Our Design Philosophy

In the smart home market where technological innovations continue to emerge at a breakneck pace we believe there are 5 key design tenets that are as true today as they were 20 plus years ago when cyberManor was founded. These fundamental tenets are core to our home technology design philosophy and implementation:

Importance of a Fast, Reliable Home Network and Internet Connection

A reliable and robust home network and high speed internet access is key to the long term success and scalability of the smart, connected home. Two decades ago we only had a few devices connected to the home network, a few computers, a printer, and maybe a network attached storage device. Today the homes of most of our clients have over 50 networked devices in their home – some have well over 200 networked devices! Computers, printers, mobile devices, TVs, audio equipment, cameras, thermostats, kitchen appliances, security systems, irrigation controllers, and even intelligent showering systems now all reside on the home network as shown in the above Connected Home EcoSystem Diagram. The inner yellow circle shows the networked systems that are now found in almost every modern home and the outer blue circle displays many of the additional networked solutions that are often added to the connected home. The smart, connected home will increasingly rely on the strength, robustness, and professional support of this network architecture.

User Interface Simplicity – One Custom Electronics Integrator

User interface simplicity has always been, and will always be, of paramount importance. 20 years ago we controlled our home primarily with buttons, knobs, and switches. Today we have added fixed and mobile touch screen control, voice control, gesture control, and even intuitive AI control. We have many more control options to choose from but the basic tenet still rings true. The best control system is the one most intuitive for a given client, in a given location, at a given time. Customizing this control interface for the needs of our clients is one of our most important skills, just as an architect customizes their home plans and an interior designer customizes the appearance of the home to best suit the needs of their clients. Our residential clients want all of their networked, intelligent systems to be easily and reliably controlled by one total home control system supported by one custom electronics integrator.

No Single Company Will Produce Every Smart Home Product

No single consumer electronics company has a wide enough range of products for all the home technology solutions in the home. This is as true today as it was 20 years ago, and as it will still be true 20 years from now. Although many of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies have tried, or continue to try to become one stop solutions for the home – there is far to much complexity and product choice options for any one company to be the ultimate hardware and software platform for the home. The key to our integration success is that all of these disparate products communicate over a universally agreed upon networking communication protocol – a worldwide standard by which all devices communicate wired and wirelessly throughout the home and to the world wide internet. This guarantees that we have a universally accepted communication platform upon which we can craft integrated and scalable solutions that meet the ongoing changing technology requirements of the smart, connected home.

Software Trumps Hardware Over the Long Term

At cyberManor we also believe that software trumps hardware. While high quality, reliable hardware for entertainment, lighting, security, and comfort solutions is still a key element in all of our home technology designs, we know that the long term value of the products we install in our clients homes is directly proportional to the software enhancements to these hardware solutions over time. Home technology companies such as Control4 that invest heavily in their software engineering efforts to improve their hardware platform ensures the long term success and scalability of the solutions that we install today. A great example of this ongoing software investment is Control4’s When/Then application which allows our clients to perform their own smart home programming scenes as their needs dictate – without having to call us for expensive programming visits.

Best of Breed Product Selection

cyberManor’s home technology integration philosophy follows a BEST OF BREED integration strategy. Our company focuses on vendor partners that have demonstrated that they are market leaders in the systems they design and manufacture. Our criteria for our vendor partners is very strict and selective, they must possess the following attributes:

  • Extremely high product reliability
  • Extensive R&D efforts to maintain a market leadership position
  • Competent, reliable, and responsive technical support team
  • An ongoing commitment to improve and enhance graphical applications that run on all Apple and Android mobile platforms
  • The company’s product platform has become an ecosystem for third party products that enhance their product line

This fundamental shift in the intelligence and software upgradability of home electronics have set the stage for a consumer expectation that electronic products purchased today should actually improve over time. This new model fosters product loyalty and good will from the homeowner to the manufacturer of the product and the professional integrator that recommends and installs these products. Instead of frustration and disappointment over the decline of a product’s value and functionality over time the reverse is now true – delight that the electronic product purchased yesterday is more useful today.