Jan. 20, 2022 - As Crestron's Chase Bouchard likes to point out, "Crestron Home has seen no less than 11 updates in the last 20 months." Bouchard — whose role as a "solutions engineer" means he's part adviser/troubleshooter, part evangelist — stresses that a great many of these updates are rooted in dealer feedback: "From developing the right icon to adding third-party devices, it's the input from people in the field that help us build the best customer experience."

That philosophy has informed every update, and Crestron Home OS 3.11 is no exception. This iteration includes support for the following products:

• Crestron's new Battery-Powered Shades — No power? No problem. For the deets on these shades (spoiler alert: changing the batteries is incredibly simple in this design), here's a pertinent webinar.
• Crestron's new Universal Wireless Gateway for SG (Sub GHz), infiNET EX® wireless, and Extended Range (ER) wireless devices (CEN-GW1) — "A single CEN-GW1 gateway creates a wireless network of Crestron remotes, keypads, lighting dimmers, motorized shades, thermostats, door locks, and other devices to communicate with a Crestron control system."
• Crestron's new Power Controllers (PC-350V-18 and PC-350V-12) — With features such as remote power cycling, higher surge protection in both the 12 and 18-outlet models, and a space-saving 0RU form factor, these controller/conditioners are getting rave reviews from our dealer beta-testers.
• The Basalte Auro Motion Detector with Cresnet® connectivity— This third-party device is a bit of a change-up for Basalte: Instead of a lush finish, the design aesthetic here is near-invisibility.
• Crestron's new DM NAX™ Preamplifier (DM-NAX-4ZSP) — This four-zone streaming preamplifier (shipping in February) is a great solution when the amp's already in the rack — another tool in the kit, as it were.
• Amazon-connected speakers for the DM NAX eight-zone streaming amplifier (DM-NAX-8ZSA) — Voice control via Alexa® voice control in every zone makes for an even better user experience.

Interface Update 

There's an update to the interface, too — OS 3.11 also brings the following user experience updates:

• The ability to globally hide rooms from the user interfaces, to control who can have access to certain areas of the home,
• Added support for the Home Chooser List in iOS® and Android™ operating systems, and,
• Support for the Device Health Dashboard that works in sync with the Crestron PC-350V-18 and PC-350V-12 Power Controllers.

Bouchard notes that now's the time to get involved if a dealer wants to help with the development of Crestron Home 3.12: "I'd urge anyone who has the inclination to be a part of Crestron's home evolution. We give you the opportunity to test new features and provide feedback. We'll give you a preview — a month to six weeks in advance — so that your team can test that next batch of features. You'll be giving us input, and you'll get advanced experience when it comes to deployment."