There are a lot of DIY home-security options on the market, especially with the advent of the smart home. The appeal is that unlike subscription-based companies, there are no monthly fees — though they leave the monitoring up to users. Still, there’s no ignoring that those paying those fees may still want home-automation products from third parties. For example, ADT announced last December it was eager to partner with Nest. In July, it announced integration with the company’s Learning Thermostat for customers in Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, and Miami. Now that partnership has gone nationwide.
ADT Pulse is the security company’s automation service. Its app lets customers control lights and locks and check out what’s happening on the security camera. Adding the ability to control Nest to the mix gives users more control of their homes, but it also opens up new customers for Nest.
“What they [Nest Labs] love is ADT’s seven million customers, 4,000 sales representatives, and the relationships we have with fire departments and other emergency services, so that when there is an alarm we can dispatch the right people,” ADT’s CEO Naren Gursahaney told Forbes last year. Nest gets introduced to new customers through the special promotion with ADT, and the security company’s technicians will even hook it up for free, eliminating any intimidation factor amongst less tech-savvy homeowners.
In addition to the Nest integration, Pulse offers an “always on” dashboard so users can see what’s happening in the home and get alerts about fires or break-ins. Since the summer of last year, ADT has also had voice commands to let you control your home. Unlike something like Siri, you give it a password and the app starts to learn your voice, so even if your neighbor overhears your secret code, he or she still shouldn’t be able to turn on your lights if he swipes your phone.
Thermostat control is included in that, too, so if you want to talk to your Nest via ADT, you can get a free one through ADT, with monitoring for $48 a month.
