Z-Wave’s New ‘SmartStart’ Dramatically Simplifies Home Automation Installs


@Tyler

@JDRoberts Your thoughts?

This has been coming for about a year. Remember that the Z wave alliance says that 2/3 of all Z wave devices are professionally installed. This is a feature aimed at that market, specifically Xfinity home and Time Warner’s home automation services, but it will also be useful for other pros like ADT pulse.

The idea is that The bundle devices will all be paired to the hub before they are shipped for the actual install, and also, and this is a really big part of this, that the bench pairing at the warehouse will be super simple and can be done by scanning QR codes rather than physically pushing buttons on each individual device.

Note that one of the really important things here from a professional installation company’s point of view is that the individual devices don’t have to be powered on in order to be added to the hub. So you’ve got one person at a warehouse with a list of devices and their QR codes and they are just scanning those to the hub which they are getting ready to ship and then ship everything. No dealing with batteries, no having to put light switches on power to pair them, it’s just done. :sunglasses:

It should also mean, obviously, that pairing will be easier for DIY folks as well. But that’s not the reason they’re doing this. They’re doing it so Xfinity home can ship a box full of devices that will all just work together when the installer goes to put them in the customer’s house, and they greatly reduced the labor required on the warehouse and to get that box together.

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I knew you would break it down for me, and quickly as well :grin:

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