Crestron HomeTime: Video Conferencing for the Smart Home

With the challenges of the pandemic still with us, working and schooling from home will be a continuing reality for the better part of 2020 in many areas. Major tech companies like Google have already announced they will continue work-from-home policies into 2021. Educational institutions at all levels are also grappling with how to resume classes, and many will adopt remote approaches in the short term. 

In this environment, communicating effectively from home has become critical. Communication is not just for work and school; maintaining social contacts with family and friends is also needed to not feel isolated.

Crestron has thought about this, too. A worldwide leader in enterprise video conferencing, audio-visual, and commercial automation, the company is bringing that expertise to improve communication and collaboration from home. Of course, Crestron is also a leader in smart home automation, so it couldn’t be a more perfect fit.

Keep reading to learn more about Crestron's new HomeTime, which brings together sophisticated video conferencing, communication, and home control to your Atlanta residence.

SEE ALSO: A Quick Look at the Top 3 Features of Crestron Home Automation

Upgrading Home Video Conferencing

In offices, Crestron integrates AV equipment with control solutions to enable simple collaboration with popular video conferencing services like Zoom. One of two taps on a touchscreen can connect a room full of people with crisp audio and video communication to anywhere in the world. With HomeTime, Crestron brings that same ease of use into the home.

Crestron partnered with Logitech to integrate the capabilities of their MeetUp 4K camera for huddle rooms with home AV to create an upgraded home solution. Homeowners can use their existing TV, and the MeetUp camera's 120-degree wide-angle lens can capture a whole family on the sofa. The Meetup's beamforming, full-duplex microphone allows for natural conversation without delays or conflicts.

Zoom Rooms for Your Home

If you use Zoom at work for video conferencing, you might have a Zoom Room. Crestron makes equipment like the Mercury tabletop video conference system that takes Zoom from a single laptop or device solution to including everyone in a meeting room with the same capabilities. Crestron HomeTime delivers a similar experience at home.

Since it’s a Crestron solution, it integrates seamlessly with Crestron home automation. Meetings can be started and controlled by either the Zoom Room controller app on a smartphone or tablet or from a Crestron customized touchscreen that also controls home lighting, climate, AV and more. Imagine this scenario: Make a video call to Grandma in another state with everyone in the family in full view, with Grandma on the big TV screen, and everyone can talk naturally and freely. No huddling around a laptop's microphone or video camera or trying to use Facetime grouped around an iPad or iPhone. What’s more, with Crestron automation, you can set a custom scene with the perfect lighting for the room and turn everything on and off with a tap on a screen.

Beyond calls to family and friends, other remote learning and meetings can be more natural, too. Your kids can continue private music lessons for band and instruments with clear audio and video. Kids can also collaborate with others on schoolwork and projects, and parent-teacher conferences become more comfortable to facilitate remotely.

GHT Group can bring the power of business-class Zoom Rooms conferencing to your whole family with Crestron HomeTime. To learn more, call us at (770) 955-8909, contact us here, or click the button below to connect with us right away.  We look forward to working with you!