Do you remember buying your first BlackBerry?  It was that first time feeling of always being connected to your office, email, and colleagues – from anywhere at any time.  And it was an enterprise revolution, enabling a “borderless” workplace lifestyle.  And now, with the official launch of Verizon’s smart home service “Home Monitoring and Control” there is a new revolution in the borderless lifestyle…

Always being connected to your home

How many times did you leave the iron on?  Been locked out of your house?  Needed to see if someone was at your house?  Wished you turned off the air conditioning?   When it comes to needing to know and control what is happening in your home, the list goes on and on.  So, what would help solve the homeowners’ to-do list?

Imagine your house had a remote control …

Imagine you could stand on your front lawn, and use a remote to turn your lights on and off, unlock your door, and adjust the thermostat.And imagine that remote control was an application on your mobile phone – and you could take it anywhere.

That is what Verizon imagined, and worked to make a reality. And that BlackBerry feeling I mentioned earlier -- of always being connected to the office -- is going to expand into a more truly “borderless lifestyle.”  That is, a borderless lifestyle where you are always connected to your home.

What is Home Monitoring and Control?

With Verizon’s Home Monitoring and Control, you can access, monitor and control your home – from your PC, most smart phones or your TV.  As part of Verizon’s Home Monitoring and Control trial, I am already using my mobile phone to unlock my front door for my family while I’m not home.  I can also use my phone to turn on my home’s air conditioner, see what is happening in the living room, lock and unlock my front door, and turn my lights and off – from anywhere at any time.  Simply said, it is my favorite app on my phone. And Verizon Online will be launching official product to consumers in the near future.

Was the installation difficult?

Not at all.  In fact, my installation was as easy as the service is to use. For the lamp, we just plugged it into an energy reader/controller, which than plugged into outlet...  And bingo, I could control it with my smart phone. A couple of minutes later we programmed the remote control that came with package to control my lights.  The deadbolt installation was dead simple… I just removed the old one and screwed on the new one.  Minutes later, I could lock and unlock my front door from my computer, TV or mobile phone.  Also, we simply plugged the video camera into the wall, and it networked itself via Zwave with my modem.  Presto – live streaming onto my TV, smart phone and PC.

A Green and Energy Efficient Future

In addition, I am using this technology to better manage my energy consumption, ultimately saving me money on energy bills – while also being more energy efficient.  With the service, I can view the energy consumption of various appliances in my house, as well my overall energy consumption – on a daily to yearly basis.  And with the power of energy consumption information, comes the power of energy savings opportunity.

Do you Think Forward?  Check out this video of how people are using the smart home to improve their lives: http://www.youtube.com/verizon#p/search/0/GXa92FRptBM.   How would you use Home Monitoring and Control?