The Internet of Things

Have you heard of the "Internet of Things?"  For those of you unfamiliar with the term its the concept  of having everything you own "talk" to each other.  They would communicate status, anticipate needs, and work together to make your home and your life smarter and easier.

I first heard of this concept in elementary school, where my teacher told me that "one day your refrigerator will order it's own milk" I couldn't understand how it would do that, or whether I would even want it to.  How did it even know there wasn't brand new milk already in there, in the back, waiting to be opened?  What if it thought I needed milk when I was about to leave on vacation?  It sounded like a waste of money.

Fast forward several decades to the world we live in today.  I don't have a R/F tag (radio frequency tag used to communicate with other devices) on my milk jug, nor does my fridge have a scale on it that measures how much milk is left in the jug, but my smartphone knows my

The smart IQ Thermostat "talks" to your home control panel
and makes adjustments based on your personal habits and location

schedule, and my home knows when I am there and when I return.  The internet of things has already begun.  My doors have sensors that report when they've been opened.  Each of rooms have image sensors that detect movement and can show me a picture of whats happening in them.  My home control panel tells my thermostat to turn itself down when I've left my home and my smartphone tells my home when I am only a few miles away so it can turn the thermostat back up to my preferred temperature for when I return.

So what's next?  Almost anything.  We have shoes that talk to our phones, TVs that connect to the internet and watches that take phone calls.  In a few years we'll see these sensors and devices aligning under a single platform, making your home smarter, your life easier, and innovation only a few steps away.

Let it snow!

Winter is in full swing and my home has been quite chilly.  We've got almost 12" of snow on the ground and last night my thermometer dipped below zero.  My daughters kept getting out of bed mumbling "I'm cold" as they climbed into bed with us.  Their miniature toes were like potato bugs made of ice, wriggling their way into those warm spots right behind my knees.  Once my teeth stopped chattering we all warmed up enough to slip into a semi-restfull sleep, but it seemed like the more comfortable their miniature bodies got the more they would spread out, hogging all the blankets and kicking me as they tossed and turned.  The debate raged in my mind: do I dare the cold to put them back in their beds, or hope they get comfortable and fall into a temporary coma?  Another unintentional kick to the groin and I had my answer.

One by one I carried their limp bodies back to bed and tucked them in, staggering back to bed like a zombie from AMC's The Walking Dead.  As I lay awake struggling to un-pause the dream they had interrupted earlier I find myself wondering "How do I keep my house warmer without spending the kid's college funds on the energy bill?" (Which really means: "How can I keep those girls warm enough that they won't disturb me at night?")

After logging in, click "emPower" and then "Thermostat"

The answer, in part, could be in the settings offered by my Alarm.com account.  There's an "emPower" tab which gives me the ability to optimize the settings of my thermostat to save money and keep my home warner when I'm home.
 

The Thermostat tab shows you current interior and exterior conditions
and gives you options to make adjustments to your programmed schedule

Clicking on "Show Smart Schedule Activity Pattern" shows me when I'm most likely away from home.  Its based on arming habits and motion detection inside my home and I use this information to make adjustments to my schedule.  For example, I know that every Sunday my family goes to church.  No reason to run the heater the whole time we're gone, so I drop the temperature while we're out.

The other thing I do is activate the "Away from Home Thermostat Override" which adjusts my heater when I arm my panel in "Away" mode.  This not only overrides my current schedule to save me money, but encourages me to keep my home safer by arming my system.  After all, saving a little money on my energy is a great motivator to keep that panel armed as often as possible.   And if I can save a bit more money during the day, perhaps I can afford to turn it up a little at night, keeping those ice-cube-tootsies in their beds where they belong.

Want to save even more money?  There's a button at the bottom of the page to help!

In my opinion the beauty of the whole system is the access.  Whether I use my smartphone, my IQ Panel, the IQ Thermostat itself or my Alarm.com account online, I can make adjustments on the fly wherever I am and whenever I like.  You know why?  Cause I'm ALWAYS CONNECTED!

If mommy kisses Santa Claus... I'll know.

One of the beautiful things about having an IQ Panel with Alarm.com is the ability to know who is coming and going at any time. To make this possible, one needs a simple yet robust network of sensors and devices that track every day occurrences like doors opening and closing, bodies, moving, and the exact location of smartphones.  (Shameless plug: All of these devices are available as part of the IQ Solution.)

