AT&T announces plans to offer all-digital home security
AT&T is moving beyond cellphone and Internet service and getting into home security.
The wireless giant on Monday announced plans for a new portfolio of all-digital, IP-based home security monitoring services. Called AT&T Digital Life, the services will give users “unparalleled control and security” of their homes using any Web-enabled device such as PCs, tablets and smartphones regardless of wireless carrier.
The company said it planned to begin trials of the service in Atlanta and Dallas this summer.
The remote monitoring and automation portfolio will feature Web-based access to automation, energy and water controls, as well as professionally monitored security services.
“Checking on the welfare of loved ones, protecting your home from intruders, fire or water damage, unlocking a door for the repairman or changing the temperature setting on the thermostat – and doing it from wherever you happen to be, here or abroad – can be as easy as if you were right at home,” the company said in a release announcing the news.
The company said connected devices such as window and door sensors, door locks and thermostats would be wirelessly enabled to connect to the IP-based AT&T Digital Life platform inside the home.
Kevin Petersen, senior vice president of Digital Life, said the service “is smart, simple and customer-centric -- freeing homeowners to do the things they want to do without compromising on the things they need to do to care for family and home.”
AT&T Digital Life will also provide professional installation of the platform, sensors and other devices; AT&T owned and operated 24/7 security monitoring centers; and the ability to manage and control services from the U.S. or while traveling abroad.
Consumers can purchase the service in AT&T’s distribution channels, including AT&T company-owned retail stores, and the service will also be made available for purchase on att.com when available commercially.
AT&T joins several other companies that are getting into home security. Recently Comcast and Time Warner Cable have said they want to use their broadband service to protect consumers’ possessions with their own home-security systems.
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