By Dan Cash CCTV • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • • • 0 Comments

Does CCTV Deter Burglars? People Ask And Facebook Answers

I was looking through Facebook and a question arose in one of the groups we follow here at Briant Communications: “So, does CCTV deter burglars, or just make them think you must have expensive stuff?” but because it’s a sensible, helpful group and not full of sarcastic, unhelpful know-it-alls, many of the answers were quite enlightening.

A lot of people have taken up the use of CCTV to protect their property and businesses from intruders and thieves and have first hand experience of the benefits that can be had from simply keeping a 24 hour eye on your home.

Naturally there are some who elaborate upon apocryphal, anecdotal stories of gangs of burglars breaking into garages with angle grinders and look-outs armed with baseball bats guarding the thieves and keeping the homeowners at bay as they steal high performance motorcycles from the property. However, many commenters make remarkably salient points. Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Design • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • 0 Comments

Lights, Cameras, ACTION! How To Ensure Your Security Lighting And CCTV Work In Unison

CCTV camera, smart CCTVSurveillance 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. Read more

By Dan Cash CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • WiFi • • • 0 Comments

HACKED! Improve Your Smart Home Security And Stop This From Happening To You

Buying Smart Home CCTV Or Security Systems For Christmas Could Come With An Unpleasant Surprise If You Don’t Take Precautions

You may have seen an article taken from WMC, a television station in the States, which has been shared on social media, of a hacker infiltrating the home camera which the LeMay family put into the bedroom of their three daughters. WMC Action News 5 presenter Jessica Holley says that the family had only recently installed the security camera system when all kinds of strange things started happening. Those strange occurrences  included voices and music coming through the speaker attached to the camera. The hacker claims to be 8 year old Alyssa’s “best friend” and “Santa Clause” after playing Tiny Tim’s version of Tiptoe Through The Tulips.

home camera, cctv, home security, online security, smart, smart home, home automation, hackers, hacked
Image and footage courtesy of WMC Action News 5

After running a couple of segments of footage where the clearly distressed child is alarmed by the voice of the hacker, which it’s claimed also instruct her to carry out destructive behaviour (not shown) Holley follows up by informing us that Alyssa’s parents hadn’t carried out all the manufacturer’s recommended steps needed to fully secure the device against possible hacking and security breaches. Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • General Information • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • • • 0 Comments

Chip Shop Uses Smart Security Systems To Catch A Criminal

break in, shop, security, smart security, police, crime prevention,Shopkeepers have always had to have an eye to their own security. While any homeowner can simply shut their doors to strangers, it’s retailers and service providers who have to keep their doors open to all comers in order to make their living. We’ve all seen the hand-written crime prevention signs saying “no more than 2 schoolchildren in the shop at one time” and felt the indignation of the young. But the store holder clearly felt that insulting and alienating what is probably a large part of their passing trade, by implying that they couldn’t be trusted if not closely observed, was worth it.

Today we’re much more familiar and comfortable with CCTV cameras than we were in the past. We understand that observation protects us, notwithstanding some people’s paranoia about mass surveillance and government intrusion. With police cuts there are fewer police on the beat, and city centres are overstretched at night over the weekend, so CCTV monitoring is in place to deploy police where they are needed the most, breaking up disturbances and preventing assaults more efficiently than patrolling the streets, despite this having the notional effect that the police are now paramilitary, while ‘community policing’ has gone by the wayside. Read more

By Dan Cash CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • WiFi • • • 0 Comments

Home Security While You’re Enjoying A Vacation

girl phone beach internet accessSummer’s here and as August turns to September it’s the perfect time to jet away to the Mediterranean, Europe or America for a holiday and return in time to pack the kids off to school.

But who is keeping their eye on your home while you’re away?

If it’s your neighbours, that’s fine. Neighbourhood Watch schemes are a great way for a community to look out for one another, working together to make our towns and cities safer places.

However, if it’s not the nice neighbours but the bad, that’s not such good news.

Burglars have been found to typically stay within a few miles of their own homes, and typically strike during the hours of daylight.

The reasons for these habits among housebreakers are logical when you think about it. While the expression has it “a fox doesn’t make a mess on its own doorstep” a burglar will. It’s not that they lack the common sense not to steal from their neighbours because they might be seen using the stolen goods. They have no intention of keeping any of their booty anyway. It will be sold for cash or drugs, and at a fraction of what you paid for it. Read more

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Briant Security Systems

Briant Security Systems are here to help you keep your home & business a safe, comfortable place to live or work.

As part of Briant Communications, our engineers and installers have accrued many years’ experience fitting a range of electronic and entertainment systems throughout the south east of England, and those electronics often included CCTV, intruder alarms and fire safety equipment.

