Crestron has added lighting, audio, and configurator updates through the release of its Crestron Home OS 4.1 smart home system.

The leading audiovisual control systems manufacturer Crestron introduced support for third-party lighting ecosystem integrations, the DM-BNAX-4ZSA-50 amplifier, several DM NAX Audio Edge devices, and the DM-NAX-2XLRI-1G Wall Plate, which provides a connection to pro audio and high-end components for work calls.

The myCrestron portal, a cloud-based management system, was also updated to include thermostat and temperature sensors, occupancy and motion sensor support, and more.

Jason Oster, Product Manager of Residential Platform at Crestron Electronics, commented on the new Crestron Home OS 4.1:

These updates are integral to the platform’s success. And we’ve been developing a bunch of new audio-over-IP solutions that we’re integrating into the platform with 4.1.”

Speaking about the latest audio edge upgrades, Oster said: “These are great new ways to bring ‘entertainment everywhere’ to any installation”.”

Working from Home in 2024

Where have we got to in terms of demand for work-from-home opportunities? Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, perceptions have changed dramatically.

Before the pandemic, only 4.7 percent of UK employees were working from home, according to WISERD.

Over a year into the pandemic, however, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the figure had grown to 46.6 percent, with 86 percent of these attributing their change in the workplace to the pandemic.

In 2022, following the pandemic, ONS found the numbers had dropped slightly to one-quarter of employees working from home at least part-time, with 13 percent working from home all year round.

The ‘return to office’ movement has slowed considerably. As of June last year, ONS research shows that 29 percent of workers are working from home some of the time, while 10 percent are working from home all year round. That is still more than double the number of full-time workers who work from home compared to before the pandemic.

Smarter Home, Smarter Work

Combining the hybrid and remote worker figures shows a considerable market for home working solutions, which doesn’t just apply to communication and collaboration technologies like the Crestron Home platform configurator—solutions that Crestron will be very familiar with as it doubles up as a video conferencing technology provider—because by improving work-from-home conditions, productivity can be increased as well.

According to a Cardiff University study into the impacts of working in a smart home office, comfort through factors like lighting and temperature directly correlate with worker productivity and well-being:

“Analysis showed that work and work environment factors correlate with productivity in a smart home-office and wellbeing, except for perceived task technology, which is important only in relation to wellbeing.

The positive effect of service relevance on both productivity and wellbeing suggests that the capability of smart home technologies to create comfortable conditions while working at home is important for ensuring good performance at work and improving the quality of life.”

Remote workers are evidently not just viewed as a bonus demographic or product development afterthought, as technologies are still being designed for the sole benefit of remote and hybrid workers.

Last month, for example, Yealink released the MVC S40 videoconferencing device,  which includes advanced AI technology to help remote participants feel more included in hybrid meetings.



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