Twenty-Five Percent of U.S. Broadband Households With Smart Home Devices Experience Problems Monthly

DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Aug 18, 2014) - Internet of Things research from Parks Associates finds that roughly 25% of U.S. broadband households with smart home devices experience problems monthly. As a result, interest in tech support services among smart home device owners is strong -- 57% of consumers with an IP security camera and 58% of consumers with a smart electronic door lock or thermostat would value tech support services for these solutions.

The research firm will highlight key findings of its research and analyze the impact of the IoT on the smart home and tech support markets during the complimentary webcast "Internet of Things: Impact on Support Services & Solutions," co-hosted with Support.com on Wednesday, August 20 at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET).

"Smart home packages currently hold broad appeal among U.S. consumers, and last week, Parks Associates announced nearly 4% of U.S. households will have a smart home controller by the end of 2014, with an estimated increase to nearly 6% by 2015," said Patrice Samuels, Research Analyst, Parks Associates, who will lead the webcast with Amy Millard, VP Marketing, Support.com. "Support providers must be equipped to handle the growing demand for on-boarding and ongoing enablement services to ensure that consumers have optimal experiences with their smart home products and services."

Parks Associates' report Evolution of Smart Home and the Internet of Things shows 64% of all smart devices currently in households operate as part of a security or home controls system. Smart devices include motorized door controls, lighting controls, networked security camera, and programmable thermostats, among other devices.

"The dramatic shift in technology driven by the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) increases product and call complexity. Technology providers must continuously optimize their service interactions, and we've seen that automating agent processes is a key step towards that optimization. I'm very excited and honored to present alongside Patrice Samuels, as we talk about the impact of the IoT and Connected Home on Tech Support Services," said Amy Millard, VP Marketing, Support.com, Inc.

The Parks Associates and Support.com webcast addresses the following topics:

• The impact of support services on the adoption and growth of smart home solutions.
• Evolution of technical support processes and tools necessary to maintain support efficiency.
• Opportunities for technical support providers created by new security and privacy concerns.

Patrice Samuels studies digital home technical support services across global markets at Parks Associates, with a focus on market trends, business models, and provider strategies. Patrice is on Twitter at @PatriceatParks. Amy Millard leads corporate marketing, product marketing, and demand generation for Support.com.

Webcast registration is complimentary, and all registrants will receive presentation materials with a link to the recording of the one-hour webinar. Register at http://www.parksassociates.com/support-internetofthings, and to request a meeting, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com or 720-987-6614.

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 new media, digital entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security. http://www.parksassociates.com