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How to create smart home automation actions and scenes in your Birmingham home

June 03, 2025
Man using a home security app on his smartphone

Home security is more than alarms and wires. Today, your advanced system centers on smart home automation and pre-set scenes. By using your command panel or phone app, you can implement custom actions that improve your security and convenience. Discover how to design your own in just a few easy steps. 

What is possible with smart home automation?

Modern smart homes permit you to do so much, like checking video streams or adjusting HVAC settings directly from your smartphone. But that’s really just the beginning. Smart home automation allows different parts of your home to work together. 

Here are several examples of what you could program:

  • Disarm your alarm when a door unlocks with a PIN
  • Unlock your main entrance when a fire alarm or CO detector activates
  • Re-lock doors a certain amount of time after they are opened
  • Configure interior cameras to record if a door opens or motion sensor triggers
  • Arm and disarm your system at designated moments

Your options are virtually limitless. You can even configure a multifaceted end-of-day scene that dims lights, activates your system, and locks doors simultaneously. The top home security systems in Birmingham make it effortless with easy-to-use smartphone apps.

Configuring home automation actions in your Birmingham home

Customizing smart home automation is simpler than you think, even if you are apprehensive about new technology. Smartphone apps like Vivint’s let you add convenience to your life in merely a few moments. Vivint’s app also comes pre-programmed with many optional automation actions you can simply toggle on.  

Here’s a brief rundown of how to customize a new action, also referred to as a rule:

  1. Access the Vivint app on your mobile device.
  2. Press the menu icon in the top left of your screen and select “Smart Actions.”
  3. Touch the “+” sign to initiate a new action.
  4. Define the action by picking what you wish to occur. For instance, you might wish to turn on a light, arm your system, or start a video recording. You’ll find many options.
  5. Next, determine what will trigger the action. To illustrate, you may want a light to illuminate when a motion detector triggers or a surveillance camera to record when a front door lock activates. You can also schedule an action simply based on the hour.
  6. The last step is to verify what you’ve done, save the new rule, and toggle it on to enable it.

If it sounds difficult, it’s far from it. Due to the app's usability, you can virtually just tap what you want and toggle rules on or off. If you would like a video camera to record when a door lock activates, you will select which camera to use from a list. You'll also pick the door if there are more than one choices. The rule may be programmed to run all day or only for certain times.

Find the best in smart home automation with a new Vivint security system

Take some of life’s everyday responsibilities off your to-do list and let your new Vivint smart home manage them for you! By using smart home automation, you’ll enjoy a new level of convenience while getting a better defense for your loved ones. Design your smart home in Birmingham today by placing a call to (205) 973-4125 and speaking to a Vivint specialist.