Mara Shapiro has three kids and two dogs, works in social media, spends a lot of time on Twitter and writes about parenting teens and life in general all over the Internet. Parenting is her way of life and she’s always happy when she finds new solutions to make her life and parenting easier.

So when we invited Mara to try out Rogers Smart Home Monitoring for a year, she jumped at the opportunity. She thought it would help her manage her home better, little did she know it would become another tool in her parenting kit. See how by reading about Mara’s experience:

How is this system different from your previous old-fashioned alarm system?

Rogers Smart Home Monitoring is completely different than what we had before, which was a simple alarm system. The equipment has been completely updated. Before, we had old keypads, door contacts and motion sensors. Now, we can manage our system from our smartphones, the tablet Touchpad, our computer and still use the old keypad. Our old system didn’t integrate our thermostat. It’s so much easier to manage the temperatures in the house now. We didn’t have the cameras either, and those are a fantastic way to see what’s happening at the house. I could go on, from the rules that are so easy to set up using the web portal, to our ability to see when doors were opened. As I said, everything is different, updated, and as state-of-the art as it gets.

What is your favorite feature?

That’s really hard to say. I absolutely love being able to manage my home from my smartphone, see what’s on the cameras, and even control the lamp in my living room. It’s sort of fun to turn the light on and off remotely, and hopefully freak everyone at home out.  So, I guess the flexibility of using Smart Home Monitoring from wherever we are is my favorite feature. However, the cameras are pretty cool too. And, setting the thermostat rules from my smartphone instead of fooling around with the buttons and arrows? Oh, who am I kidding? I love everything!

Did anything surprise you about the system?

How easy it is to use surprised me most. In the past, I was not a fan of alarm systems. I was always afraid I would set it off, or put in the wrong code or something. Rogers Smart Home Monitoring is so easy to use and with the Touchpad and smartphone app, so easy to turn on. Setting the rules with the web portal is really simple as well. Overall, anyone with a bit of tech knowledge or training would really be able to enjoy and manage what would normally be a complicated system.

Do you feel that Smart Home Monitoring simplifies your daily life?

Smart Home Monitoring definitely simplifies my daily life. Using the web portal, I can set up everything, from my thermostat to my lamp, to how often the cameras take pictures. I can see when the kids get home from school and what the dogs are doing downstairs. I like feeling secure, knowing that monitoring the status of my house is just a click away. As long as I have my smartphone with me, I can manage my system. I also like knowing that my kids and dogs are secure when we aren’t home. They are getting to an age where we could leave them alone at home for a few days when we travel, and with this system we can do that comfortably.

How does Smart Home Monitoring help you keep your family in check?

We can see when the kids are coming into the house and when they are leaving. For example, my son is supposed to be home by 1 am when he’s out with the car. We can easily check when the front door was opened. That in itself is worth a lot, because it’s important to let the teenagers know we’re keeping an eye out for them.  We’ve also got sensors on the garage doors, so I anticipate using that to make sure that the kids haven’t left the garage open when they take their bikes. It’s a great way to keep our eye on the kids without nagging them or asking too many questions.

Mara illustrates how we designed an easy-to-use system that lets you set “Rules” in a breeze that adapt to your life. You can ask the lights to come up at sunset anytime of the year, and you can automate your sensors, thermostat and lights together so that when you leave the house, the heat goes down and the lights are turned off. This is followed by a quick SMS text alert re-assuring you that it’s all happened.

For more information about Rogers Smart Home Monitoring, go to www.Rogers.com/smarthome.

How do you think Rogers Smart Home Monitoring could help you make your life easier?

Elise is a regular Redboard contributor.