Since the tune of the holiday song "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" sends my children into mischievous giggles I have decided to protect myself against the unlikely eventuality that this bearded elf will steal my spouse's heart by setting my Image Sensor to "Peek in Next Motion."  This fantastic setting will tell the device to take photographs of the next person to enter its field of view, and with the five light emitters these pictures can be taken whether the moon is on the breast of the new fallen snow or the room is all tarnished with ashes and soot.  If my calculations are correct, the only people that should set this off are naughty children ignoring the dreams of sugarplums and sneaking a peek of their Christmas stockings, or, in a less likely scenario, old St. Nick himself.

Like all my cameras, the Image Sensor will send the photographs taken to my panel which will transmit a signal to my alarm.com account.  When what to my wondering eyes shall a appear but a miniature text message with a picture attached.  Santa, you're not getting away this year!

Yes Virginia, this is an actual product, but only comes in white.
Sorry to all those readers who thought they could get the silly colors displayed here...

Automating my Christmas Tree

Everyone loves the holiday season.  (Well, okay, not EVERYONE, but aside from a furry green fellow on the top of Mt. Crumpet, there's magic in the air.)  For my family, that magic really starts the day we bring the tree inside.

Our 7-month old daughter stares in awe at the illuminated evergreen

For years we did the fake tree thing, a combination of laziness and being frugal, I suppose.  I had proudly fought the crowds at the Wal-Mart day after Christmas sale and purchased a 6' pre-lit tree for only $15.  Every year we would retrench it from the garage and put it up while watching "Its a Wonderful Life" on TV.  With each passing year it seemed to get dustier and the color grew duller.  The lights on the top burned out, and rather than find the bad bulb and replace it, I simply wrapped an extra strand of lights around the top.  "See? Problem solved"  It was the Christmas version of sewing up the holes in your socks, and I knew the time to retire it was close.

As parents its part of our reasonability to ensure our children have positive, memorable experiences, especially during the holidays, and "dusting" the family christmas tree isn't what I picture them looking forward to each year, so we went down the road to a local tree lot.  As we wandered the fantastic pine hallways the smell of Christmas was everywhere. Kids darted in and out of the rows, calling out "I found one!"  As we converge on the spot they would point at some homely excuse for an evergreen with a triumphant look in their eyes.  I really wonder what criteria a kid uses to determine which is the "best tree" since almost every one looked like the big brother of Charlie Brown's pitiful twig.  Sparse branches, needles falling off like green snow, some of their choices were just awful.  I can't fault them too much, perhaps their standard was the ugly fake tree we'd been using for years, or maybe the view from the lower angles of these evergreen effigies is markedly different.  "Let's keep looking, I want something bigger" I would say, and their eyes would grow in eager anticipation.

My wife and I enjoyed the brisk air and discussed what kind of tree we wanted.  Something tall, we have a vaulted ceiling, but not too tall or we couldn't decorate it.  Full, but healthy, we didn't want a puddle of needles all over the ground Christmas morning.  We discussed the fire-hazard aspect, but knew the IQ Smoke paired with our IQ Panel would alert us if something tragic happened.  Finally we decided on a 7' noble fir.  It was a full, healthy tree with soft bristles that felt supple and smooth.  According to the man with the leather gloves and the "ho ho ho" tee shirt it was a farm tree, and an excellent choice.  He twined it to our roof and we were on our way.

Bringing that tree into the house was a source of elation for the kids.  They leapt up and down, so excited that we were creating such change in our home decor.  First on were the lights, Four packs of energy efficient LED bulbs purchased at... wait for it...  the day after Christmas sale last year.  Now the coup-de-gras: the IQ Smart Socket.   By connecting the lights to the smart socket I didn't have to climb under the tree every time we wanted to turn it on or off.  I simply used my app.  It was fantastically easy, and once the kids were in bed my wife and I grabbed the laptop and logged into our Alarm.com account where we created a series of rules and schedules.  Turn on the lights in the morning at 6am, turn them off again at midnight.  Turn them off anytime we arm in "away" mode.  It was fantastic and took the hassle and worry out of the entire equation.  Now our season is brighter and I get that added pride of showing off my automation to my neighbors.  Let the Jones' try and keep up with THAT!

Z-Wave of zee future

A truly automated home is within the affordable reaches of everyday consumers, and there are more sensors and devices to make your smart home the most intelligent house on the block.  From door locks to thermostats, motion sensors to mobile device geo-fencing, the future is here.

