How Do You Choose a Smart Home Company?

We have written before on these pages about many smart home technology topics. We’ve also written about how it pays to work with a professional company for your smart home and AV installations, as you need a reliable, trained team that stands behind their work.

What you might not know is how to go about choosing a smart home company to install the technology in your Alpharetta home. In this blog, we’d like to share with you four areas that can indicate the seriousness of a professional home technology integration company.

Ready to learn more? Keep reading below.

SEE ALSO: Why Working with a Smart Home Company is a Smart Move

Industry Affiliations

A critical area to look at with an integration company is their affiliations. The acknowledged professional association for the integration industry is CEDIA, which stands for Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association. It's an essential credential for any home automation company, and it requires that members have proper insurance coverage and licensing where it's needed. Members also pledge to a code of ethics and take continuing education and training courses to stay current on technology and best practices.

Other affiliations can also indicate a company's breadth of knowledge and scope of work. For example, Georgia Home Theater is an affiliate member of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, because we work closely with designers and builders and it's essential to understand their requirements as well.

Client Education

We think an educated customer is the best customer. How well do other integrators explain products and technology to you? Georgia Home Theater has invested heavily in various ways. One is our 20,000 square foot showroom in Marietta, where you can come in, see, hear, and touch a wide array of AV and technology products, as well as talk to our expert staff.

Before you ever walk into our showroom, we have also invested in significant online resources to inform and educate. We currently post nine blogs a month on a broad variety of topics, and we have pages devoted to key products we carry. On the automation side, we have video tutorials on our site so you can experience what smart automation, security, and AV features would feel like in your home.

The Company You Keep

Does the company you are considering carry a wide selection of brands to choose from? Or do they push only one choice in a particular area? At Georgia Home Theater, we like to say we don’t just carry brands, we choose them – and we choose the best. In home automation, we work with both Crestron and Control4. We represent high-end audio brands like McIntosh, Bowers and Wilkins, Klipsch Heritage, and Mark Levinson, to name but a few. In lighting control, we work with Lutron. We could go on but suffice it to say there is both breadth and depth to what we offer.

One more point about the brands we represent: We choose manufacturers based on their quality and support. We want reliable equipment and systems in your homes, and we work with companies that have the same commitment to after-sale support as we do. Technology and electronics are reliable but not perfect, and when things sometimes go wrong, we and our brands both stand behind the products and installation.

A Commitment to Service and Support

Some companies pay lip service to service and support, so you may want to ask questions about a company's history and how they have invested in service. Georgia Home Theater has been in business since 1989. We are family-run, and we invest significant time and money in our employees’ training and development. As a result, we have low staff turnover, and the people who installed a system for you five years ago are likely to be the same ones you will talk to when you seek an upgrade. This also means the expertise stays with us, and you can count on having a team that you don’t have to re-educate because they already know you.

If you’d like to work with the best smart home company in the Atlanta area, reach out to us or click below to connect with one of our experts. We look forward to showing you what we can do.