What Are the Key Differences and What’s Right for You?
You have a few smart bulbs connected to Alexa, a Google Nest thermostat, and maybe some security cameras you can check from your phone. That’s smart home automation, right? Not quite. What you have is a collection of smart devices. Real home automation is something quite different. The big difference is integration.
The distinction matters more than you might think. Having smart devices means you can control individual things through different apps or voice commands. True integrated automation means your home responds to your life without you having to think about it—and when you do want control, everything works through a single, reliable interface.
SEE ALSO: Beyond AV: Elevating Your Home with True Automation
Beyond “Alexa, Turn On the Lights”
Voice assistants like Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit can control smart devices and even create routines and scenes with lights, entertainment, and climate control. The problem is that devices often have limited features available through these platforms. Your smart lights might have color settings in their native app, but only dimming when you use Alexa or Google Home.
The bigger frustration comes from software updates and forced app logins that break integrations at the worst possible moments—usually when you’re entertaining guests or rushing out the door. Professional automation systems eliminate this headache by using dedicated hardware and programming that doesn’t depend on cloud services that might change or fail without warning. Perhaps the biggest issue with DIY smart homes is that you are your own IT support – when things fail mysteriously, you may need to resort to Reddit threads, YouTube, and long searches to figure out the issue.
The Professional Automation Advantage
Systems like Savant take a fundamentally different approach. Instead of controlling individual devices through multiple apps, everything integrates into a single ecosystem. Your lighting, climate control, entertainment, security, and shading all communicate with each other and respond to custom programming tailored to how you live.
This means you can create personalized scenes that adjust multiple systems simultaneously. “Movie Night” doesn’t just dim the lights—it closes the shades, adjusts the temperature, turns on your AV system to the right input, and sets the perfect lighting level, all with a single tap. Control happens through the Savant Pro App, dedicated touchscreens mounted throughout your home, smart keypads that replace standard light switches, or elegant remotes—whichever works best for each situation.
Making It Work for Your Home
Professional automation represents a significant investment in both technology and quality of life. The system gets designed around your home’s architecture and your family’s routines, installed by certified professionals who ensure everything works flawlessly together, and supported through ongoing maintenance that keeps your system current and reliable.
At Automated Living, we help homeowners understand what’s possible and plan their investment using tools like our Home Technology Association Calculator. Once your system is installed, our Customer Care Program provides the ongoing support that keeps everything running smoothly—no more troubleshooting broken integrations yourself.
Ready to explore what professional automation can do for your home? Contact us to discover the difference between having smart devices and having a truly smart home.
