Surveillance cameras along with home and business CCTV have been with us for years but it’s only now that wireless data in the home has become ubiquitous enough for everyone who has a wireless router to be able to take advantage of Smart home and office security technology.
They’re a low cost, low barrier to entry security system, and are recognised widely by users, police and insurance companies as one of the best deterrents to burglars, vandals and housebreakers.
They work as a deterrent only when people know they’re there though. If nobody knows they are there the burglar will still break in, they’ll simply get a big surprise when their picture is known to the police and splashed around in the local papers.
Another drawback many cameras have is that at night they’re not always that effective. In poor light lower quality cameras struggle to create the best picture quality and even if they provide excellent quality images at night, if they can’t be seen, they’re not going to work as a deterrent and because their mere presence won’t put the unwitting intruder off.
Security lights on their own are a relatively ineffective deterrent. Lights coming on and off in the middle of the night thanks to every passer-by, fox, dog or cat wandering past will soon be ignored buy homeowners and neighbours alike. This means that any intruders can actually use the light to their advantage, scoping out which are the shadiest corners where nobody will be able to see, even when the security lights are on.
Which is why combining your security lighting with your Smart CCTV system produces an outcome which is better than the sum of its parts. The lights not only mean that the best images of people on your property can be captured, but the cameras themselves will be illuminated, warning the potential criminal that they can not only be seen, but the footage is being recorded and stored.
Adjust Security Sensors To Only Detect Motion You Need To Know About
Motion detection with most Smart security cameras is adjustable, meaning that the fox or cat won’t be activating your camera at all hours of the night. You can adjust the size of the trigger so that only something the size of a person will activate the cameras and lights, you can also section off parts of the sensor’s field of view, so that nobody passing on the street will set it off, but as soon as they pass your gate the lights come on and cameras rolling.
Not so long ago there were only a few manufacturers providing combined lighting and security cameras, meaning your choices were limited in terms of design, flexibility and price. However, with today’s Smart automated integration it’s possible to mix-and-match the best products at the best prices to suit your needs and your budget.
See And Speak To Whoever’s At Your Home Via CCTV In Real Time
Along with vision, most home CCTV security cameras now offer a mic and speaker too. This means that your security lighting and cameras operate almost like an intercom (if you install Smart locks as part of your security and access control then there’s no reason why it can’t be used for intercoms and access). Being able to talk to visitors, for whatever reason is a real game changer. No matter where you are in the home, at work, or abroad, you can speak to delivery agents, door-to-door salespeople, and anyone else who calls at your door or creeps around your garden, day or night.
Naturally the easiest way to integrate the lights, cameras and locks is to go to the same manufacturer or product range and install devices which all operate on the same app. However, your needs could differ and you might want different usability from each product. The great thing about Smart technology is that, in most cases, this offers no problems at all. You may need to install a few separate apps or create an If This Then That routine so that lights being triggered will switch the cameras on and vice versa (although if they’re both working properly this shouldn’t be an issue in the first place).
Choose The Right Security System For Your Home Situation
If your home is a busy one it’s quite likely that you will want outdoor lighting which is disconnected from the cameras. The kids playing football on the lawn after dark won’t necessarily appreciate having their games recorded by the CCTV while they would appreciate having the lights on. Busy homes probably wouldn’t find a great deal of use for a security lighting system which comes with an integrated siren either, however, quiet properties with carefully designed and tested security systems will find such an alarm system a great benefit.
Depending on the contract you sign or the product you buy you also get choices in how the footage the cameras capture is recorded and archived. Options include cloud recording, SD memory card, or network video recorder (NVR), a specialist digital recorder for multiple security cameras at the same time.
Dual Power Modes In Case Of Outage
It’s important to look out for products which will operate both on the mains electricity supply and via a battery. There are many circumstances where power can fail or a cable is accidentally or intentionally damaged with would interrupt or disable the camera and lighting entirely. Some cameras and security lights operate completely cable-free, alerting you whenever they need the batteries replacing and storing the footage from the cameras onto devices or memory cards locally or to the cloud.
Most cloud storage will keep the footage which the camera records for approximately a month. This is because if you haven’t had need to use the data by then it’s felt it is unlikely you will ever have need of it, and if you had needed it, you would have stored it somewhere permanent to use as evidence. Keeping footage for a comparatively short time also means that data storage is reduced, making it cheap, or even free for you. Pay a premium and you can buy longer term storage, or simply back everything up to your own storage device if you feel there could be a need for to keep it indefinitely.
When your CCTV camera and lights are triggered instead of sending for the police and taping the activity as an old security alarm system would do your Smart security cameras will film, the lights will come on, and you’ll be notified via a push message on your phone or computer that the devices have been activated. You’ll be able to view in real time as well as recording the person on your property, and as mentioned above, talk to them if you’ve invested in that kind of camera. This will all be possible from wherever you are, so if you’re at home and it’s late at night you may not want to go down into the garden to meet a stranger, but if it’s a delivery coming while you’re at work you can ask them to leave it somewhere safe or with a neighbour instead of leaving it on the doorstep. Equally, so long as you have internet while you’re poolside or at your ski resort, re poolside or at your ski resort, you can receive real-time updates and carry out conversations while you’re abroad on holiday. But if you want to relax while you’re away from home, but have the peace of mind someone has their eye on your home you can easily synch your security apps with a friend or neighbour’s laptop or phone.
If you’re interested in having home CCTV cameras, intruder alarms, intercoms or Smart door bells installed but don’t know which will be best for you, give Briant Communications a call on 01273 465377 or fill in our Contact Us page to arrange a visit. We’ll give you a no obligation cost estimate and estimate a timescale for the work to be carried out.