My home is smarter than yours, but I can't take too much credit.  Its all thanks to the creative innovation built into the Qolsys IQ Panel and the interactive services powered by Alarm.com.  The panel speaks Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Cellular, Security, and Bluetooth, which is just about every language you need to automate an intelligently-outfitted home.

On my front door I have a Yale touchscreen deadbolt, on my back door a Kwikset push-button deadbolt.  When my son comes home from school he can open the door without a key.  My wife can go jogging without leaving her keys in the bushes or finding a place in her spandex to uncomfortably secure them, and on more than one occasion I have unlocked my door from the driveway so I can carry a sleeping child inside without fumbling with keys in the cold.

I have also set up elaborate rules using my Alarm.com web portal.  Because our smartphones have GPS, they know where we are at all times.  When they detect that we have traveled outside a specified distance from our home they send a signal to our door locks saying "if you're not already locked, do so now." The thought of leaving a door unlocked is virtually impossible, and when combined with the sensor placed on the top of my door I can know that door's status.  If I left a door open, I get a text message, a convenience that not only keeps our energy bills manageable but helps us ensure our children aren't wandering the streets like Oliver Twist.

Removing the hazard of holiday lights

Remember that scene in A Christmas Story where dad is decorating the christmas tree?  After getting all the lights strung he desperately looks for an extra outlet in which to plug his holiday decorations.  He lifted cords and moved wires, and upon finding an open spot he inserted the plug and everything goes dark.  Pandemonium ensues as the family struggled to find their way in the dark and his son Ralphie's commentary praising his old man's prowess in changing a burnt fuse.

In my home we understand how dangerous it is to add dozens of electrical devices to a single outlet, and the only time we break this rule is by our home entertainment center where everything is fed into a surge protector made by a reputable brand.  But what about that Christmas tree?  You may find yourself adding dozens of strands of christmas cheer to your tree, chaining them end-to-end, looking feverishly around the room for a place in which to power this holiday joy.  Once you do so your evergreen will illuminate like the Griswold's home and you will greeted by a standing ovation by family, friends, and the occasional uninvited cousin.


How much power does this monument to holiday cheer draw?  Will you spend your utility money on presents in December, only to find that January's electric bill will require a second mortgage on your home?

There's an easy way to know, and to help mitigate the risk associated with it.  Before you plug your lights into the wall, connect an IQ Smart Socket to the outlet.  This amazing little device will not only display the actual energy usage on the bright LED screen, informing you of the sheer volume of jigawatts you draw during the holidays, but gives you the added capability of controlling the power provided to that outlet.

Imaging creating a rule that says "When I leave the house, arm my system and turn off my tree."  Your home will be safe and those worries that "Christmas trees are dangerous" will quickly dissipate.  Create an additional rule that says "when I unlock my door turn my christmas lights on" and each entryway will be greeted by a burst of gleaming holiday joy.

So go ahead, enjoy that extra mug of eggnog at the Johnson's annual ugly sweater party.  Your home is safe while you are gone.

Home Automation and Control: The future is here

Home control has typically been a dream that only the social elite could achieve, but with affordable solutions and the smartphone technology already in our pockets, the Qolsys IQ Solution puts limitless possibilities within reach.

The IQ Panel

It starts with the IQ Panel, an innovative device that becomes the "brain" of your smart home.  Built on Google's Android, the IQ Panel will intelligently "talk" to all of your devices to monitor their health, report their status, and ensure that you are aware of anything and everything that occurs within the walls of your home. With a built in Wi-Fi radio, cellular radio, and Z wave radio, The IQ panel is perfectly poised to control all aspects of your home and the devices installed within.  

Peripherals

The contacted home is all about the peripherals you install.  From a sensor that is placed on your door that monitors every time it is opened or closed to a Smart Socket inserted into your outlet that allows you to monitor energy usage and control the power of anything that is plugged into it, there are devices to control and monitor just about everything.  To see the full lineup of possibilities, click here.  

Awareness

With technology today we have persistent awareness of everything that is going on in our lives.  From social media posts to interactive applications on smartphones, we have the technology to show what we are doing, where we are doing it, and who we are doing it with.  Your home should be no different.  Your doors should let you know when they are open or closed, your home should tell you if it detects movement, and your cameras can show you exactly what is happening inside.   Qolsys IQ solution devices communicate directly with the IQ Panel to provide this information in real time, and deliver to you wherever you are using alarm.com’s innovative and easy-to-use smartphone app.

