Delivering A More Efficient, Customizable Security System At Home
Posted on: 23 January 2018
The Age of Computing isn't done innovating yet; the same advances that lead to the home computer, home internet, and powerful smartphones in the palms of billions of hands has delivered a wealth of new products and services. Smart home automation is just one of many great features to come from the rapid development and combinations from modern computer technology, and your home security situation can improve with just a few changes. Here are a few details about smart home automation and home security to help you understand how simple, yet powerful your security upgrade could be.
Modern Security Camera Quality
Have you ever used a webcam, or seen them on sale in electronics stores? They've been relatively cheap for over a decade, and the quality follows the normal ebb and flow of video devices; it's expensive when a new quality level comes out, and then you can get the best quality from simple, bargain bin devices.
That concept is true with security cameras as well, but you need to keep an eye out for specific features. Although High Definition (HD) is the new normal, there are some features that are necessary to make your security camera do it's job.
First, what's the difference between a security camera and any other video camera? It has to be secure in multiple areas, meaning that an intruder shouldn't be able to just splice a few wires to deliver a fake video to your recorder with just a pair of pliers in a few minutes.
Second, what does HD mean? There's an entire industry behind that definition and different levels of quality, but the lowest quality needs to follow a standard called 720p. This is the lowest resolution of HD, which determines how many pixels are packed together to create an image. In this case, it's 1280×720, which some people may recognize as a measurement (1280 by 720).
You can use any old HD camera as a makeshift security camera, but to be safe against the more clever intruders, a professional installation of a hard-shelled camera with a shielded set of cables is best. Along with protective measures, you'll want a camera system that can record on modern storage devices (a USB storage drive or a Secure Digital/SD card) or at least connect to a computer that can record for you.
Automated Security Features
Although automated generally means doing certain tasks without human intervention, it also means remote access. Remote access is technically automation as well, since you're automatically establishing a connection to your security system while away from home instead of walking to a console and manually entering information.
With home security, the most popular automated feature is remote control apps. You can arm or disarm your security system while away from home, and receive alerts about the system. Alerts include not only intruder alarms or detected movement, but notifications of when you arm or disarm your system in case a hacker figures out the system.
There's a lot of paranoia about remote security, and while it's certainly a discussion to have, you can dodge most of the debate by just turning off remote access and removing the remote connection device. You can still use other automation techniques such as setting specific times to arm and disarm the system, or to record to a specific computer.
Contact a smart home automation professional to discuss other ways to customize your home security situation.
Share