Enter disclaimer text This post is part of the Xfinity Moms program and is brought to you by Comcast and Xfinity.
Xfinity Moms
I am a modern mom, so when Dana asked me to join her and four other mom bloggers from Pittsburgh at Comcast’s McCandless Crossing Xfinity store, it was an obvious YES. Sure, I had 500 other things going on that week, but I knew this event (about ways to connect your family with technology) was going to make it all worth it. And oh, did it.
As a Comcast customer, I thought I knew a lot about the services available. Apparently, I was living under a rock and not as modern as I thought because there was so much good information. Several of you have already asked me for more info in person, and for those of you who haven’t but are wondering, here are four awesome takeaways I got from meeting with the incredible team at Comcast.
Reason One: The X1 Platform is No Extra Fee
You’re sitting at home watching your local team win their home opener (YES!) and it’s fuzzy. What do you do? A) Call Customer Service. B) Don’t call because surely it will mean more money out of your pocket each month. The answer is A, my friends.
X1 is a cable TV platform that will revolutionize your TV watching experience. As I watched Greg Wells (of Comcast) demonstrate how to use it to find what you like to watch, connect with other shows that are similar in taste, or watch what is trending on Twitter, I KNEW that I had to go home and tell my husband we needed the upgrade. I sat there dreading the fee, but then Greg said it was no extra cost. I believed him, but had to see it for myself.
After the event, I headed to the customer service counter and walked out of the store with a brand new HD DVR box that was on X1 and a service order to send my old box back. Why? Because there was no extra fee (compared to what we were already paying // HD and DVR are each additional charges, as are extra boxes for other rooms).
With that new box, we’ve been watching more TV this weekend than we had in the past year and 5 months of being customers. Totally sounding lazy, but that’s to say that our cable was used for about 5 hours the last three days. I can’t think of the last time we actually watched cable. All those months of paying for it and not using it are gone.
What’s included that wow’ed me?
- Xfinity Remote with Voice Control – fun and easy way to search for networks, shows, and movies
- Specially Tailored-for-TV apps – our favorite is the weather app that you can pop open on top of whatever you are watching but still see the show you were on
- X1 DVR with cloud technology – this means you can stream recordings and live television on your devices.
Reason Two: Kids Zone
I basically melted into a pool of drool when the team showed off Kids Zone. My kids are IN LOVE which I am so thankful for. I’m able to give them a secure place to watch THEIR shows (no more pranksters and that guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea – because I can even block kid shows in Kids Zone!). They explore on their own and I have no worries. Well, until they learn my pin.
Greg Wells (of Comcast) calls it “Parental Controls on Steroids”.
Reason Three: Xfinity Home
My husband is super security focused, so I’m kind of surprised he hadn’t told me about how Comcast’s home security, control, and energy management platform could help us stay connected to home when we aren’t there. (You can find out more here: Xfinity Home)
Johnyne Hoyes was able to show us live camera feeds of her house while she was on the job telling us about how we could do the same. She knew her family were home from their daily outings and was able to turn the lights in the kitchen on and off right there in the store. Some call it “simple control at your fingertips” while others, like Johnyne, call it “Mommy’s always watching!”.
THIS makes me happy and makes me want to spend the extra dollars a month (and likely then save on energy and insurance). Not that I don’t trust my husband as a Stay At Home Dad to do all the things on our honey do list…but I can check in and make sure things are going just right OR we could have some extra comfort knowing that my parents aren’t trying to go up the stairs with both girls in their arms (a feat only twin parents should attempt). Even better? It’s secure. Comcast has AWESOME team members in their IT department and they’ve not been hacked.
Some fun things you can do with Xfinity Home:
- Turn on your coffee pot in the morning when you’re just about done getting dressed
- Set a rule to send a photo via text between 3 – 6 PM when your front door opens (no teens sneaking friends in after school!)
- Adjust the temperate of your home when you forget because you’re rushing out the door to catch a flight to vacation and forgot to turn the AC down
- Watch the kids in the backyard while you work on dinner in the kitchen
If you aren’t ready to jump all in yet – we’re not quite ready – take a look at these tips to keep your home internet network safe (from Comcast’s Voices Blog).
Reason Four: FREE Apps to Stay Connected on the Go
Admittedly, my phone is like the 7th member of our family. It goes everywhere I go, because as a modern mom I am always connected. With the suite of eight apps from Xfinity, this is just going to get even better.
Xfinity customers can add Xfinity Apps on their mobile devices to share photos and videos securely, enjoy their favorite shows while away from home, monitor home activity (see above about Xfinity Home), and more.
One of my favorite free apps, Xfinity WiFi, was highlighted by Comcast’s Zac Gault. He showed us a map of Pittsburgh and were all the free WiFi hotspots in the area were. There are so many free WiFi spots throughout our city that you can start saving on your cellular data, too. “Get all the hotspots out there,” Zac said.
So to summarize, being an Xfinity Mom that’s in the know about all of the cool things Comcast is bringing to Pittsburgh is going to help me stay connected with my home and family, save money, and keep me relaxed while I enjoy my favorite shows. Sounds like exactly what this busy mom of four needs, right?
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If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, head over to any of the local stores and check out the services and packages I’ve mentioned. You can talk about your current services, like I did with Mike, and get exactly what you need. (Mike was even able to help me save when he realized we hadn’t been using a rented modem because we had bought our own. We said goodbye to that piece of equipment and saved money by doing so.)
Greg and I are so happy we decided to say goodbye to our old Digital Economy basic box and say hello to X1! (In the spirit of honesty – we had a small mix-up with the device I grabbed at the store not being compatible with our service area, but after an AWESOME experience with a technician installation on Friday – less than 24 hours after I called in – we had beautiful picture and fully functioning service! Comcast Customer Service win!!!)