Access

If you can see everything from your smartphone there’s no reason you can’t control it.  Arm your panel, adjust your thermostat, lock your doors, even turn lights on and off all from the sunny beach of California or the darkened corners of your office cubicle.  With Alarm.com’s innovative and powerful mobile application you literally have the power of your entire system in the palm of your hands.  

Rules

With alarm.com’s connection to your IQ Panel, you can set up simple rules automate your entire home, and add alarm.com geo-services to turn them for you.   For example, set up a rule that says “when I am farther than 1 mile from my home, arm my system in AWAY mode, turn down my thermostat, turn off my lights and lock all my doors.” Add another rule to turn it all back on when you get home.  

Alerts and Reminders 

If something happens, you’ll know.  Intelligent alerts send you important information telling you when your system was disarmed, users logged into the website, or if you forgot to arm the system by a certain time each day.  Messages like “System was disarmed by Cathy at 5:37pm” or “The system was not armed by 11:45pm” are delivered directly to your smartphone via text message, e-mail, or push notification.  Everything is customizable, and can be configured to alert multiple people as needed.  

Using an Alarm.com Image Sensor like a baby monitor

Ever since our fourth child was born our two-year-old has had a difficult time going to bed at night. Sometimes she'll come into the living room and tell us things like "I need a drink" or "I'm not tired." Of course when she says this she's rubbing her eyes and yawning. We started making deals with her. To get her to stay in bed, like "go to sleep and you can hold the baby tomorrow."  She must be incredibly intelligent, because she's now figured out that any time she comes to us after getting out of bed, we'll just pick her up and put her right back under her covers.  

She recently discovered that she can stay out of bed longer if she doesn't come to the living room at all.  We would hear the sound of the door opening and when we didn't see her face come around the corner we would go to investigate, finding her door open and bed empty.  A thorough search of the surrounding rooms would find her hiding in bathroom or behind the laundry basket in the master bedroom.  One evening as we were going to retire for the night I found her asleep underneath our bed.  I had no idea how long she been there. 

Installing the image sensor in her room solved a lot of our difficulties. With the revolutionary camera on the image sensor, I can set the device to "Peek in" the next time it detects motion.  Additionally I created an alert that sends the picture directly to my phone when it's taken.  Once we put her in bed I open up my Alarm.com app on my phone and select "Peek In Next Motion."  Now, whether she decides to sneak into the baby's room or head downstairs to the toy room, I'll know about it before she can get there, and because the image sensor has five light emitters around camera it even works when it's dark. I've used it more than once to check on her to make sure she's actually in bed and not playing baby dolls on the floor or climbing into her sister's bed to pull her hair. 

Combining the Alarm.com Image Sensor with our IQ panel has given us a larger amount of freedom.  After the kids are in bed, we arm the system in "Stay" mode.  Knowing our home and family are safe while we are downstairs watching a movie, and that our Image Sensors will take pictures if the children leave their beds gives us a tremendous amount of freedom that parents of young children need.  Perhaps we'll bypass the back door and spend a relaxing romantic evening together roasting marshmallows over our fire pit or just looking at the stars.  We could also head downstairs and watch a movie, knowing that if one of our kids leaves their room the Image Sensor will text us pictures of the little escapee and we can immediately escort them back to their cozy covers.  

I live in a great neighborhood, and I believe that having a home security system helps keep this neighborhood safe.  But that's not why I have it.  The peace of mind is fantastic, sure, but the real convenience comes from the everyday usage I get from my panel and the individual sensors. 

Energy savings using the IQ Smart Socket

Our family has a room in my basement we've made into a modest home theater.  Its just a TV mounted on a wall and an inexpensive surround sound system, but its a great place for the kids to play video games or for the family to watch a movie together.  Being down in the basement it can get chilly,especially in the winter, so we have a space heater we purchased from Costco in the corner of the room.  Having the room heated that way has always worried us a little, since space heaters are notorious for causing fires.  To keep our home safe I've gotten in the habit of making a trip all the way downstairs to make sure the heater is off before we leave the house.

