How to Set Up a Smart Home with SimpliSafe

SimpliSafe doesn't have very many smart home integrations, but there are a few things you can use with SimpliSafe to make your home a little smarter.

The SimpliSafe system works with three main smart home devices:

• Google Assistant
• Amazon Alexa
• August smart locks

If you integrate SimpliSafe with your Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa speaker, then you can use your voice to arm your home security system and check your system's status.

Unfortunately, you can't currently use Alexa or Google to disarm your security system or view your SimpliSafe camera livestream. But you can integrate SimpliSafe into other routines you set up with Alexa or Google.

Routines are an easy way to group together a bunch of different actions at once. For example, if you want Alexa to turn off your lights, turn on your outdoor security cameras, lock your front door, and arm your SimpliSafe system, then you could set up a routine to do all that together using a single command phrase such as, "Alexa, I'm going to work."

There's one big caveat to Alexa and Google routines with SimpliSafe though: you can't tell Alexa or Google to arm your SimpliSafe system as part of a routine. You can only have it activate the SimpliSafe skill, and then you have to tell it to arm the system.

It's not as smooth of an experience as it would be if you had a system that could work automatically with Alexa or Google, but it's still an easier way to accomplish multiple actions at once than it would be to say each one with voice commands or open each device's app to control it.

Your SimpliSafe system can sync with August smart locks so that when you arm your security system from the mobile app, keypad, or key fob, August locks your doors. Then, when you disarm your system, August can unlock your doors.

There are three August smart lock models that work with SimpliSafe:

• August Wi-Fi Smart Lock
• August Smart Lock Pro
• August Smart Lock

SimpliSafe doesn't have a ton of smart home commands, and there's a lot it can't do. It doesn't have Z-Wave or Zigbee, so you can't integrate third-party home security devices into your overall system. It also doesn't work with Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, or IFTTT.

If you're a smart home devotee and you want all your stuff to work together, then SimpliSafe probably isn't the best option for you. We recommend smart home whiz Abode, or Samsung SmartThings home security devices.

SimpliSafe isn't exactly a smart home champion, but it has a few integrations you can use to make your home a bit smarter. Integrate your SimpliSafe system with your Amazon Echo or Google Home to arm your system with your voice, or sync your SimpliSafe system with your August smart locks.