Vivint Smart Home Automation & Voice Control

Smart home automation is the future of home security. 

Integrating these devices with your home makes life more convenient and accessible. You can enjoy benefits such as turning lights on with a verbal command or scheduling your thermostat to cool the house for your arrival.

But convenience isn’t the only reason to automate your home.

Security systems such as Vivint are using smart home devices to improve safety. Along with making it easier to arm your system, these features can alert you to vulnerabilities you may not see. If any of your sensors malfunction or you leave the door unlocked, your system will alert you to the problem so you can keep your home and family safe.

Vivint is the industry leader in smart home security. In this guide, we’ll show you what it offers, how you can benefit from this intelligent technology, and how to start automating your home security system.

What is smart home automation and how does it work?

Smart home automation involves building a network of smart devices within your home that automates different actions. For example, you can connect smart lights and smart speakers to a device like Amazon Echo. Rather than flipping switches and hitting buttons to turn on these devices, you can ask Alexa to turn them on and adjust them instead.

These devices connect through the internet, using this connection to speak to each other. When your smart home system is set up, your devices have three main uses:

1. Automation – Smart systems don’t just make simple tasks easier. You can also use your devices to automate a series of events. Have your security system disarm when the garage door opens or the front door unlocks, for instance. Setting these triggers saves you time while also ensuring that important steps aren’t forgotten.
2. Control – As mentioned, you can turn devices on and off with your voice or through your phone. You can also adjust settings, such as changing the angle of your security cameras or increasing the temperature on your thermostat without even being in the building.
3. Monitoring – Even if a security provider is monitoring your system, you can’t always know what’s happening in your home while you’re away. Smart devices give you a window into your house when you can’t be there. From cameras to sensors to smart alerts, you can have total confidence in your security.

Best of all, you can build your smart home your way. From the devices you choose to how you use them, you have full control.

Benefits of smart home automation

1. Convenience

Let’s say you have a guest that arrives before you get home. You can use your phone to unlock the door, disarm the security system, and even adjust the temperature, giving them a comfortable place to wait.

From unexpected situations to the simple desire to stay on the couch after a long day, smart home automation makes life so much more convenient. You can enjoy peak levels of comfort by making your home the exact way you want it to be.

2. Saving energy

And we don’t just mean effort. Automating your lights and thermostat can help you reduce your energy consumption. You can schedule your thermostat to keep the house at a higher temperature until you return home, saving the extra energy you would typically use to keep an empty house warm or cool. If you’re going to be out late, just schedule your lights to come on when the sun sets rather than turning them on when you leave. 

Less energy use also means lower power bills. With these savings, your smart devices can help pay for themselves.

3. Saving time

How many times have you walked around the house, checking for unengaged locks and open windows? Or turned around because you couldn’t remember if you’d closed the garage door?

A smart system reduces these checks to a quick look at your phone. You can stay on top of your safety and home without ever leaving your car or bed.

4. Safety

All of these features equal a safer home. Keep an eye on your home, arm your security system, and see what’s going on within the house with the touch of a button. From alerts from your smart smoke detectors to live video feeds, you can have safety and peace of mind.

Potential costs of a smart home system

All of these advancements do come at a cost. Since smart devices have to be more technical and complex to perform these tasks, they are more expensive than a traditional light or lock. The value these products provide justifies the expense, but they don’t fit into every budget.

Another potential cost is the risk of being hacked. These devices are connected to the internet, so they are more vulnerable to hackers. 

When smart devices are breached, however, it is usually because the hacker has accessed the user’s login information. Whether through data leaks or weak passwords, these bad characters can access, control, and change your devices through your account. Protect your system with a strong password and online security best practices.

Vivint smart home technology

Now that you know how smart homes work, we want to show you how your Vivint security system can give you these benefits and capabilities. In this section, we’ve broken down each of the smart devices you can use with this security provider.

Cameras

Security cameras are typically the most important devices in your security system. Vivint offers three cameras with smart features, as well as a smart storage device for your recordings.

