwords, bank information, and more from other computers in the network. Additionally, if a computer becomes infected, it can pretend to be a trusted member of the network, but can block information from passing through to other nodes or steal the information as it is being transmitted. Additional security measures and software can be installed in a mesh network to try to dilute the security issues, but you are still at a much higher risk than with a traditional system.

Wireless Mesh Networks are inexpensive band-aids for fixing wireless dead spots, but they are no substitute for a properly designed network solution. If you are having problems with your Wi-Fi and are seeing dead spots in your home, the ideal, fastest, and most reliable solution is additional access points connected in your wired system. A mesh network is not the best solution.

For a professionally installed home network or to see all the products we offer, give us a call or set up a meeting!

(415)456-7000

Our Scope- Why a High Quality Automation and AV System is the Most Important Part of your Home Improvement Project

You’ve made the decision to build or remodel your home. Congratulations! You have taken the biggest step toward turning your house into the home of your dreams. As soon as you commit to this decision, you know you have a lot of work ahead of you. You will need to work with a number of experts on a myriad of different specialties. You need all the various design elements to come together in order to make your vision into a reality.

Here at SoundVision we wholeheartedly believe that the installation of your automation and AV system is the most important part of your home improvement project. Don’t believe us? Here’s our reasoning:

Every night, the majority of people get home from work and want to relax and unwind. After a long day, the most common way to do this is to kick off your shoes, sit down on your comfortable chair or couch, and either watch TV, listen to music, or surf online. This should be an easy and enjoyable experience every time. If you go to the store, buy a TV, and install it yourself, you will not give yourself the viewing experience you deserve. Your experience will most likely be one with poor sound coming straight from the TV, complete with visible wires and a mediocre setup.

After the time and money you put into your home remodel, you deserve better. If you have your system installed correctly, you can sit down to watch TV with a system you will love to use every time. Your TV will be installed in an aesthetically pleasing way to allow you to keep your room looking clean and presentable. You will not see a single wire, and we will mount your TV so that it is visible from every viewing angle in the room. We will work with you to make sure you will see only what you want, even if this means keeping your screen completely out of sight until you are ready to use it (view our hidden TV models here). The audio from your TV will not just come directly from the TV. Instead, we will install a surround sound system allowing you to hear sounds from their intended direction. Whether it’s a jet flying overhead, a villain sneaking up from behind, or a door slamming from the side of the screen, a surround sound system can greatly intensify your experience.

You don’t want a big, bulky audio system sitting on a table that takes up half of your room. You also don’t want a small speaker taking up counterspace with terrible audio quality. Instead of these subpar setups, you can trust the professionals that have spent a lifetime working with high quality systems. A professionally installed system will make your remodel much more complete.

You can finish your remodel with a whole home audio system. Now you can come home, press one button, and play your music over the whole house speakers in whichever room or rooms you desire. Your speakers will be mounted and will not ruin the look of your room. Your music will fill the house with the quality the artist intended their work to sound.

There is no better way to bring your project together than with a home automation system. Along with connecting your TV and audio systems together with one remote/app, you can connect your lighting, security system, and more. Now you can turn all the lights in your house off with one button. If you leave the house and leave a light on, you can turn it off with your phone from anywhere in the world. If you leave and forget to set your alarm, you can now do it from your phone. If you forgot whether or not you let your pet outside before you left, you can check on your cameras from the same app. We will also ensure that the network running all of your systems will be quick and reliable. No longer will you have to deal with rooms with spotty wifi or unreliable service.

If you are remodeling your home, you are making a large commitment of time and money to see your desired result. Why spend so much energy on your project just to end up disappointed with the parts of your home you will be using the most? It’s time to take your AV and automation system seriously, and install a system you will be happy with every day.

To see the difference a high quality AV system can make in your home, give us a call! We can set up a meeting for you to come witness the latest technologies in use in our showroom. We look forward to hearing from you!

(415)456-7000

Crestron Vs. Savant Vs. Control 4- Choosing your Home Automation System

When looking into a whole home automation system, three products typically come to mind. These are Crestron, Savant, and Control 4. At SoundVision, we work with and can install any of these systems into your home. All of these products can have amazing benefits, and can make control of your technologies much easier. But which system should you choose? Here you will learn the differences between the three, and will find out which system will work better for your home.

Crestron has been around since before most people thought home automation was possible. The company was established in 1969, and originally sold wireless remotes for slide projectors. They have consistently stayed ahead of the curve, offering the newest technologies as they become available. For decades, Crestron has been a leader in control system technology. Savant is a fairly new company. Established in 2005, the company quickly jumped to the top of the home automation business. Their goal from the start has been to offer an easy to use home automation product to a new wave of customers. Control 4 was founded in 2003 and found their market niche in being the least expensive of the main home automation options. These companies are now the top competitors in the industry, and all offer reliable and useful products.

