Ah yes, another round of “what if” speculation on smart grids. Change the temperature of your house, get the hot tub going, turn lights on or off, preheat the oven, all remotely. Granted it would be nicer to come home when the lights are on, the water’s warm and the oven’s ready, indeed.

The smart grid system is a necessary ingredient of such remote home automation scenarios, which require the digitally-regulated electricity network, which can send electricity to consumers through digitally-controlled communications technology, according to a good blog post from Plum Voice.

The real tech geek Nirvana comes in the fact that smart grids could integrate with interactive voice response systems, Plum Voice says, “in order to allow users to remotely regulate their appliances in order to maximize energy saving capabilities, remotely from anywhere via a simple inbound phone call.” With an IVR system you can call in and specify which appliance you wanted to control with no Internet connection or smart phone needed.

Sounds... useful, maybe, but I’d sure hate to be the beta tester for that one. You think you’ve told your television to turn on for Bones, come home and your freezer’s turned itself off. Just a few bugs in the system, yes.

Recently, TMC (News - Alert) had the news that HomeSeer Technologies unveiled its new HomeTroller-SE home automation controller.

The new controller is a compact, powerful gateway device that offers remote home control using the latest Apple (News - Alert) and Android smart phones, tablet PCs and other devices:

“Although small in stature, HomeTroller-SE is big on features. As with other HomeTroller models, HomeTroller-SE features an all solid-state design that supports Z-Wave and many other industry standard home automation technologies. Unlike other competing gateway units, HomeTroller-SE supports voice control and can issue alerts, announcements and reminders by email, text message or by voice (text to speech). Integration interfaces are available for use with lighting, climate control, security, telephone, audio-video and energy management hardware.”

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.