Technology exists to make life easier. That’s the reason we have remote controls, cars, microwaves, cell phones and now even technology that makes other technology easier to use.

Case in point: the IVR system.

Although the automated call center was a great tech innovation, it’s still not as easy to use as it could be. After installing an IVR system, though, banking over the phone suddenly becomes a much less painful process.

Companies like Apple, Samsung and Nuance are applying the same principle seen in IVR solutions (using tech to simplify tech) to cars, smartphones and computers.

Up until now, though, these applications were pretty much limited to high-tech devices and electronics, but what about our household appliances?

iSpeech, a company with a long history of solving problems through speech-rec, has decided to give smart houses an intelligence upgrade.

According to a company press release, their new speech-rec software, cleverly named iSpeech Home, is “a voice solution for connected home device manufacturers, OEMs and service operators.”

So while this software wouldn’t do anything for my run-of-the-mill microwave, if you happen to live in a connected home or “smart house,” you’re going to be able to control your appliances just by talking to them.

Instead of flipping a light switch or hunting for the remote control, you could just say, “Turn off the lights in the living room,” or, “Watch ESPN,” and the house would do it. Not only that, but the house would be able to answer back when you ask questions like, “What’s the temperature in the house now?”

According to Engadget, smart homeowners can start looking for this tech as soon as 6-12 months from now.

In the press release, iSpeech COO Yaron Oren says, “We believe speech is the user interface of the future…Siri has done an amazing job of bringing this vision to life on the iPhone, and we are helping bring it to more applications, more platforms and new markets such as the connected home.”

It all comes from the basic idea behind IVR: find a simple solution for a complex problem.

Now all I need to do is upgrade my house for a smarter model…