Shore Sound & Cinema
Expertise: Home Integration

With more than two decades in the home automation/smart home industry, Shore Sound & Cinema has steadily built a reputation for excellence. That experience proved crucial when the pandemic arrived and forced so many businesses to pivot their operations as the company was able to find ways to keep its employees safe while still being able to provide their customers with the highest level of service. And with folks spending increased amounts of time at home and looking to upgrade their living spaces, Shore Sound & Cinema has been quite busy. "COVID-19 had a few twists and turns to throw at us, but we learned and adapted. And both 2020 and 2021 became two of our busiest years ever," says Neil Wiessler, president.

We spoke with Wiessler about how things have changed in recent years and what clients are looking for these days when it comes to outfitting their homes with the latest smart technology and to find out more about the latest trends in the industry.

What's been the biggest demand from customers since the onset of the pandemic?
Rock solid internet and wi-fi (both indoors and outdoors) became the biggest demand for us. Many of our client's internet technologies had become dated and outmoded, and with more and more people under one roof, the demands for high performance networking became critical. Clients began running their businesses remotely and their children became virtual students and began learning remotely. Most networks needed to be upgraded outright or replaced to support multiple Zoom calls, large file transfers and secure virtual private networks to connect securely to their offices.

How can people turn their backyard into an extension of the inside of the home?
The backyard has become the new outdoor living room. Televisions are amazing additions to any outdoor entertainment space and outdoor speakers that blend into the garden or patio will get your party rocking. Best of all, all of these can be controlled seamlessly in the palm of your hand from your smart phone Easy peasy!

With multi-generational homes come multi-generational challenges. Fortunately, music doesn't need to be one of those challenges. All of the systems we design today support multiple zones (areas) of music, completely independent of one another.

What kind of outdoor lighting trends are popular these days?
Setting the mood ... whether it be for work, relaxation or entertaining, a whole house lighting system lets you control your lighting environment with the touch of a button. Smart lighting saves energy throughout the year and a properly designed system eliminates wall clutter by reducing a bank of light switches and dimmers into a single, elegant keypad. Shore Sound & Cinema is a Lutron-certified HomeWorks Dealer, and our state-of-the-art showroom is the only Lutron Ketra-certified showroom in southern New Jersey. With Lutron Ketra Smart LED lighting and our skillsets, anything is possible.

Are motorized shades gaining in popularity?
They are the ultimate wow factor for elegance, style, energy saving and protection from the sun's damaging rays. Lutron's Intelligent Shades are the quietest shades in the industry and the way they move in unison as they move up and down is something stunning to witness.

Is it true that you also provide remote access support? How beneficial is that for clients?
With all this technology, there sometimes comes the need for support. Like our clients adapting to Zoom calls and virtual meetings, we adapted to remote access support and troubleshooting. With OvrC [pronounced Over See] and Parasol, these two technologies allow us to remotely diagnose and repair issues, sometimes before the clients even knew they had a problem.

Shore Sound & Cinema
(609) 645-1300
Northfield, N.J.
S2Cinema.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 22, Issue 11 (Fall 2022). 
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