Access...Denied.

August 6, 2013

I love the Control4 Touch Screens that are placed throughout my home; however, I realized I had a slight problem on my hands when my toddler figured out that by pressing some of the pretty little pictures on my portable touch screen, the lights would turn on and off and the TV channel would change. Enter the Control4 Access Agent.
 
The Control4 Access Agent is a great tool that gives me the ability to restrict access to certain areas of our home automation system. Even better, I have the ability to apply it to only the portable touch screen—since that’s the only one my little guy can reach— and make it so that he is unable to control anything that I don’t want him to. The Control4 Access Agent can be customized to restrict access to different controls or rooms in my house, but when it’s time for me to regain control over something that I’ve restricted access to, all I need to do is enter in my super secret code:  1234.
 
I’ve also found that restricting access comes in handy in my guest room. My visitors can experience the convenience of my Control4 system, but I can keep their access to the guest room only. With this kind of control, I don’t have to worry about them playing tricks on me by turning the lights on in my master bedroom or playing music in a different room in the middle of the night.  
 
This level of customization is not only perfect for home applications (like with my toddler or guests or babysitters) but also in a commercial setting as well. For example, in a sports bar you may want to lock a touch screen on the controls for a single TV and allow your patrons to change channels on their own. Or perhaps you want to restrict access to the thermostat so that you can optimize your energy consumption. If you have a second home that you rent out you can even limit the renters’ access to certain areas of your home automation system so they can’t change any of the settings that are personalized just to your liking.
 
There are limitless applications for the Control4 Access Agent and it is certainly a welcome feature to the Control4 Operating System.