According to JD Power integration with smart home technologies is key for home security, with such functionality not only meeting the needs of customers, but further adding to convenience.

The analyst's 2018 Home Security Satisfaction Study-- a survey of 1983 owners of professionally installed and monitored home/residential security systems-- points out overall customer satisfaction is at 834 out of 1000, a 3 point increase over 2017. It also makes home security the 4th highest-scoring product industry in all service industries JD Power evaluated in 2018.

"Sleek touch-screen control panels and the ability to operate the system through mobile devices have become the two most popular home security system interfaces for consumers and they are playing a key role in driving higher levels of customer satisfaction because they simplify the use of the system," the analyst says. "When compared with other connected services that come into the home-- such as cable TV, telephone and utilities-- home security is far and away the leader in customer satisfaction, indicating that this industry understands the needs of consumers and is evolving quickly to address changing preferences."

British smart home company Hive announces a first outdoor security camera-- the Hive View Outdoor, a camera similar to the indoor Hive View featuring weatherproof housing, night vision and 2-way audio.

The View Outdoor camera attaches magnetically to a mount, and is easily adjustable according to customer preferences. The mount requires access to mains power, something Hive says allows for more powerful built-in wifi hardware. Customers can either install the camera themselves or hire the services of a professional installer, and they can lock it to the mains cable to prevent theft.

Nortek Security & Control (NSC) adds Smart Areas partitioning to the 2GIG GC3 security panel-- making it the first self-contained wireless security system with zone partitioning, at least according to the company.

Partitioning involves the creation of zone groups in a home or building security system allowing users to arm some sections of the property while leaving other areas disarmed. The result is greater personalisation and functionality for the end user,  with a one-touch solution providing access to any partition with appropriate autorisation.

Amazon adds further capabilities to Echo devices with the introduction of 3 APIs-- Doorbell Event Source, Motion Sensor and Alexa.RTCSession Controller, allowing developers to connect the devices to security cameras and doorbells.

Initially available in the US as part of the Amazon Smart Home Skill API, such features allow 3rd party smart home apps to trigger Alexa actions through doorbell presses and motion alarms, among others. The Doorbell Event Source API plays announcement across all Echo devices, while Motion Sensor reports the state of an endpoint whenever motion is noticed within an area.