Last November Nadir Mohamed, President and CEO of Rogers, took the podium at the Canadian Club and said that in the coming months they will launch a service called Rogers Smart Home Monitoring. Mohamed said that “Rogers is re-defining the notion of home security and taking it several steps further. Levering our strength of our networks in an all-IP-based environment; this new service will start as a real-time home monitoring system with energy management and home automation tools. It will allow you to access the news, sports, or local traffic via your home security panel as you walk out the door… It will allow you to use your mobile device to turn your lights on and off, to adjust your thermostat, and to receive alerts telling you when your kids arrive home safely.”
Now, nine months later the service has launched. According to the Rogers website the official description states that “The ultimate in security, reliability, and accessibility, together with state-of-the-art home automation, puts Smart Home Monitoring head and shoulders above traditional home security solutions”. So what does this mean? Well, Rogers will give you 24/7 monitoring from certified security professionals and in several ways will make sure your home is safe.
You’ll be able to control your home in a couple ways. Rogers Cable Hi-Speed Internet required but one of the ways is via the “Touchpad” that lets you program the lights, security, thermostat and also get news, weather, traffic and sports apps. The device looks like a small tablet and also has a built-in speaker and microphone. Now where the mobile aspect comes in is that you can control and get text alerts via the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. In addition, a free iPhone app has been created but Rogers notes in the FAQ that other customers can go “through the mobile web interface which is compatible with most smartphone browsers”.
A quick search in iTunes brings up the iPhone app and it looks intuitive. You can control your home from your iPhone, turn the lights on/off, control your small appliances, enable/disable your home security system and change the temperature. Now for the price points. Apparently the Touchpad will cost $149 on a three-year term, or $749 with no term. I thought this would be included in the monthly price plans. In addition, the installation will cost a one-time fee of $99. The 3 monthly price plans are as follows: Home Basics for $39.99 per month, Home Essentials for $48.99 per month and Ultimate Home for $57.99 per month. Each give you different levels of monitoring from “Full System Status Checks”, “Secure Mobile Access” to “Instant Customizable Alerts”.
You can check out more details here at Rogers
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