Crestron

Crestron’s systems have open ended software. This allows for much more flexibility in their setup. Their products can be looked at as a blank canvas. If your installation company’s programmer is a great artist, they can do incredible things with this canvas. However, this is their blessing and curse, as this type of system leaves the largest room for error. You need to have true experts set up this type of system to ensure that the program will run smoothly. Their programming allows for the integration of systems anywhere from home entertainment and lighting to saunas and irrigation systems. When programmed well, this system can be very easy to use and can do almost anything.

Savant

Savant systems have an incredibly user friendly interface. Their home automation products work seamlessly with Apple products, and they have recently expanded to include an Android version of their app. Savant’s interface cannot be customized to the degree Crestron’s can, but it allows users to create their own scenes and add them to their home screen. Savant’s integration of home entertainment, lighting, security, and climate control work flawlessly together, and their installation is typically less expensive than Crestron’s. This has become our solution of choice for most applications.

Control 4

Control 4 has tried to be the low-price-leader in the automation category. We were a Control 4 dealer briefly, but we found that their system does not quite match our standards for quality and reliability. The system has great features and a relatively low price point. We are hopeful they can raise the bar for quality and become a great resource sometime in the future.

To read more about the advantages of home automation, click here. All of the systems we install will give you reliable home automation straight from your smartphone/tablet or connected remote. Regardless of which system you choose, SoundVision will install it and train you to effortlessly use the system the way it was intended for your home.

To see these services in use in our showroom, give us a call or set up a meeting!

(415)456-7000

How We Find Our Favorite Songs- Today’s Top Music Streaming Services

With all the music streaming services available, buying music individually (by the song or album) has become an outdated (and costly) way of listening to music. You can buy a CD for $10, buy a song from iTunes or a similar service for $1-$2 each, OR pay a small monthly fee to have unlimited access to all the music you love. Most people today are choosing the latter. With music streaming services taking over the audio world, we broke down the top streaming services and the advantages of each.

Spotify Premium- Standard:$9.99/Month, Family (up to 6 users):$14.99/Month, Student:$4.99/Month (30-Day Free Trial Available)

For nearly ten years, Spotify has been the top music streaming service in the world. With a user friendly interface and virtually all popular music available (over 30 million songs) this service has been difficult to beat. Its features allow you to create your own playlists from all of their available songs, add any of these songs to your own music library, and listen to pre-made playlists under a vast number of categories. Thanks to this service and their access to every song at any time, my kids don’t even understand the concept of buying music. Spotify also adds new music and playlists every week, showing you personalized playlists based on your preferences, making it a top choice for new music discovery. Spotify also offers a free version of the service, but you will hear ads, and can only listen to music on shuffle or hear pre-made playlists in the order they were created.

Apple Music – Standard:$9.99/Month, Family (up to 6 users):$14.99/Month, Student:$4.99/Month (3-Month Free Trial Available)

Since its launch in June of 2015, Apple Music has gained rapid popularity, reaching more than half of Spotify’s paying users in under two years. With a similar strategy as Spotify, Apple Music gives you access to the entire iTunes library (over 40 million songs), and allows you to add any songs to your library (which includes those songs in your personal iTunes library from before you started paying for the service). The service also allows you to create your own playlists as well as create a list as you listen by adding songs to your “up next” queue. Apple Music also includes curated playlists (although slightly limited when compared to Spotify) and a radio-style service, called Beats 1. Beats 1 plays music on live radio shows hosted by world class DJ’s, as well as generic Pandora style stations (see Pandora below) based on specific genres. Apple Music also has a “For You” tab, which allows you to discover new music based on your preset preferences. Apple Music does not offer a free version of their service, but their 3-month free trial allows users to get a true feel for the service before deciding whether or not they want to pay for the service.

SoundCloud- Go: $4.99/Month, Go+: $9.99/Month (30-Day Free Trial Available)

SoundCloud has been a favorite for those who want to discover music from smaller artists whose work has not made it on bigger services like Apple Music and Spotify. One feature that differentiates SoundCloud from the rest of these services is that it allows anyone to upload their own music, making it easier than ever before for emerging artists to be discovered. With their new paid service, SoundCloud Go, users can now hear more music from big name artists, which are often blocked with the free version. (SoundCloud Go offers 120 million songs, Go+ offers 150 million). With either paid service, users can also listen offline and without any ads.

