The In-Depth Guide to Garage Door Control

When it comes to securing your home, you probably immediately think of the basics—your front door, windows, and back door. But what about the garage door?

The garage is an often-overlooked part of your home that, by design, provides an easy way into your home. But it’s also easy to overlook. Whether you’re rushing out the door to get somewhere in time, have kids coming and going while playing outside, or just working around the yard, it’s easy to forget to close the garage door, which can make your home and the contents of your garage more vulnerable.

With Garage Door Control from Vivint, you won’t have to wonder if you left the garage door open. This smart garage door opener notifies you if your door is open and lets you open and close the door—and more—right from an app on your smartphone.

Read on to find out how it works.

What is a smart garage door opener?

The Smart Garage Door Controller is a small device that pairs with your existing garage door opener, allowing you to control your garage door remotely, receive notifications on your phone if your door is left open, and pair it with other devices within your smart home.

How does it work?

The device is installed on the wall in your garage, where it communicates wirelessly with your existing garage door opener. From there, you can use the garage door opener app (which is part of your Smart Home app) or your Smart Hub to open, close, or check the status of your garage door.

As part of a complete Vivint system, your Garage Door Controller also integrates with other smart home features. For example, you can pair it with your smart speaker for hands-free control or your Car Guard for automatic closing as you leave.

Why you need it

Take a look at a few of the reasons the Garage Door Controller a must for your home:

• Greater security. The Garage Door Controller adds an additional layer of security and protection for your home, helping limit unwanted access to your garage and home. Homes with attached garages have an entrance into the home, and if you’re like most people, it’s a door that often goes unlocked. (Because who wants to fumble for keys when you have an armful of groceries or kids?) Your garage also houses some pretty valuable property, like tools, bikes, and vehicles. When your garage door is left open for extended periods and your car isn’t inside, you’re essentially giving intruders easy access to your home and garage.
• Convenience. Because of the security concerns that come with leaving the garage open, you probably wouldn’t hesitate to turn around or even come home from work to close your door if you left it open. With Garage Door Controller, you don’t need to—you’ll receive a notification if the door is open, and you can simply close it right from your home. Integration with other smart home features also make it convenient to close your door with your voice or set it to close on a schedule.
• Protection for packages. If you’re expecting a delivery or don’t want to leave a recently-delivered package on the porch, but you also don’t want to give a neighbor or delivery driver access to your front door, you can simply open your garage door for them and ask them to place your packages inside, without having to give them the code to your garage or front door.

What you can do with Garage Door Controller

The Garage Door Controller boasts a number of features that make your garage a safer, more secure place:

Control from anywhere

It’s happened to most people—you’re in a rush to leave and forget to close your garage door. But when you realize that, you’re miles away. With your Garage Door Controller, you don’t have to choose between turning back around or leaving your garage open and home vulnerable to thieves.

Garage Door Control allows you to open and close your garage door right from your smartphone, no matter where you are.

Get notified if you leave your door open

Here’s another common scenario—you leave for work or running errands and come home to a wide open garage door. It can be unnerving going into your garage and house knowing anyone could have been coming and going.

When it comes to your garage door, Garage Door Control keeps you in the know. If your garage door is left open, you’ll get a notification on your phone. From there, you can close it immediately.

Control and check status from a single app

With the smart home app, your smartphone becomes your garage door opener. You’ll use the same smart home app you use to manage your smart home to control your garage door. From the app, you can close or open the garage door, create custom notifications, and see at a glance the status of your garage door.

Integration with your Vivint Smart Home

Because the controller operates via WiFi, it can pair with other compatible devices within your home. You can expand the benefits of your Garage Door Controller when you integrate it with your Vivint Smart Home.

Here are a few ways it pairs with your smart home to give you even greater control and convenience at home:

• Hands-free control. It’s a familiar scenario—you’re coming home and your hands are full of groceries, luggage, or herding your kids into the house. You can pair your controller with your Amazon Echo or Google Home for voice control. A simple command closes your garage door for you as you head into the house, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to come back and close it.
• Automatic closing. If you have Vivint Car Guard, forgetting to close your garage door becomes a thing of the past. You can pair it with your Garage Door Controller with Vivint Car Guard, so the garage door closes automatically as soon as you pull out of the garage.
• Security system integration. You can also integrate your garage door with your home security system, so the alarm will sound if the garage door is opened when your system is armed.

Get a system with a smarter garage door today

To see for yourself how the Garage Door Controller makes your home safer and more convenient, contact our Smart Home Pros today for a free consultation.