Offering peace of mind and downright convenience, here are seven things modern CCTV affords the home automation .
A scenario or two
Imagine you’re engrossed in the latest Netflix offering or watching the final innings of the cricket when the doorbell interrupts your viewing. Do you:
a) step away and answer the door to an intrepid door-to-door saleswoman, or
b) check your mobile phone to see who’s exactly at the door?
CCTV allows for B, ensuring you never answer the door unwittingly or miss the final moments of that nail-biting match.
You’re knee-deep in a networking meeting when your phone gives off an alert. Someone’s at your house and they’re looking to come in. With the smart home and modern CCTV, you can quickly gauge who’s a-knocking, and if it’s you mother with a parcel, grant her access and a welcome entry.
While on holidays in France, you receive a text message on your phone. Your Sydney property has a security breach.
A quick access of the CCTV shows there is indeed an intruder and he’s attempting to gain access through your garage. You immediately alert emergency services, capture every image on your iPhone, and let the smart home activate flood lighting to deter him from the task.
These are just some of the scenarios where CCTV can be employed, and the good news is it’s more accessible than ever before. Here’s why…
Affordable
As with all technology, CCTV has become significantly cheaper than it was only a few years ago.
Now cameras are incorporated into almost everything, making the technology easier and far more affordable to come by. Not only that, but with remote monitoring and storage capability in the Cloud, much of the expense of using an external security company has also been eliminated.
Ease of installation
Not so long ago, utilising CCTV involved employing security monitoring services and wiring and installing expensive cameras, but with Wi-Fi, the Internet of Things, and the Cloud, that’s no longer the case. Now, using CCTV can be as simple as putting up a camera, hooking it up to your network, and monitoring it from your tablet or even mobile phone.
Gone are the days where CCTV involved extensive cabling and wiring. Wireless technology and smaller components mean CCTV is now easier to install and more discreet than ever before.
Aesthetic appeal
Those smaller components mean CCTV is no longer an unsightly addition to your welcoming area or a glaring watchful eye that monitors your home. Not only can it be discreet, it can also be appealing, acting as a tech savvy item that’s expected to be found in any modern home.
Scalability
With affordability comes additional access, meaning it’s not just the front door you have covered but every blind spot or relevant room of your home.
The cost effectiveness and ease of installation, combined with wireless technology, mean your CCTV is now scalable without expensive additions or reconfigurations.
Automatic activation
One of the major benefits of smart home CCTV is that it can automatically activate when someone attends your front door or when a threat is sensed. Rather than operating constantly, it only springs to life when sensors detect an incident.
Remote monitoring
Meanwhile, if sensors detect someone is approaching your home and they activate the CCTV, you can be alerted and monitor the situation, even from afar. You can see the postman from Shanghai, watch the cleaner arrive while you’re in Hong Kong, or greet your sister at the door via intercom and CCTV while you’re a world away in Fiji.
Smart capability
While CCTV allows you the ability to remotely monitor your home or ascertain from within who’s at the door, combined with further technology, it can also enable you to take action.
If it’s an expected guest at the front door, you can let them in. If it’s the electricity man to read the meter you can open the front gate, but if it’s suspicious activity you can alert emergency services, or fully illuminate the house.
Meanwhile, CCTV also serves a very real purpose within the house. If your smoke alarm senses a fire, you can activate CCTV to gauge what’s occurring and then take further action, employing spinklers, shutting down devices and utilising emergency lighting.