If you work from home, you know it can be challenging to separate your career from your personal life when they share the same space. Now more than ever, WFH professionals are investing in automated technology to create a smart home office that feels comfortable, promotes focus, and inspires creativity.
After all, a home office is where you’ll spend most of your time during the week.
Smart Home Office Ideas
Creating a smart home office can be simple. Here are some steps to ensure your home’s workspace is high-tech, productive, and practical.
Finely Tuned Lighting Can Protect Your Eyes and Boost Productivity
Smart home offices should incorporate ambient lighting for comfort and to reduce eye strain after looking at multiple screens for hours. Ambient lighting mimics the sun’s natural light, preventing fatigue and encouraging focus. The brightness levels are adjustable to suit individual preferences for the perfect working environment.
Ambient lighting is essential for smart home offices due to its productivity and wellness benefits. Some popular ambient lighting options in smart home offices are wall sconces, ceiling lights, and warm LED strip lights for a clean and modern look.
Do you need help setting up an ambient lighting system in your home office? We have a team of smart home integrators who can install smart lighting in any setup you want. Our team will guide you through the process and offer recommendations based on your workspace goals.
Smart Window Shades Provide Natural Light When It’s Convenient, Shade When It’s Not, and Privacy from Prying Eyes
Installing smart window shades in your home can have significant benefits for your productivity, particularly when it comes to a home office. The ability to control the window shades with a smart device allows you to adjust the light coming into your space at different times of day, ensuring maximum comfort while still getting natural light – all without leaving your desk or seat.
With all these advantages for improved energy efficiency, comfort, and convenience, there is no question that motorized shades in your home are worth considering. One touch of a button instantly obscures visibility from outside but still allows you to enjoy natural light.
Ask about installing motorized shades with an AIS consultant so you can experience the benefits of home automation.
Smart Climate Control to Keep You in Your Most Productive Temperature Zone
Studies show that creating a comfortable temperature environment helps people feel more alert and focused and increases their emotional well-being. OSHA recommends aiming for environments within the range of 68-76 degrees Fahrenheit for maximum comfort and productivity. This is where your climate control system really makes a difference.
A smart thermostat allows you to program ideal temperatures for different times of the day. It can be controlled remotely in a separate room or away from home. Smart thermostats can provide insights into energy usage across multiple rooms, giving you an overview of how your heating and cooling system works so that you can find ways to improve its efficiency.
More consistent temperatures eliminate hot and cold spots in your office, enhancing comfort levels and promoting greater productivity. With the right smart thermostat, you can create the perfect environment for maximum productivity wherever you are.
Smart Thermostat Recommendations
Investing in your home office’s comfort is critical as that’s where you’ll spend most of your time during the week. One of the most important factors in choosing a smart thermostat is that it can connect to an ELAN control system, because it will give you control over everything in your home in one simplified location.
Some of the brands we recommend are 2GIG, Honeywell, or Ecobee – all of which can be connected to your ELAN control system. Let us know which smart thermostat you are interested in installing so we can help you create the perfect climate control system for your home.
Enterprise Networking for Reliable Remote Employees, Whose Zoom Video Never Lags
Installing enterprise internet networking in your home office is a wise decision with several benefits. These networks offer superior download and upload speeds, creating a consistently smooth connection and allowing you to execute crucial tasks quickly. These networks are also better suited for programs and applications such as video streaming services, cloud streaming services, and video processing.
Investing in an enterprise internet network for your home office will ultimately save you time and give you peace of mind knowing that your valuable data is always secure on top-performance networks.
Ask AIS about setting up enterprise ethernet cables throughout your home – we can pre-wire ethernet cables to any room you want and for as many devices as you need in each room.
State of the Art Media Devices and Control for Media-Driven Professionals
Having the right media equipment in a home office environment can make all the difference in efficiency, productivity, and creativity. Home office media equipment such as audio/video conference systems, data/video projectors, video streaming services, and digital signage enables us to present ideas and connect with clients easily.
Access to high-quality sound systems enables virtual training sessions or presentations to sound professional while engaging. Certain situations may even require multiple screens or compatible tablets for collaboration. In these cases, having home office media equipment is necessary for a successful outcome.
Another benefit that a home office sound system will deliver is high-quality music streaming capabilities. High-quality background music can improve the entertainment factor in your home office and increase productivity in certain circumstances.
Let AIS help you create the perfect work environment through home office media – simply tell us what you want out of your home office, and we can transform your ideas into reality.
Intercom Systems for Parents and Caregivers to Easily Talk Between Other Rooms
Intercom systems are increasingly becoming a must-have for many households. Not only can they help you know who has entered the house, but they can even be used to communicate with family and friends from any room in the house.
