Smart Home Key to Higher Margins, Recurring Fees, Say Panelists
Smart home technologies are playing a growing role in creating revenue opportunities for home security dealers, a Parks Associates virtual conference was told last week. Dealers' acquisition costs are rising, and additional services can grow monthly recurring revenue, said President…
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Elizabeth Parks. The average monthly monitoring fee for a basic system without security cameras or home control is $40.17; the average monthly fee for an interactive system with home control is $55.44, she said. The transition to the LTE network occurring in the home security space gives dealers a chance to upgrade customers to smart home products, said Jeremy McLerran, Johnson Controls global marketing director. With faster, more reliable networks, dealers are able to give customers more capabilities, including touch-screen interfaces that enable control of connected lights, locks, video doorbells and thermostats. “The play is to get into the home,” said Logan Dunn, head of growth for do-it-yourself security company Wyze, noting a rise in bundles that professional monitoring companies offer to combine TV service and other technologies. A challenge has been to get customers to interact regularly with their security system, he said. Webcams helped increase daily usage because “people want to self-monitor,” he said. On the role of the tech giants in the smart home, Rspndr CEO Mark Zimmerman said having Apple, Amazon and Google paying more attention to the security industry is a positive. “If it’s going to be a big enough opportunity and strategic enough to move the needle for companies whose market cap is measured in the trillions, it means we’re going to have explosive growth in this space.” Tech companies' marketing spending will drive consumer interest and user experiences, he said.