Smart Home Devices and Systems to Top 7 Million Support Requests in 2015

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A new report from Parks Associates finds that smart home devices will prompt over 7 million support requests this year, with adoption at 16% of U.S. broadband households and nearly 40% planning to buy a smart home product in the next 12 months. By 2019, the number of support requests will reach nearly 11 million.

"Rising adoption of smart home devices is prompting a parallel increase in support requests. Connected devices are tackling many new use cases, including home security, healthcare, and controls alongside entertainment, creating a new role in the Internet of Things for companies that can ensure seamless connectivity while preserving security," said Patrice Samuels, Research Analyst at Parks Associates. "Nearly 60% of U.S. broadband households have privacy concerns about using connected devices. The smart home won't succeed without consumer confidence, and support services go a long way to providing that confidence."

Parks Associates' Tech Support: Meeting IoT Demands reports 39% of smart home device owners experience problems with their smart home devices and 10% experience more than one problem per device. Samuels recommends support providers invest in new tools including data analytics and knowledge management solutions that help to identify and address the top issues for emerging devices more efficiently.

"Providers with the proper solutions in place can identify top call drivers as well as common conflicts between new devices and then develop strategies that proactively address these issues before they negatively impact the customer experience," Samuels said. "Even though 60% of consumers now install traditional connected devices on their own, the potential for conflict and interoperability challenges increases as more devices enter the connected home. The support relationship that providers must have with their customers is changing dramatically."

Parks Associates' Tech Support: Meeting IoT Demands highlights the impact of IoT on broadband households and the connected consumer, including the added complexities, increases in bandwidth demands, and new security and privacy concerns. According to the report, manufacturers and service providers must design security into their connected products and communicate device security to consumers in marketing messages in order to combat consumer apprehension and perceived security risks.

The research is available for purchase. More information is available at www.parksassociates.com. To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific research data, please contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.

The company's expertise includes digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, support services, consumer apps, advanced advertising, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security.

Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webcasts, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, and Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer. www.parksassociates.com