Pandora- Plus: $4.99/Month, Premium: $9.99/Month (30-Day Free Trial Available)

Pandora allows you to create stations based off your favorite artists, songs, and genres. The service then plays songs based off of the station, and when you “thumb up” or “thumb down” songs, your stations begin to customize to play the type of music you will enjoy. I choose Pandora when I want to listen to music for an extended period of time without having to pick every song on my own. After using the service for years, I can just click on a station and have confidence that I will hear a mix of songs I like every time. Pandora has added two tiers of paid subscriptions to their service. Pandora Plus allows you to listen ad free, replay tracks, and listen to your three favorite stations offline. Pandora Premium allows you all the features of Pandora Plus, as well as unlimited offline listening, the abilities to search and play songs on demand, and create customized playlists.

SiriusXM- Select: $15.99/Month, All Access: $19.99/Month, Mostly Music: $10.99/Month (2-Month Free Trial Available)

SiriusXM is an ad free radio style service. The different price ranges will simply limit the number of channels available. Their channels range from a wide variety of music genres to a number of news stations, sports channels, comedy stations, and more. Sirius is a satellite radio service, making it available (especially in a car) at times when other streaming services are not.

Google Play Music- Standard: $9.99/Month, Family: $14.99/Month (up to 6 users)Google Play Music has many of the same features as Spotify and Apple Music. You can stream or upload any of their 40 million songs, and create your own playlists with their songs. They also have live radio, and curated playlists based on mood. One feature setting this service apart is the ability of users to upload up to 50,000 of their own songs. These can be added to your personal library and playlists. In addition, with a Google Play Music subscription, YouTube Red is included. This service from YouTube allows you to watch videos ad free, and watch offline. The service also gives you access to a number of original shows only available with YouTube Red.

Depending on the type of listening you prefer, all of these services have their advantages. With a subscription to any of these services, you will have all the music you could ask for anywhere you go. All are available through the Sonos app, making them easy to use in your home audio system. Sonos is the best way to connect audio together throughout your home, and allow you to control the music in every room of your home together or individually. To read more on planning a house music system, click here.

To see how all of these services work or to try them yourself, come into our office and test them out first hand! If you want to see the difference whole home audio can make in your home or to compare these different streaming services, give us a call or set up a meeting!

(415)456-7000

Voice Control- A Growing Technology

Over the past couple years, voice control capabilities have grown exponentially. Services like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa have made voice control an easy to use part of everyday life. These services will continue to grow as time goes on, and their capabilities will increase. All of our favorite services now have voice control capabilities, which you will learn about here.

Savant

Savant has a voice control option on their remote, using the Alexa service. With Savant, you can use voice control for video, with commands such as “Apple TV,” “Play Xbox,” and “Watch ESPN.” You can use voice control for audio by saying “Play Music.” Voice control can also be used to adjust the environment around you by saying “Dim Lights,” “Brighter,” “Lights off,” or other similar commands. You can also say the names of different scenes you have already created to activate all parts of that scene at once.

Sonos

Right now, Sonos is in the beta testing phase of using the Alexa services for their voice commands. Although the company is still in the testing phase with Alexa, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence says that Sonos is committed to using multiple voice assistants simultaneously in the future.

Lutron

Lutron currently has three lighting control systems, Caséta Wireless, HomeWorks QS, and Radio RA 2, that have integrated Alexa for voice-activated control of lights, shades, and temperature. You can control lights with commands such as “Alexa, turn off kitchen,” as well as activating scenes such as “Alexa, turn on ‘Welcome.’”

Honeywell

Honeywell now offers a voice controlled thermostat, called the “Wi-Fi 9000 with Voice Control.” You can set the temperature on this device by simply talking to the thermostat.

Pentair

Pentair has released the ScreenLogic Skill to use the Alexa voice service and Amazon Echo for voice control for the users of pools and spas. The service can be used to ask for updates on pool or spa temperature, pH balance, and chlorine or salt levels. The service can also be used to turn pool and spa features, such as fountains and waterfalls, on and off.

As voice control continues to improve, more apps will develop voice commands, and they will continue to become more user friendly. Many apps are still in the development stage, but the idea of improved voice control is an exciting idea for the future.

To learn more about these new technologies or add these features to your home, give us a call!