An intercom system makes it easy and efficient to stay connected in your home and keep others safe. Intercoms provide a convenience that phones or other technologies cannot offer; they easily transmit messages with simple push buttons and talk into an open line without dialing each time. They allow you to monitor your home more efficiently as well by being able to check rooms without having to walk around the house.
With all the confusing wiring needed to integrate an intercom system into your home, you’ll need expert installation for the best results. Our team of professionals is ready to help and can easily set up your intercom system.
ELAN: Control Your Home from a Phone or Tablet
An ELAN system is the perfect upgrade for any home. Imagine having the ability to control all your audio, video, and lighting from one convenient device. You can easily customize settings and create an environment perfectly tailored to you whenever you want.
Security systems, cameras, doorbells, access control systems – this unified platform allows you to monitor and protect your property from anywhere in the world. It also has voice recognition capabilities for easy operation with virtual assistants.
At AIS, we highly recommend using an ELAN smart home control system. It’s essential for anyone looking to manage their smart home technology in one place easily. Ask us how to get started with ELAN for your next home renovation project.
Virtual Assistants
Virtual assistants are artificially intelligent (AI) programs designed to listen to voice commands, assist with information, and perform tasks. They’re becoming increasingly popular because they increase productivity and help with work duties.
Since they use AI to learn from an extensive database of user commands, they can quickly and easily perform any command without needing to process it. It makes mundane tasks like setting calendar events or creating reminders a breeze.
Some noteworthy features virtual assistants offer at-home workers are:
- Creating calendar events
- Setting reminders and alarms
- Taking notes via voice command
- Sending emails or messages
- Playing music without searching
- Providing weather and traffic updates – ideal for hybrid workers
While the setup process can be tedious and time-consuming for a novice, our team of experts is always available to help you with the initial setup.
Essential Work Gadgets That Will Transform Your WFH Office Space
Desk gadgets are smart devices that transform smart home offices to meet the needs of at-home workers. Their automation features are designed to boost productivity and streamline work tasks. Learn more about smart home office gadgets and how they are essential to transforming home workspaces below.
Audio Systems
Clear and concise audio brings professional teams together. However, creating the perfect office audio system requires you to pick and set up the right equipment delicately. Here’s a rundown of the different audio system integrations you can get for your smart home office and what they can do.
Microphones for Output Audio
A standalone, high-quality microphone offers the best sound quality possible. There are many microphones on the market, but the best are the same ones talk show hosts and podcasters use.
You’ll want to search for a microphone that has these features:
- Outstanding vocal reproduction
- User-friendly interface
- High-quality companion software
- XLR and USB outputs for full compatibility
- Outstanding build quality
Clear communication is critical with professionals who work at home, and microphones are worth the investment when planning a smart home office.
Speakers for Input Audio
Another critical factor in understanding audio systems for smart home offices is how important output audio is as input audio. If you can’t hear the people communicating with you, especially in a remote workplace, this can cause challenges.
Although there are built-in laptop and desktop computer speakers, large online meetings on speakerphone can cause ear strain from the wide-ranging audio levels. Dimming the audio on a more scalable system reduces ear strain, prevents echoing, and eliminates the need to keep the volume at higher levels.
You can even have your work meeting audio output to your ceiling speakers, tower speakers, invisible speakers, or aperture speakers for an executive-level home office sound system.
Ask us more about the audio options we offer, and we’ll help you create a truly innovative home office.
Video Boards
Invest in a video board to transform your home office into a high-tech space. Video boards are large digital screens that display information, allow you to communicate digitally, and stay organized.
Some benefits that video boards provide at-home professionals are:
- Reducing paper waste and clutter
- Displaying documents, presentations, and other traditionally printed files digitally
- Centralizing all necessary files in one place
Here’s a closer look at how this smart technology amplifies productivity for remote workers.
Video Board Features
Video board features allow you to keep track of deadlines, meetings, and other important events by pinning that information or using a “sticky” on a specific section. Storing all work documents in one digital place streamlines and organizes daily work tasks based on your customized workflow.
Video boards are also beneficial for remote work collaboration and large teams. The video conferencing and screen share display features can guide your colleagues and clients through real-time presentations or reports.
As a bonus, they’re easy to set up and user-friendly for at-home professionals new to the smart technology journey. However, setup and installation can be tricky. Luckily for you, our team of professionals knows how to install and prepare video boards for your smart office. Be sure to mention the video board when budgeting for a smart home office transformation with us.
Upgrade to a Luxury Smart Home Office Today
A well-designed smart home office can make a world of difference in productivity. Investing in a few key pieces, like external speakers and ambient lighting, can make a luxurious office area that drives your career to the next level.
Are you ready for the benefits that come with upgrading to a smart office? Use our budget calculator to start, or contact us for a free consultation to optimize your design today!