Vivint Ping Indoor Camera

This camera features 1080p HD resolution and a 140º wide-angle lens to give you a broader view of your room. With infrared night vision capabilities, you can get a clear view of your home no matter the time of day or night.

The smart features included with the Ping Indoor Camera include:

• Two-way talk between your camera and the app or Smart Hub
• One-touch callback, allowing you to call loved ones from your camera
• Smart clips, which are 20-second clips that are flagged whenever the camera senses movement
• Custom settings, including privacy mode and scheduling recordings at specific times
• 24/7 Playback so you can access your live feeds at any time

Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro

Catch intruders before they get farther than your yard. Your outdoor cameras have a 4K HD sensor, 140º lens, and infrared night vision capabilities. Easily zoom in on people, cars, and other smaller details within the frame for a high-definition look. The Outdoor Camera Pro also uses a hybrid power connection to prevent any issues with internet connectivity and clear video uploads.

This camera’s smart features include:

• Custom surveillance zones that you can use to define the part of your yard you want to watch and protect, helping to limit false alarms that occur outside of your perimeter
• Smart Deter, which includes playing an alarm and illuminating the lens to anyone who lingers inside your surveillance zone
• Two-way talk
• Automated custom triggers that tell your cameras to start recording when another part of the system is set off
• Motion-detection sensors that trigger flagged recordings

Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro

Doorbell cameras show you who is at your door and even allow you to find out why through two-way communication. Vivint’s Doorbell Camera Pro boasts a 180°x180° view, infrared night vision, and 1080p HDR resolution. It is wired into your home to ensure you never lose access due to a dead battery.

You can its smart features, including:

• Smart Deter
• Custom surveillance zones
• Instant notifications when someone leaves a package at the door
• Smart Sentry AI package protection, which lights up the lens and tells thieves that they’re being recorded if they try to steal your package
• 24/7 Playback

Vivint Smart Drive

Vivint’s cameras record 24/7, capturing both important events and the lead-up to them. This is a lot of footage, so the company also offers this storage device for access to 30 days of your video recordings. 

More importantly, the Smart Drive automatically analyzes your footage to find the events that matter. It flags 20-30 second clips with this important information to simplify your viewing needs. 

Easily download 30-second, 90-second, and 5-minute clips to share as needed. You can also access your saved footage at all times through the Vivint app.

Kwikset Smart Locks

Have you ever wished your doors would unlock themselves so you didn’t have to juggle what you’re carrying so you can find your keys? With Kwikset Smart Locks, that convenience is now possible.

Some of the best features include:

• Use keys, numerical codes, your app, or your voice to lock and unlock your doors
• Create up to 30 custom access codes to give to loved ones
• Get notifications if you leave the house with the doors unlocked
• Lock and unlock your doors from anywhere

When connected with your smart system, you can also set your locks to engage with certain triggers. Make getting home easier by having your system disarm whenever you unlock your door, for instance. Or, if your cameras alert you to a visitor or lurker, quickly use the app to make sure your doors are secured.

Philips Hue smart lighting

Lighting is important while you’re home, but equally vital when you’re away. Connecting your smart lighting to your security system allows you to schedule the lights to be on during peak break-in hours. You can also make sure your home appears occupied, even when you’re out of town.

While you’re home, you can adjust and control your lights through your phone or with your voice. Whether you’re in bed or on the couch, you will never have to get up to turn off the lights again.

Smart thermostats

Vivint offers its own smart thermostat, as well as easy integration with Nest Thermostats. Use these smart devices to control your home’s temperature and schedule your heating/cooling to kick on at a certain time. You can connect your thermostat with your security system, for example, so it only cools or heats when the system is disarmed. 

If you use a Nest Thermostat, the device will also learn your schedule and automatically work around this timing.

Garage door controller

With a smart garage door controller, you can control your garage door through your phone. Close it if someone forgot to when they left or open it to let a friend drop something off without risk of theft.

