CES 2017: Sigma Designs Introduces Z-Wave SmartStart Smart Home Installation

At CES 2017 earlier this year, Sigma Designs®, a provider of Smart TV platforms and IoT devices introduced the Z-Wave SmartStart, an enhancement to the Z-Wave specification that vastly improves service provider installation of Z-Wave devices in the smart home.

Z-Wave SmartStart

Z-Wave SmartStart pre-configures devices to the network before they reach the home, dramatically reducing the time service providers spend at the customer premise, thereby reducing costs and maximising return on investment (ROI). In addition, the pre-configuration incorporates Z-Wave’s new Security 2 (S2) framework, ensuring the most advanced security in the smart home market.

The complexity of smart home installation has been a key sticking point for service providers and a hindrance to smart home adoption overall. For service providers, reducing the time a technician spends in the home is critical to achieving ROI on their smart home initiatives. In a typical smart home installation, prior to physical installation, a technician may spend a few hours validating component functionality; integrating components; and configuring scenes, rules, and scripts. With Z-Wave SmartStart, the process is greatly simplified so that these steps are done at the service center, so that in most cases, an installer only has to mount the devices, turn on the power, and the devices connect to the network.

Instant Integration

“What is so different with Z-Wave SmartStart is that the pre-configuration exists across the breadth of the Z-Wave ecosystem,” said Raoul Wijgergangs, Vice President, Z-Wave for Sigma Designs. “Suddenly, a gateway, a sensor, and a light switch or door lock-all different products from different manufacturer brands-can be ‘SmartStarted’ together allowing instant integration and be up and running in a customer’s home very quickly. While other companies may have pre-configuration solutions in place, there’s nothing else on the market that works cross brand, cross application, cross company, like Z-Wave SmartStart. That is a very unique value proposition for service providers that will help them deliver strong ROI on their smart home investments.”

“The percentage of consumers reporting that their smart home vendor installed their device has more than doubled over the past year,” said Patrice Samuels, Parks Associates’ Senior Analyst. “Reducing friction associated with system installation and support is critical to both profitability and the customer experience.”

SmartStart new S2 framework

Z-Wave SmartStart’s incorporation of its new S2 framework, which provides the most advanced security for smart home devices and controllers, gateways and hubs, ensures service providers can offer the most secure smart home packages in the market today. Z-Wave’s S2 framework was developed in conjunction with cybersecurity hacking experts, giving Z-Wave devices new levels of impenetrability. By securing communication both locally for home-based devices and in the hub or gateway for cloud functions, S2 completely removes the risk of devices being hacked while they are included in the network.

“The S2 framework is the ‘secret sauce’ of the Z-Wave SmartStart solution,” stated Niels Thybo Johansen, Vice President, Z-Wave research and development. “No other company can claim this level of ease and speed of installation, paired with the robust security that S2 brings to the table. It’s a game changer for the industry.”