More than one-third (35%) of owners of smart homes operate their devices as part of an ecosystem, according to new smart device hub research from Parks Associates. These homeowners are using a smart hub or app, usually one that is voice controlled, to control connected devices throughout their homes.

Parks Associates added that 5% of U.S. broadband households use their smart speaker with voice assistant as a hub, compared to 3% who use a home security system and 2% who use an independent home control hub.

Smart Device Hub Research

Voice platforms are important among smart home device owners who are planning to buy more devices in the next year, the research firm added. Only about one-third of people who plan to have a smart home plan to use a voice method to control the devices they buy. Yet among households that already have devices and a hub, a substantial portion plan to use voice as a primary method of controlling their planned purchases.

“The majority of smart home owners still operate their products as stand-alone devices, but the rise of voice control, paired with the growth in number of connected devices in the home, has helped push more households toward centralized control,” said Dina Abdelrazik, Parks Associates research analyst, in a prepared statement. ” U.S. broadband households now have more than 10 connected devices on average, and the growing number in consumers’ lives intensifies the complexity in the smart home. Voice has emerged as a key interface to alleviate this complexity.”

She added: “A smartphone app may be sufficient for houses with just one device, but when people get their fourth or fifth product, using individual apps for each device creates friction for the end user. A hub or centralized unit of control becomes more and more appealing.”