Using Geofencing for Smart Home: Step 7

[Part of a series helping IT SMEs make Smart Home devices part of their business]

Using voice activation to tell your Smart Home what to do is great. But what if you didn't need to tell it and it just ‘knew'? What if it could read your mind and did what you wanted?

Sounds nuts but it can – (depending on how you look at it)!

Sure, your Smart Home isn't telepathic but there's a whole angle on how it works I've not yet covered. An angle that also means you can track how much time you're spending on site visits. Like to find out more? Read on…

Route-finder

Your phone's got tabs on you. Whether it's through GPS, Wi-Fi positioning or network tracking it knows where you are. Meaning you've a Sat-Nav in your pocket - great for the car or on foot.

But as it lets you know where you are, it lets others know that too. So breakdown and emergency services can find you if needs be. Nice to know if you're in trouble.

And if it can share your location with others, it can share theirs back. So it's no surprise there are apps to help you track your kids or elderly relatives. That's helpful, a load off your mind.

Far from snooping on you, your phone's capable of clever, useful stuff. Brilliant! But what's it got to do with Smart Home?

Hi, I'm home!

It's nice when you're not the first home. The mail's been brought in. The lights switched on. The windows opened. The curtains closed. The heating or air-con's on. The TV… And there's someone there to talk to. They've opened everything up and are there to greet you.

But, if you're first in things are completely different. There's no-one to talk to and you've to do everything. And that's a bit of a lonely experience. Perhaps scary too.

Don't fear Smart Home can keep you company. Well, not actually, but it can switch stuff on and off for you. But what about the companionship? Well, if you've got an Echo try saying "Alexa, I'm home" next time you walk in. See what she says back.

Geo-fencing...

...is a technology that defines virtual boundaries around real-world geographies. It makes it possible to link software with a location so it triggers when a mobile device enters or leaves it.

If that sounds useful it is. Because IFTTT has services that do that - trigger when you enter or exit a location. Can you see where this is going? If you use that trigger to do something, like change a switch, you're cooking. Well, of course, that's exactly what you can do. Meaning you can create Applets to automatically switch-on anything you like. So, as if by magic, as you unlock the door every evening, the lights, TV, air-con, whatever are already working. What's more, even Alexa's there to welcome you.

Site Visits

You could use what I've spoken about for when you arrive at work. Instead of a dark shop or office, the lights are on and the kettle's about to boil.

As useful as this is there's a whole different way to use location services that'll help you even more. You can use them to make a note of where you are at any time.

Just how is that useful?

Well, if you visit customers you're spending a lot of time traveling and working away. Now, I'm not suggesting this wastes time, not at all. But are you sure these visits are worth what you think? That all the time and effort you put in pays back? You see, if you believe they're worth it, you'll perceive them so.

Because you want site visits to pay-off, because you think they're the right thing to do for your customers and therefore your business, cognitive bias will convince you they do.

When if you knew what they really cost you, you'd see what you charge doesn't make them worth much at all...

Track Your Journey

IFTTT's got a nifty Applet. One you can use to get a grip on what's actually going on. The Applet's called "Track Your Journey" and that's exactly what it does. While the set up's below I‘ve described how it works here.

When you trigger "Track Your Journey" it logs data to a Google Drive sheet. You do that by tapping a widget button added to your phone. Each time you do date, time and location gets added to a new row.

Just tap it 4 times each journey and you've all the data you'll need. Once when you're leaving and once when you arrive. Once when you say good-bye and once when you get back.

Destination unknown

I've all but finished with my series "Smart Home, Office and Workplace". I've covered off everything from setting-up Smart products and services to using them in ways that'll help your business.

As well as using Smart products and services to improve security and count footfall, you can now track the time you spend on site visits. Amazing stuff when you think about it.

But there's one post left on the topic before I finish, one more issue to cover off before I'm done. It's nothing to do with Smart products and services but it's something that has a big impact on them. What am I talking about? Security. It's another great business opportunity for you – another chance to sell. Like to find out more? See you for the next post.

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Setting up "Track Your Journey"

While this Applet is a pre-set app on IFTTT it does need some configuration. Below are some instructions on what to do. Note: you need a Google account as part of set up as the Applet writes data into a sheet on your google drive

• Login to your IFTTT account on your phone
• Select ‘Search' and type in "google sheet" [this is different from everything we've done before as we're not creating a new Applet but using an existing others have set-up for our benefit]
• IFTTT presents you with a page of related Applets. Choose "google sheets"
• Scroll through to find "Track Your Journey" and tap on it
• Click "Turn on" and it takes you to a screen "Configure"
• Select whether you want to receive notifications when the Applet runs [if you do, you get a message every time you use the Applet]
• Enter the name for the sheet in which data will be logged. The default name is "Spots along the way". Suggest "Log of site visits" might be better?
• Enter the name for the drive folder path. Leave blank to accept the default. IFTTT will create a folder "IFTTT" in your drive
• Tap "Save"
• A pop up appears "This Applet requires a widget to run". Tap "Go"
• You now need to add "Button widget" the detail on how you do this will vary depending whether you're Android or OS
• You've now set up the Applet. Just remember to tap the button at the start and end of each journey's leg