I admit to having very strong opinions about home automation. For example, I do not consider a home automation system complete if it doesn’t include voice control. Not having voice control means having to use my phone or a smart home hub to access my devices. I don’t consider that very smart.

Not everyone in the smart home pool agrees with me. That’s fine. But let me explain why I take the position I do. Bear in mind that one of the primary advantages of installing smart home devices is convenience. Smart devices should be more convenient to use than their analogue counterparts.

Do Stuff With Your Voice

The principle of voice control is easily understood. In a phrase, you do stuff with your voice. Maybe you are in the kitchen making a batch of cookies. You are elbow deep in a bowl of dough when you suddenly realize you need to add chocolate chips to your shopping list. Without a voice-controlled home automation system, you either need to stop what you are doing, wash your hands, and write ‘chocolate chips’ on a piece of paper or take the risk that you will still remember you need to do it once you finish cooking.

A smart speaker makes your life so much easier. Just tell it to add chocolate chips to your running shopping list. You don’t even have to take your hands out of the bowl. That is the epitome of convenience.

With voice control, simple commands can:

• Turn lights on and off.
• Lock and unlock doors.
• Arm and disarm a security system.
• Bring up the latest news and weather.
• Activate your favorite playlist.

Virtually any smart home device compatible with your smart speaker can be controlled with voice commands. You can even program devices with your voice. Imagine speaking to a smart speaker to create a program for your new lighting system. Forget fiddling with your phone or a hub touchscreen. Instead, just talk to your smart speaker.

Compatibility Is the Big Issue

One of the big drawbacks of voice control is compatibility. In other words, not every smart home device on the market works with every smart speaker. Big names like Google and Amazon prefer to maintain their own ecosystems. That means you need to buy devices that fit into those ecosystems.

There are also nationwide providers, like Vivint Smart Home, whose pre-packaged home automation systems are compatible with popular smart speakers. Vivint supports Google Home, Amazon Echo, and others. Buying a pre-packaged system with a smart speaker included virtually guarantees that everything will work out-of-the-box.

It’s Not Perfect

I have heard people say they resist voice control because it doesn’t work so well. I understand the sentiment. Voice control with popular smart speakers does not always work as intended. No, the technology is not perfect. But one thing I have discovered from years of using text-to-speech technology is that the biggest struggle for most people is learning how to speak to their devices the right way. Master that skill and accuracy improves dramatically.

A finely tuned system can be controlled almost completely with voice commands. Need to adjust the thermostat? Just say the right command. Looking to turn on the patio lights but turn the kitchen lights off? One or two verbal commands do the trick.

Voice control takes home automation to entirely new heights in terms of convenience. In my opinion a home automation system isn’t truly complete until voice control is implemented. But that’s just me. You might be completely happy controlling your smart home devices with your phone. That is great. To each his own.