Recently I got my first Qolsys IQ Smart Socket. What an amazing device! It has two outlets, both of which can be controlled from the IQ Panel, and the LED screen on its face reports the current watt usage, so I know exactly how much power is being drawn. On the panel, I can see a report of energy usage over time, letting me know what parts if the day use more power and giving me trended data over a day, week, or month.

The IQ Smart Socket.  

Learning it into my panel was easy, and I could even change the socket names to say "Theater" and "Space heater" respectively.  I have a surge protector where all my home theater components are plugged in which I placed on one side of the smart socket, and I plugged my heater into the other. Instantly I saw readouts of the energy being used.  Even with everything turned off I noticed that both sides were still drawing some power.  The heater, in the off position, only used a single watt.  Perhaps to power the red "off" lightbulb.  I wondered how many watts it used when it was on, and eagerly turned it on.  400... 564... 831... 974... 1024...  I watched the numbers climbing steadily, remembering how people always say "those space heaters use SO much energy" but were never able to quantify that statement. Now I could... at over 1200 watts it was literally sucking the life out of my energy bill! I switched the heater from "hi" to "lo" and watched the watts drop to 665.2.  Simply knowing the difference between those two settings would change my behavior forever.  Why would I ever use the higher setting when the lower saved me so much energy?

When I turned my space heater to the "Low" setting, I noticed it used HALF as much energy!

I decided to try the Theater.  Surely a TV, video game system, and surround sound would not use as much energy as a heater...  I turned it on an watched the meter climb.  Over 400 watts, equal to the heater on low.

From my IQ Panel, I can even turn either plug on or off, cutting power to the room completely.  I thought of the look on my son's face the next time he refused to come up for dinner because he was too busy playing video games.  A simple touch of a button from upstairs and I would shut down the entire system.  That should get a response pretty quickly!

Using the Home Control apps button on my Qolsys IQ Panel, I now have the ability to not only to monitor the energy usage of these devices from upstairs, but create rules that automatically turn off my devices when our IQ panel is armed in "Away" mode.  This means no more trips downstairs, "just to check" and energy savings whenever we're not home.  These same rules can be applied to my thermostat as well, making our entire energy footprint a little lighter.  And if I ever forget to arm my system when I leave, I can do everything right from my phone.

Its a level of control we could only dream of before, but is an affordable reality today.  To learn more about the Qolsys line of energy saving products, as well as home control devices and security solutions, visit http://Qolsys.com

Blast off

My phone buzzed on the bedside table and I reached over to read the text message. "Site launched. Looks awesome." Even though he's only an hour north of our corporate headquarters in Cupertino, CA, my web designer often prefers to work through the night. A text message first thing in the morning meant that he'd been up all evening.

I grabbed my iPad and navigated to Qolsys.com. The simple teaser site we had used for the past several months was nothing more than filler content, stock images and generic copy. We specifically wanted to hold back any pictures of the panel and peripherals we'd been producing so we could make a huge splash at ISC West. I flipped through the pages, looking at the exciting images and dynamic content. Carefully checking that the last minutes changes I had given him the night before we're implemented, and that all the links worked, I snapped my iPad case shut.

"It's up!" I called out to Ken Arnold, our Director of PR. We were sharing a suite on the 31st floor of the Pallazo hotel, overlooking the las vegas strip. He turned over and looked at his watch. It was 6:00, and we wanted to go work out in the gym before we started our day. "How's it look?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Perfect." I said confidently. "What time does the press release go out?" I asked. He sat up and stretched. "Around 2pm."

We dressed quickly and headed out to the elevator. Dropping rapidly to the 3rd floor, we walked briskly to the fitness center. I was amazed by the vast banks of treadmills and the massive rock climbing wall. Ken headed over to stretch and I hit the weights. It felt good to work my muscles. As I lifted I thought about our company, "Quality of Life Systems" and how we all made extra efforts to have a healthy, active lifestyle. Mike and Dave regularly went running or biking, Ken, who used to work for the San Jose Sharks would often play hockey, and I enjoyed a variety of sports. I thought about how important it was to keep this up, and all the successful companies I had seen whose executives looked... less than active. If we wanted to build a culture around improving the quality of life we all enjoy we'd have to make sure we stayed true to it, no matter how busy we got.

After a good workout I grabbed a pineapple smoothie and headed upstairs. This morning was the unofficial start of the International Security Conference, and while people weren't supposed to show up until Wednesday, we knew there would be people coming by.  There were still a few tiny things we needed to accomplish in our meeting room to make it 100% ready, and we wanted to use today to train our team on the panel demonstrations we'd be doing over the next few days.

