SEVEN STEPS TO SMARTER LIVING A GUIDE TO SMART HOME TECHNOLOGY
WHAT IS SMART LIVING?
It’s the smell of your favourite blend, the moment you open your eyes. The air, the perfect temperature. The sun woke several hours ago - but didn’t wake you, because the blinds are only now beginning to open, ever so slowly, bringing you into your day gently. As you plan the hours ahead, behind a screen of hot steam, your favourite track - at your kind of volume - plays in your en-suite, then in your bedroom and then in the kitchen. You pour your coffee. You sit down. The world waits patiently for you, at the touch of a button. Welcome to Smart Living - modern times require modern lifestyles. With more time spent at home these days than ever, it’s important to make your home life better than it’s ever been! This handy guide will take you through the five steps to Smart Living.
Can I still enjoy Smart Living WITHOUT having to rip my house apart? Our team is very experienced in designing and installing Smart Living systems – both in new build homes AND in homes that are older properties being refurbished. We’re so experienced we take account even when your new home has only recently been completed, you’ve moved in and your requirements need to ensure that the installation doesn’t mean new walls requiring redecoration, ceilings re-taping and filling, and the newly floored hallway feeling like it’s part of a builders’ site once again! Our design and solutions accommodate your need to LIVE in the property. Our objective is to support you to love living in your new home and enjoy the transformation from it being a great home to being a Great Smart Home.
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“Building our new home has been expensive for us – doesn’t Smart Home technology need a big budget?” As technology matures, prices in the technology sector become more affordable over time and indeed the Smart Home automation market is now quite mature. It’s also important to take account of the fact that it doesn’t need to be your WHOLE home that you install with Smart Living solutions – it can be designed to cover only certain areas, rooms or floors. Our job at John Ross Smart Living is to offer solutions that go as far as possible to the budget you have available.
STEP 1 - TAKE CONTROL ONE REMOTE TO RULE THEM ALL
One control. Your entire home at your fingertips. Music, movies, streaming, gaming - even lighting can be so much more entertaining when controlled from one place. One minute Agassi, the next Avicii. One minute De Nero, the next David Bowie. One minute take-away food lighting, the next a snuggling-up dim. Your entertainment will never be paused again when someone needs a comfort break or when the adverts come on. • Enjoy music and video from a variety of sources. • A singular, easy-to-use interface controls all your entertainment. • All of the content you love at your fingertips, from Blu-Ray movies to satellite TV, in stunning, 4K high-definition and surround sound. • Easily integrates with popular products and services such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Netflix and more. • Dim the lights without ever leaving the couch.
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STEP 2 - CREATE THE PERFECT AMBIENCE ELEGANT & EFFICIENT LIGHTING
Ever noticed how the perfect lighting can make you feel more relaxed? More focussed? More yourself? More at home? Smart Lighting allows you to control your whole home lighting system, from a single touch of a screen. You can set different moods for different rooms, or turn the whole room (or several rooms) on and off at the flick of a switch. And if you don’t want unsightly wall switches distracting from your beautiful decor, lighting controls can be discreetly hidden - in cupboards or behind doors. It’s energy efficient too - Smart Lighting automatically comes on when you need light and switches off when no-one is in the room. This means you’ll cut your carbon footprint just by walking around your own home and that no-one will be left in the dark. Moods can be enhanced, interior-design features can be highlighted and your guests can be impressed. • Comfort: Program your lights to switch on automatically to welcome you home. • Ease of Use: Use motion sensors to provide hands-free illumination. • Eco-saving: program your lights to switch off automatically when a room is unoccupied. • Flexibility: Use keypads to trigger more than just lights, control your music, shade control, and energy settings—with a touch of a button. • Safety: Illuminate the hallway lights automatically for safe entry, as soon as you enter the garage. • Energy efficiency: Have your outdoor lighting turn off in the morning and back on as the sun goes down. • Security: Make your home sophisticated enough to appear to be occupied even when you’re away.
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STEP 3 - LIVE FOR MUSIC IMMERSIVE MULTI-ROOM AUDIO
Today’s speaker systems are effective but not intrusive to your interior design – in fact there are audio systems that can actually enhance your room, blending into walls or using speakers hidden into light fittings! Different playlists for different rooms. Discreet - or even better, hidden - speakers in every room. One volume for the kids playing their tunes in their space, another volume for the adults. A single button for your classics, another for theirs. Or your favourite track on repeat, in rich quality stereo, everywhere. Songs to welcome you home, to wake you up, to send you to sleep. And all without the time and effort of thinking…and scrolling! Connect to millions of artists, through popular streaming services such as Spotify, TIDAL, Deezer and TuneIn - without the need for extra gear or storage space for old CD collections. We will change the way that you listen to music – forever!
