Patent ID: 8413204

Claim:
A method of interacting with a home automation system by a set-top box device coupled to an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, the method comprising: sending, by the set-top box device, a plurality of graphical user interfaces received from the set-top box device to a display device coupled to the set-top box device; receiving, by the set-top box device via the plurality of graphical user interfaces displayed on the display device, user settings for each device of a plurality of devices in the home automation system, wherein the user settings include setting data specifying at least one triggering event and responses to each of the at least one triggering event; transmitting, by the set-top box device, via a residential gateway coupled to the set-top box device, the user settings to each device in the home automation system to store the user settings in each device; receiving by the set-top box device, data from at least one device of the plurality of devices in the home automation system via the residential gateway, wherein the home automation system monitors a plurality of environmental events, wherein the data received by the set-top box device indicates that the at least one triggering event has been detected at one of the plurality of devices in the home automation system based on the user settings, wherein the plurality of devices in the home automation system comprise an environmental hazard detector, a thermometer, a heating ventilation, an air-conditioning system, a baby monitoring system including a web camera, or a security system, and wherein the plurality of environmental events comprise a hazard being detected, a desired indoor temperature, a noise characteristic or any combination thereof; sending, by the set-top box device to the display device, an alert indicating that the at least one triggering event has been detected at one of the plurality of devices based on the user settings, wherein the alert generates a graphical user interface including selectable indicators of options to respond to the alert, and receiving user input via the selectable indicators of options in the graphical user interface to control additional processing of the at least one triggering event; in response to the at least one triggering event, identifying by the set-top box device, based on the user settings, at least one device associated with the environmental hazard detector, the thermometer, the heating ventilation, the air conditioning system, the baby monitoring system, or the security system, for responding to the at least one triggering event, wherein the at least one device is different from the display device; and sending, by the set-top box device based on the user settings and without user input, output data to the home automation system, the output data including an instruction to alter an operation of the at least one device identified by the set-top box device.