Smart Home Tips for Back To School

As a parent, back-to-school is usually one of the best times of the year. It's likely that 2020 is watering down your excitement.

As well as the usual back-to-school worries, you're navigating new concerns. You might be managing virtual learning at home, or a hybrid school schedule. You might be working from home with more to do, less time to do it, and little wiggle room if anyone's schedule changes.

Prepare to adapt. As you do, GoKonnect Smart Home Ireland is here to help.

Home security technology has come a long way, and not just for emergencies. A modern home security system with smart home technology can help you stay connected to what's happening, manage sudden changes to your daily routine, and even eliminate a few work-from-home distractions.

Here's how to use your system to manage this year's back-to-school challenges.

If your kids are leaving or arriving home on their own this year, adding a smart lock to your home security system is a worthwhile investment.

Better Home security: Kids are forgetful, particularly on busy mornings. With a smart lock, if they forget to lock up as they leave, you can use your GoKonnect Smart Home app to fix it.

After-school flexibility: If a sudden schedule change means that you need a sitter or neighbour to watch your kids at home, you can let them in without having to be there.

No keys required: A smart lock lets you give your family numerical user codes instead of distributing keys. If anyone forgets their code, you can unlock the door for them. Should anyone share their code accidentally—the digital equivalent of a missing door key—you can delete it and create a different one in seconds.

Your smart home security system can keep you in the know on your kids' whereabouts, no matter where you are. Take a few minutes to set up these GoKonnect Smart Home alerts this week.

User code alert: Get a notification when a specific user code is used to unlock the door. If you've given everyone their own code, you'll be able to know exactly who's coming and going.

No-show alert: This alert does the opposite, letting you know when someone hasn't used their code by a specified time. If your kids are running late, or forget to tell you they're visiting a friend after school, this alert is a useful prompt for you to check-in.

Video alerts: Seeing is believing. A video clip from an outdoor, indoor or doorbell camera, triggered by a user code, gives you extra confirmation that your kids are home safe. Plus... you can see if they brought friends with them too.

If your kids are learning virtually this fall, keeping everyone on track is going to be a major challenge. That includes you, too—it's important to stay focused.

If you're already getting up from your desk every 10 minutes to help with a math question or IT issue, you'll appreciate an indoor WiFi camera with two-way voice.

Positioned within reach of your kids, this type of camera doubles as an intercom for your home classroom. If anyone needs help, they can reach you on your GoKonnect Smart Home app by pushing the camera's Talk button, and even show you a question they're stuck with. Meanwhile, you'll be able to check in on your home classroom discreetly during Zoom calls.

It won't take much home-schooling to understand what every teacher knows: distractions are the enemy. A knock on the door will disrupt any classroom within seconds, including yours. That's where your GoKonnect powered doorbell camera comes in.

Instead of knocking, a visitor need only press the doorbell (which you can silence) to reach you at your desk. You'll be able to see and talk to the visitor through your Alarm.com app instead of going to the door. Package delivery? Just ask the driver to leave it on the step: your kids can collect it on their next break