1 in 3 Smart Home Owners Reports Problems With Devices, Parks Says

A third of smart home owners experience problems with their smart home devices, said a Parks Associates report, and nearly 10 percent report problems connecting a smart home device to the home network router. Smart sprinkler systems, networked security cameras, and water leak detectors have a higher incidence of setup issues than other smart home devices, it said. Nascent technologies increase the likelihood of problems with setup, product interoperability and user error, said Parks analyst Patrice Samuels. Until smart home devices become reliable and intuitive, support providers need to put in place solid support strategies that ensure customers have good experiences during product onboarding to get the full benefits of the products, said Samuels. “Not every product is a good fit for every household” because of the diverse technical landscape of the connected home, Samuels said. The number of connected products is expected to rise significantly this year, with half of broadband households intending to buy at least one smart home device in the next 12 months, and the most popular setup experience for these devices is plug-and-play, she said. "The fewer the number of steps that consumers have to take to get their device up and running, the better." Ideal support for the smart home should be “automated and proactive," she said.