A smart home as a service (SHaaS) company has officially launched at CES 2024.
OliverIQ, filled with former executives from Control4, offers a subscription model with unlimited support that can connect an unlimited number of smart home devices regardless of model or vendor for a monthly fee.
“We want to bring the connected home to a broader market today,” Eric Smith, CTO and founder of OliverIQ told Electronics360. “Connect the devices that consumers already have in their home and bring it together under one central app.”
OliverIQ said it doesn’t handle media as every homeowner has streaming services already and most of them come bundled with televisions. But controlling smart devices in a true safe and secure manner where all the devices are talking to each other is the strategy.
Smith said the goal is to sell its SHaaS to smart home platform vendors and telecom companies where the software service runs on the router, set-top boxes or hub.
Partners
While OliverIQ is not announcing its channel partners yet, it is partnering with national and global service providers that will add the SHaaS to their smart home device interoperability platforms.
The service will include:
- Product support
- Unlimited online and phone support
- In-home assistance
- Security system monitoring
Smith said the goal is to be in market volume later this year and working with partners.
Why SHaaS?
Currently, there are three options to construct a smart home. First is to hire a professional integrator with a custom system; second is to install a home security system with only a limited selection of other devices; and lastly, where the homeowner does it themselves.
The DIY sector is the largest but comes with the most problems. And while connected devices have an average lifespan of six to eight months, smart home decay — batteries dying, firmware updates — will inevitably make devices go offline regularly.
SHaaS allows these devices to be maintained with ongoing support so the functionality of these devices does not degrade over time. It also allows consumers to no longer need the cumbersome and sometimes difficult process of integrating multiple devices or managing ongoing maintenance, OliverIQ said.
It handles the:
- Initial setup
- Automation
- Software updates
- Troubleshooting
Matter
The Matter standard was first introduced in early 2022 by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) as a way to unify smart home devices under a universal protocol. The idea was to take all smart home devices —regardless of manufacturer — and allow control via one hub or smartphone app. That means devices from Google, Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Comcast or any other company will work together for the first time.
As OliverIQ is designed to be the central hub of a smart home, it will easily integrate with a wide range of technologies and protocols deployed in the smart home, Smith said.
“Our platform has been built to communicate across various standards, ensuring interoperability between devices that use Z-Wave, Zigbee, Matter, Wi-Fi, cloud connections, and more,” Smith said. “Our sophisticated software platform acts as a universal translator among these different technologies. This means that whether a device in your home uses Wi-Fi for its connectivity, Z-Wave or Zigbee for its low-power, mesh networking capabilities, or the newest Matter protocol for enhanced interoperability, OliverIQ can effectively communicate with and control it.”
Smith said cross-protocol capability is critical for the smart home where many devices from different manufacturers with different technologies work together. The goal is regardless of device to create a cohesive and automated home experience, something that Matter is looking to do as well.