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STEP 4 - NETFLIX AND CHILL SIMPLIFIED MULTI-ROOM VIDEO
Sit back and enjoy 4K high-definition content in every room without adding clunky gear and wiring behind each TV. With multi-room video, everyone can enjoy the same movie or watch whatever they want, wherever they want - taking the home movie experience to infinity, and beyond. Share Sky, Blu-ray, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, streaming video and satellite channels throughout the home—no need for set-top boxes and multiple video sources in every room. Consolidate all audio and video equipment into one central place, creating a clutter-free installation, while delivering superior sound, stunning 4K high-definition video and an incredible movie experiences in every room. •
Browse video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Fire from any TV
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Watch sports in the lounge, the news in the kitchen and kids movies in the family room
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Each room has access to every video source and an intuitive, on-screen interface makes it easy to select the right one
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Instantly share new content or add video sources throughout your home
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STEP 4 - NETFLIX AND CHILL HIDDEN T V
Your new home interior is looking perfect – well, almost! Many of us just don’t like seeing a TV screen (however expensive and modern it looks) hanging on a living room or bedroom wall and, well, just looking ugly against your art work, new furniture and window dressings. We can offer an extensive range of TVs that are a framed mirror one minute, sitting perfectly on the wall – and with a push on the remote control the mirror transforms into a normal functioning family TV. Or perhaps you’d prefer the TV sitting behind a framed piece of artwork of your choice – enhancing your room when the family visit, but completely practical for the family nights in.
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STEP 4 - NETFLIX AND CHILL HOME CINEMA WITHOUT THE HASSLE
Who can beat having their own cinema in their own home? You can transform a family TV room or your garage into your own Home Cinema! You create the experience, you can choose the audience (as well as the movie, showtime and flavour of popcorn) and we’ll make it all happen. With high-resolution audio, highdefinition video, surround sound, big (or small) screen and customised lighting you will be at the top of the blockbuster friends lists! Audio, video, lighting - and so much more. Your Home Cinema can be installed almost wherever you want it to be – we’ll work with you to create an experience to suit your budget. There will be no reason to leave the house to visit a cinema again!
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STEP 5 - ENJOY THE GREAT OUTDOORS CREATE YOUR OUTDOOR LIVING OASIS
It’s safe to say that during the challenges of 2020/21 many homeowners have fallen in love again and appreciated having outdoor space that they can call their own and most are ensuring that their garden can accommodate social requirements for as much of the year as possible. So whether its “glamming up” a garden cabin or just improving the outdoor space that you have, we can extend your Smart Home to ensure you have the enjoyment of outdoor TV without sunlight glare, you can enjoy party or chill-out music via discreet speakers to listen to while you’re out at the BBQ (or in the hot tub!) and your lighting outside blends in to become an extension to your home and not feel as though you’re sitting in a UFO!
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STEP 6 - STAY SAFE VIDEO DOORBELL
Knock, knock...You know who’s there. We all prefer to see who’s calling before we pick up the phone - so why shouldn’t you see who’s at the door before you open it? High definition video intercom gives an optimal view of specific areas both inside and outside the home on all phones, tablets and mobile devices. This means you can answer the door (or gate) from anywhere in the world - and if smart locks are installed too, they can be opened from anywhere as well! You’ll never have to worry about not being home for a delivery, or missing anyone important dropping by again. Intercom screens can also be installed in as many rooms around the home as required, which means that in large homes, the whole household can be called to the dinner table or the kids can be told it’s time to leave for school. •
Monitor who’s at the door instantly (from inside the home or from anywhere in the world)
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Answer the door from anywhere
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Communicate throughout the house
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Room Privacy Settings
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Monitor Mode
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Auto-Answer
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Do Not Disturb
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Audio-only
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STEP 6 - STAY SAFE SMART HOME SECURIT Y
Sometimes you feel as though you need eyes in the backs of your head to make sure everything, and everyone, is safe throughout the day. And when you’re away from home, you feel even less in control. A Smart Security system allows you to keep an eye on everything, even when you’re there, or not there - check in on the kids, make sure the dog’s OK, receive alerts when someone steps inside of the house. You can set up alternative camera views - both inside and outside the house, so you’ll always have a watchful eye over the things and people you care about most. •
Lock every door and arm the alarm, all with a single touch directly from an intuitive user interface on a touchscreen, TV or mobile device
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View video feeds from security cameras and easily monitor camera footage straight from mobile devices Receive text alerts when the system senses trouble, including water leaks or to simply let you know the kids arrived home from school
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Assign temporary security codes for deliveries and service workers
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Randomise lights and audio/video equipment to make it look like the house is occupied even when it’s not!
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STEP 7 - MAKE YOUR SMARTER LIVING DREAM A REALITY WITH JOHN ROSS
John Ross Smart Living is one of Scotland’s leading
immersed in the world of technology and AV for all of
installers of smart home technology, working across the
his lengthy career - having started in the world of Hifi,
country to bring Smart Living into peoples’ homes. We
he has built a company that has moved with the times,
also offer maintenance contracts, ensuring that your
and now has many smart home installations successfully
Smart Home will be as smart in five years’ time as it is on
delivered and John continues to remain very hands-on!
Day One. John has a wealth of experience, having been
“John Ross Smart Living came up with a straightforward solution, they were were easy to work with, and they did all the work on time and to budget... I couldn’t recommend them more highly” Hamish Grossart, JRSL Customer
Are you ready to take your first step to Smart Living? Get in touch with Gavin today to arrange a no-obligation consultation to discuss your needs:
Gavin Sime gavin@jrsmartliving.co.uk 07453 667325 . 22
13 Charlotte Street | Perth | PH1 5LW 01738 566 566 | connect@jrsmartliving.co.uk www.jrsmartliving.co.uk