What to Do if Your Smart Home Technology Breaks During Covid-19 Self-Isolation
In the brief period between March 9th and 22nd, 2020, 27% of businesses declared a reduction in staffing levels to help them survive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, while 46% had urged their staff to work from home.
In other words, we’re all spending a lot more time at home, and that means relying on our technology.
For some, that might just be to while away the hours enjoying home entertainment while waiting for things to go back to normal. For others, that technology may be the one thing helping them to stay home and stay safe while still working and looking after the family.
Here at Pro Install AV, our home automation maintenance specialists are working from home to protect our customers and employees and thus can’t make it out to carry out essential hardware repairs.
So, what do you do if your smart home technology breaks while you’re based at home, self-isolating, and can’t get anyone to help?
Here, our experts offer our top tips:
Staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic and worried about how you’ll manage if your essential technology breaks? Our experts offer some simple-yet-effective solutions to help you get back up and running.
1. Prioritise
Hopefully, you only have to deal with one aspect of your smart home letting you down at this critical time, but if you find everything is going wrong simultaneously, it pays to determine what’s a priority right now and what isn’t.
If you have home security, for example, then that should always remain your top priority to ensure you and your loved ones are safe.
After that, it all comes down to your individual needs.
If you’re relying on home entertainment to get you through this dark time, you might decide that getting your home cinema fixed is more important than tending to the IoT features in your smart fridge, for example.
2. Check for Simple Fixes
A lot of issues are simply down to a dodgy cable that’s been damaged over the years but that can be replaced, while others are down to an overheated system that just needs time to cool down.
With that in mind, power everything down and check your cabling, while also looking for other simple solutions.
Before you start to panic, keep in mind that often what seems like huge problems are caused by relatively minor things that can be easy to fix.
3. Check for Vital Software Updates
If it’s been a while since you updated your smart home software that might have a lot to do with any system problems you’re having. With that in mind, check the manufacturer’s website or contact them via social media to see if you’ve missed out on any critical updates that may solve your problems.
4. Power Down to Reset Everything
Switch everything off for at least a few hours, if not longer, and that might just give the system everything it needs to cool down, reset itself, and start working again.
The old “turn it off and on again” routine may be a cliche, but it really can be effective, particularly for systems that have been in use for a long period of time without a break.
5. Consider Remote Support
Smart home support teams aren’t making home visits right now due to the lockdown restrictions, but at Pro Install AV, we’re still doing our part to help our customers maintain their physical and mental wellbeing at home by offering remote support for their smart home system.
To find out more about our remote support options, contact Pro Install AV online today or call us now on +44(0)20 7096 0078.