Countdown

The anticipation was palpable. We sat in the suite at the Pallazo, smiling at each other. Dave offered beverages to everyone while Mike plucked away idly on his laptop. Ken, scrolling endlessly through his phone, looked up occasionally as if to remind us of something, but more often than not, fell silent. We were prepared.

Tomorrow was the big day. The press release was written, the website complete. The presentation for the judges was finished and the elaborate displays stood silently in our Bellini meeting room like a museum of silent expectancy. Everything led to this day, the culmination of over 2 years of effort. What would the reaction be? Would we stand in our Brooks Brothers blue gingham shirts, handsomely waiting for customers that would never show, who would ignorantly leave the show never knowing we even existed? Would we be viciously attacked by our nervous competitors, giants who had dominated the industry for decades, hurling insults and accusations to stifle our opportunity? Or would we be overwhelmed by an onslaught of eager security and home automation dealers desperate to obtain technology that was far too late arriving in this industry?

We chatted idly and said our good nights. Handshakes exchanged, deep breaths taken, and nervous smiles hiding our unanswered questions. We knew what we had was amazing, would other believe as well? Only time would tell.

End of one journey, start of another

The office is literally buzzing in anticipation. It's the weekend before ISC West 2013, the largest trade show for security and home automation products and location where we will launch our company. There's so much to do, so many moving parts to align perfectly, but spirits are high and people are smiling. Employees are boxing up dozens of IQ panels, placing them carefully in their cases for the shipment to Las Vegas. Each one has been fully tested, updated with our latest software drop and customized with the screensaver we created specifically for our company launch at ISC West.

It's been a long road, and for many in the room, this means a payout of a 3 year investment. Qolsys formed as a team back in 2010 with the concept of bringing the security and home control industry back to our century. With generations of antiquated behavior and equipment built on ancient architecture, the industry needed a shot in the arm, and we wanted to administer it.

Mike Hackett, VP of Sales and Marketing sat back in a chair and smiled to CEO Dave Pulling. "We've done it." He said as though it was the definitive moment we had all been waiting for. "Done what?" Dave asked, assuming Mike was referencing something different. "We've done it, everything is ready!" Mike's confident smile is contagious. It what makes him so good at what he does. They've been friends for years and have no secrets between them. It was on long bike rides in the mountains above Silicon Valley that our company was born. Conversations about technology and improving the quality of life coupled with hours of pedaling and fresh air.

Mike's eyes are locked on Dave, waiting for a response. A murmur from the rest of us affirms Mike's statement, but Dave sits silently. He and Mike have put their hearts into this product. The culmination of years of research, development, testing, retesting, and more development. They had felt they'd been close to a finished product in the past, only to find some wrinkle that opened a door to something that would take months of work to achieve. I can see Dave's mind is fixed on this fact. Is this really it? Are we really done? Or is this simply another plateau before a difficult hill? He sits silently, contemplating Mike's statement. Whether running through the code in his brain or simply contemplating the veracity of Mike's statement I cannot tell.

Dave is a genius. On the surface he seems like a regular guy but his IQ is off the charts. He doesn't dress differently than other men his age, doesn't have any noticeable quirks or erratic speech, doesn't use language to enforce superiority or to establish his intelligence. He's so down to earth that most people don't have any clue how intelligent he truly is. If you watch carefully you can see it though. You can hear it in the pauses. While carrying on a completely normal conversation he'll suddenly make some statement that gives away his brilliant mind. In that moment he'll look at you, his eyes locked on yours, trying to determine if you understood his subtle intonation, then quickly smile and change the subject or walk away completely, laughing or joking with someone else.

Around the table we are all nodding, agreeing with Mike's statement but waiting for Dave's opinion. It feels like every detail has been attended to. There is always work to be done, but we were ready. The sound of the traffic on Stevens Creek Boulevard rushed past the window on the street below, and the breeze softly cooled the late afternoon sun making its last attempts to heat the windows. Dave looked at the last light of day pushing its way through the blinds. In that same subtle way he distracts you from his brilliance, he suddenly stood up. "I guess we'll see." His casual smile was like a period on a sentence, and he began to leave the room. "Let's eat at my house tonight" he said. "I want to BBQ."