Briant Security Systems primarily take advantage of the latest Smart Home technology in order to be able to give you an easier to manage, controllable, integrated home security system which is far superior to the traditional ‘box on the wall’ deterrent we’re currently used to seeing. Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Security • • • 0 Comments

46% Of A Burglar Alarm Not Switched On When The Burglars Came Back

burglar alarms, cctv systemsWhat’s The Point Of Having A Burglar Alarm If It’s Not Switched On?

Almost half of homeowners who have security systems fitted admitted that they were switched off when their homes were broken into. A poorly set up and calibrated burglar alarm could well go off when it’s not wanted, leading to disturbing your neighbours, upsetting your sleep, and becoming a public nuisance if it happens a lot. But switching it off isn’t the answer.

It may be that people have visible alarm units on their walls and a sticker in the window and rely on this deterrent to keep the intruders away. But studies show that dummy burglar alarms, and those which aren’t switched on every time the house is left empty, or the residents are asleep, are ineffective at keeping burglars at bay compared with an active alarm system.

And while it’s reassuring to think that burglaries only happen in affluent areas or in shops in the middle of the night, statistics don’t support this at all. In fact 2/3 burglaries take place in residential properties and they’re not as random as might seem. Most burglars live within a 2 mile radius of their victims and know the area, your neighbour’s habits and even your own patterns of behaviour. That’s not to say you’re being actively stalked, but a professional housebreaker will have a number of target properties on their mind and will watch the street to see who leaves when, and if anyone returns during the day. They’ll watch for the post too, to ensure they’re not making a get-away just as they try to deliver your gas bill. Read more

By Dan Cash CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Cinema • Home Entertainment • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • WiFi • • • • 0 Comments

Unlimited Data Means Students And Renters Can Get All The Benefits Of The Smart Home Revolution Too

smart devices, connected devicesA short while ago Three.co.uk started offering a HomeFi wireless home router which delivers unlimited 4G to 32 devices for £22.00 per month. I had to check that was correct, as compared to other providers unlimited internet access for more than 30 phones, laptops, smart speakers, CCTV and alarms seems phenomenally good value. I was assured by the sales assistant that yes, it really was unlimited and, as he signed me up he checked all the ‘unlimited’ boxes on the form, which made me phenomenally happy!

Now, this package isn’t designed for a small business running their entire internet service via this one little Huawei device. You could try to connect 32 computers all streaming movies all day all month, but it’s only a little box which works on a GSM network so the connection just isn’t built for for that kind of data usage, so ‘unlimited’ actually means ‘unlimited depending on the speed and quality of the phone reception you’re receiving’. But if you’re not able to consume huge amounts of data due to the limitations of the phone network, what is it good for? Read more

By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Do It Yourself • Home Security • Older People • Tips and Tricks • • • 0 Comments

How To Get The Best Out Of Your Smart Home Security By Adding Additional Alarms

There’s very little difference between  Smart alarm systems and CCTV security as far as installation and effect is concerned. Either will alert you to the fact that there is an emergency on your property or in your house. In the past a security system linked to a burglar alarm would have meant installing cable, sensors and a big ugly box on the outside of your home which would scream and flash whenever the alarm was triggered. Today installation is nothing like as hard thanks to Smart Home Security systems, while coverage and adaptability are greatly improved.

Your Smart Home Alarm differs from your Smart Home Security only insomuch as your alarm system will let you and the intruder know audibly when someone triggers the security system you have protecting your property. Smart security will alert you to break-ins, intruders on your land, take video footage of them and, depending on your set-up, let emergency services know. However, there’s no reason why the two systems can’t be synchronised so that anything that happens in your home late at night or while you’re away will trigger an alert to let you, your burglar, and the police know.

So, while your old fashioned alarm system had a panel by the front door which you would need to arm whenever you left the house and input your disarming code when you came home your smart alarm can be controlled from a panel on the wall, a Smart Home hub, or from your smartphone via an app. With geofencing, technology which lets your smart home know where you are by tracking your phone, you can automatically arm the alarm every time you leave the house and disarm it when you come home again without needing to touch the control panel. Friends, family, carers or other trusted parties can be added to your approved list so they can let themselves in in case of emergency without setting off the alarm.
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By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Design • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • • 0 Comments

How To Use Your Smart CCTV Security Cameras To Monitor Your Car

Image courtesy of MaxPixel

Everyone hates car alarms going off in the middle of the night. Unfortunately we’re so used to car alarms going off for no good reason most neighbours will be far more likely to call to complain about the nuisance than they are to call the police to report a crime. So how can you use your smart home tech to alert you if your car parked outside your home, or business vehicle is broken into and stolen while parked overnight?

There are a number of different devices which can be installed in your car or van that will alert you to when it is moving, and its current location. They can immobilize your vehicle if you don’t have the right key and no transponder is present, or they can simply make a hell of a lot of noise. Read more