(415)456-7000

SoundVision Alarms- More Than a False Sense of Security

When installing a security system in your home, it is important to cover all bases. At SoundVision, we do more than just put an alarm on the inside of your house or business. We are the leader in integrated security and alarm systems because we are confident that our combination of security products and services will cover every part of your home, inside and out. We start by ensuring that every door, window, and entryway is covered. If a small window on the top floor of your home or business is unprotected, you have a weakness that can be exposed in the case of a burglary. However, covering every entry is only the beginning…

Most security companies set up the same type of system. They install an alarm with a password. If your alarm is set and the alarm is tripped, you have a specified amount of time (typically around 30 seconds) to deactivate the alarm. As the system is waiting to be disarmed, an alarm will sound on the inside of the house or business. If the alarm is not disarmed in the specified amount of time, the police are informed of the unauthorized entry. From this point, it takes an average of three to ten minutes for the police to arrive at the scene. This gives the intruders time for a “smash and grab” burglary. This is the most common type of burglary, in which the intruder will smash a window, head straight for the master bedroom or bathroom, quickly grab what they can, and then get out. By the time the police arrive, the intruders are often far from the premises. This type of alarm creates a false sense of security, and can often be ineffective.

With our security systems, we try to eliminate this ten minute window the intruders are given to work with. Our systems start with high definition security cameras. With a variety of different cameras available to fit the necessary area, you will be able to see any desired portion of your home or business, whether it’s the middle of the day or the dark of night. Our cameras are connected to your smartphone or tablet through a variety of available apps to allow you to view real-time video without needing to be present. These apps also allow you to monitor and arm your alarm system, lock and unlock doors, raise and lower your shades, and turn the lights on and off from outside the home. These additional features allow you to give the appearance that you are home while you’re away.

Our alarm systems, which include glass break sensors, screen cut sensors, heat sensors, and laser sensors, as well as fire sprinkler alarms that immediately alert the fire department (preventing extensive water damage) work in a unique and effective way. If the alarm is tripped, a bell will sound on the outside of your home or business, alerting neighbors and passerby’s of the intrusion in progress. If the break-in occurs at night, the outside lights will turn on to show those in the surrounding area what is happening. You and the police will both be alerted when the intrusion occurs.

You worked hard for your home, and it can be devastating to see it burglarized. Most security systems simply make you feel safe without the features to actually keep you, your family, and your home out of danger. You want more than a feeling of protection, you want to be protected.

If you want to take your home security to the next level and make sure you are truly protected, give us a call!

(415)456-7000

Home Automation- Control of Your Home from the Palm of Your Hand

It’s 7AM, and you need to get up and start your day. Instead of being woken by the monotonous ringing of an alarm, you are woken peacefully. Your shades open to let in the morning light. Your favorite song fades in. Your house has already been warmed, and you wake up comfortably and easily. Tonight you are hosting a dinner party. As you prepare for your meal, you and your guests want to enjoy some cocktails in the backyard. As you walk outside, you press “Entertain” and the outside and pool lights turn on, and a playlist you have already put together plays quietly in the background. Dinner is now ready. As your guests enter the dining room, you press “Dinner” and the lights dim, and your dinner playlist softly comes to life. After dinner your kids want to watch a film. They press “Movie” and the lights in your entertainment room turn off, a screen drops from the ceiling, and the sound of an action film fills the room. When its time for bed, you press “Goodnight” and all the lights in the house turn off, your alarm is activated, and the house temperature drops to a comfortable sleeping level.

All these home automation features and more can be installed with SoundVision. When installed, we will give you complete control of your home right from your phone. Now you can control your entertainment, lighting, comfort, and safety easily and conveniently from your device.

Available Features

Lighting– With home automation, you can control any light in your house from your device. You can set your system to turn the lights off in empty rooms, saving you energy. You can set a schedule to turn your lights on when you arrive home. You can turn all of your lights off with a single button at night.

Climate Control– You can adjust your house temperature while home or away so you will be comfortable by the time you get home. You can schedule your shades to close during the heat of the day to cool the house without the use of air conditioning. You can set different rooms at different temperatures to keep all members of the household happy and comfortable.

Home security– You can lock your doors, close the shades, and set the alarm from your home or from anywhere in the world. You can set up lights to turn on and off in different rooms to give the appearance that someone is home, even when the house is empty. You can keep an eye on the house through security cameras on your device from outside of the home.

Home entertainment– You can customize playlists and sync them with your scenes to create the desired mood in any room. You can control and switch between all gaming consoles quickly. You can stream video from Apple TV, Netflix, Hulu, and more straight to synced TVs and devices. All entertainment systems and features can be controlled with one remote or app.

If you want control of every aspect of your home, SoundVision can make this happen. When complete, we will make all technologies in your home easy to connect, easy to use, and allow you peace of mind throughout every part of your day. You will never struggle to connect or use your technologies again. Once you let SoundVision turn your house into an automated home, you will never want to go back.

If you have any questions or would like this technology installed in your home today, give us a call!

(415)456-7000