Other perks include:

• Viewing a log of your garage door’s activity so you can see when your family came and went
• Operating the door through voice control with your smart assistant

Car Guard

Your security should extend to your vehicle. With Car Guard, Vivint has created an easy way to track your vehicle’s location and diagnostics through your phone. It will also alert you if anyone bumps, steals, tows, or messes with your car. If the disturbance happens around your home, your outdoor cameras will also activate, sound an alarm, and flash a light to deter the thief.

Smart assistant integrations

Today, many homes already rely on smart devices like Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Google Nest. Your Vivint smart security system integrates seamlessly with these devices to give you more convenience.

These integrations empower you to access Vivint’s many features through voice control, including:

• Arming/disarming the system
• Locking/unlocking the doors
• Controlling lights
• Adjusting the thermostat
• Closing the garage door

And more. Plus, if you have a Fire TV, you can view your security footage on the big screen.

Smart detectors

Top security systems don’t just alert you to intruders. They can also detect emergency situations. Vivint sells smart smoke, flood, and freeze, and carbon monoxide detectors to integrate with your smart home. 

Along with alerting you to danger, these devices can:

• Contact emergency services and notify you through your Vivint system if excessive heat or smoke is detected
• Cut off airflow to help contain a fire
• Automatically unlock doors to aid first responders
• Turn on the fan in your HVAC unit to clear carbon monoxide
• Monitor temperatures to alert you to pipe freezing risks
• Disarm window sensors to make an escape or airing out easier

Smart plugs

Don’t replace your normal lamps and appliances with smart options. Instead, use Vivint’s smart plugs to offer voice control, automation, and app access to anything plugged into these devices. Once connected, you can control even more of your home with ease.

Z-Wave Devices

Vivint understands that you might already have smart devices that you want to connect to your smart security system. It made its platform with Z-Wave protocol operability, meaning you can connect any smart devices that work with this technology. With this functionality, the sky’s the limit when it comes to your smart home system.

Controlling your smart home

Focused, as always, on your convenience, Vivint offers several ways to access and control your smart devices. 

The Vivint app

The highly-rated Vivint app keeps your security system in your pocket. You can use it to view your video feeds, connect with the professional monitoring team, and control all of your smart devices. 

Some of the top smart features for the app are:

• Creating custom schedules, triggers, and automatic actions for all of your devices
• Adjusting your smart features, including lighting levels and temperature
• Speaking with visitors or intruders through your cameras
• Getting instant alerts for any changes, including motion detection, smoke detection, unlocked doors, and more

Vivint’s Smart Hub

A high-tech system needs an advanced control panel. Vivint’s Smart Hub is a touchscreen device that connects to every part of your smart network. It allows you to speak with security specialists, trigger panic alarms, and easily arm your system.

Other capabilities include:

• Viewing live video feeds
• Setting your customized automated actions, schedules, and triggers
• Monitoring and controlling your smart devices
• Receiving notifications for important events, such as sensors that were triggered and changes in temperature

Voice control

As mentioned, if you integrate a smart assistant with your smart security system, you can use voice control for every connected device.

Installing your Vivint smart home system

Smart systems are fairly high-tech, so Vivint’s professional installation service, included in every purchase, is a relief. A technician will bring and set up all of your security equipment. They will also show you how to use your system, including connecting any devices you already have.

Vivint also offers a free security consultation. A security expert will help you develop the best plan for your home’s safety, including the best home automation options for your needs.

Is Vivint smart home right for me?

For home security system automation, Vivint is one of the best choices. You may have to pay a bit more for the equipment, but you get professional installation to guarantee a working system and a robust network of smart devices. Since Vivint is the leader in smart security solutions, you can trust that your system offers both quality and reliability.

As you consider a Vivint system, ask yourself these questions to see if home automation is right for you:

• What do I want to get out of home automation?
• Do I already have smart devices in my home? Will they work with a Vivint system?
• Am I willing to pay extra for a smart home security system?

When you’re ready to enjoy the ease and convenience of Vivint’s home automation, give us a call at 855-707-3746 to get started.