A new day is dawning

I'm on a plane looking out the window at the Salt Lake City airport tarmac and everything looks like Qolsys. It's been cold for weeks, and the snow that fell just before Christmas has yet to melt away. It gives the world a white-grey look, the same color I've been working with our design team to achieve for our new website. The lights guiding us across the path to our runway are a green and blue, a paler version of the exact shades we've selected for our company, and I smile as I see the golden hues we chose as accents twinkling in the morning lights of the city beyond. Yes, everything looks like Qolsys.

As we climb into the cold morning sky the air around us is starting to turn pink. The first rays of sun hit the blanket of clouds below us, and the mountain peaks emerge from them like icebergs, their snowy caps brilliant white. Today will be an important day. It's not just my first day being presented at our new Director of Marketing, but more importantly, today is when we show Alarm.com how serious we are about what we do.

You see, Qolsys is a pioneer. When it comes to security panels, the industry is full of players. GE security and Honeywell are the giants, with hundreds of thousands of systems installed across the world. 90% of the equipment out there runs on their technology. 2GIG technologies, a forward thinking newcomer on the scene is making a play to compete with these colossal competitors, and with the help of Vivint's sales team they just might have a shot. There are also dozens of smaller companies with their various pieces of hardware. Yes, there is a challenging fight ahead of us.

The biggest difference is innovation. GE and Honeywell were almost forced to create touchscreen panels by their dealers. If it was up to them they would continue to use the same plastic molds they've been manufacturing for years, continue using the same internal components they purchased in bulk, and never have to worry about profitability. The problem is in today's customers. As savvy consumers we don't want technology from the 1980s in our homes. We want the same things installed on our walls that we carry in our pockets. We want the capabilities we know are possible from endless computer commercials.

That is where Qolsys comes in. We're taking yesterday's "self contained" and turning it into today's "all-in-one." Built from the ground up, this amazing new panel, part of the Qolsys IQ solution, uses an Android operating system and was 50% inspiration, 80% perspiration. Don't bother with the math.

Do you remember when the iPhone first came out? I had a Samsung flip phone back then. I liked Samsung because the interface was similar from model to model, and when I picked up a new phone every year or so, not having to re-learn how to use it helped a lot. Then Steve Jobs announces he's made a phone. "But you don't make phones" people said. "What would you know about what it takes?" Whether such derogatory comments were aimed to derail the device or simply to question the validity of a non-industry native entering the space, it's unclear, but regardless of the critique, millions of users confirmed Apple's greatest hopes as the device rapidly sold off the shelves.

I was skeptical at first. I was never an "early adopter" but the videos I watched online had me intrigued. The more I watched, the more I wanted the phone. It seemed so easy to use, so intuitive. Why hadn't Samsung developed this years ago? Why hadn't Nokia or Qualcomm? My desperation to simplify my world led me to cancel my contract with T-Mobile and buy my fist iPhone. Immediately I noticed a difference. The user experience was excellent. One of the things that marveled me the most was the updates. I remember getting a software update that gave my phone's standard camera the ability to record video. I was blown away. Previously I would have to get a whole new phone to obtain a new feature like that, but now, I'm adding features to the same device I already own. I showed everyone I knew and soon all my friends had iPhones too. Not long after, cell phone manufacturers began releasing new devices. Apple had driven them to innovate, to raise our standard of what we expect from them.

Fast forward to today. Apple's iPhone and Google's Android own the mobile device market. The produce new hardware periodically, but their applications, their software, change all the time. Users can customize their experience with the wallpaper they see on their screen, the music they listen to, and the applications they use. Consumers know this technology is available, and expect it to trickle into everything they own, from their appliances to their cars, to their home security systems.

That's where Qolsys comes in. By building on the Android platform, we are able to create the worlds first fully updatable security and home control panel, something no one in this particular industry has yet to develop. A full line of peripherals give you access and control over your doors, lights, thermostats, and small appliances. Powerful engines behind the software connect it to all your devices simultaneously, so you can access every part of this experience from anywhere in the world.

As we dream up new uses for these devices in your home, new home automation software, new ways to track and save energy, and new ways to keep your family safe, we'll push those out to your panel, over the air, without any technician entering your home or any need to call customer service. We'll also find ways of bringing in your favorite 3rd party applications to make the IQ panel become so much more than a place to arm and disarm your system.

We want to improve the quality of life we all enjoy through technology and innovation. Let us show you what tomorrow looks like. Take a look at Qolsys today.