Alarm.com unveils connected car solution

TYSONS, Va.—Alarm.com is connecting your car and home through its integrated security platform to help people stay informed about their vehicle’s status and unlock more home automation capabilities.

“We’re excited to extend the technology and benefits of Alarm.com to include cars,” said Alarm.com Chief Product Officer Dan Kerzner. “Connected Car, like the rest of our offering, helps people monitor and manage the things they care about most on a unified platform with a seamless user experience. Adding cars is another step forward in our ongoing commitment to helping our partners improve the lives and safety of their customers.”

Alarm.com Connected Car, developed in collaboration with vehicle telematics solutions pioneer CalAmp (Nasdaq: CAMP), offers all the benefits of a vehicle monitoring solution plus the unique benefit of deep integration with the Alarm.com smart home security system. Vehicle insights, notifications and home automation features are all accessible through one interface – the Alarm.com mobile app.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Alarm.com,” said CalAmp President and CEO Jeff Gardner. “By integrating CalAmp’s innovative telematics technology, Alarm.com customers now have seamless access to real-time information that will improve driver safety, enhance vehicle security and allow customers to stay on top of vehicle maintenance needs.”

Compatible with most cars manufactured since 1996, the Connected Car device plugs into a vehicle’s OBD-II port for easy self-installation, reducing the need for costly truck rolls to add the device. Connected Car uses a dedicated cellular connection and has a battery backup, so it communicates with the home system and end user, even when the vehicle’s engine is off. With CalAmp’s telematics technology integrated with the solution, users can create rules so they receive Alarm.com notifications about specific vehicle details or activity, such as:

• Diagnostics and potential repairs (check engine light on, low battery or low fuel)
• Driving Behavior (sudden acceleration, hard braking, excessive speeding)
• Unexpected Movement (vehicle moves while the engine is off, indicating it may have been towed, crashed into, or stolen)

Vehicles with Connected Car installed can be added to a user’s existing Alarm.com-powered smart home security system to trigger automation rules and reminders using the vehicle’s location. For example, lights turn on and the temperature adjusts as a driver arrives home. Or, alerts are sent to a driver’s mobile device if they leave without closing the garage door or locking the front door of their home.

“I love having my home and car connected through one system and the consistency of Connected Car,” said Taylor Proudfit, COO at Titan Alarm in Phoenix, Ariz. “It's always on and works really well with the Z-Wave rules that I created to turn on the lights when my car pulls into the driveway. This takes security technology to a whole different level.”

Connected Car is available through authorized Alarm.com service providers in the U.S. and Canada as a standalone solution or add-on to an existing Alarm.com-powered system. Visit https://alarm.com/resources/connected-car to learn more about Connected Car and click ‘Get Started’ to find service providers in your area.