Alarmed & Ready
Your home-security options are better and more affordable than ever, writes Harvey Grennan.
Home security.
Home security has come a long way since the days when you’d fit a deadlock on the front door and ensure your windows had keyed locks. Today, you can install home-security systems with cameras that allow you to see what is going on in any room in the house on your mobile phone or tablet, wherever you are in the world. If there’s a break-in or fire, you will instantly be sent an alert.
Even better, such systems can be remarkably affordable. DIY kits can be bought for a few hundred dollars. Naturally, it costs more if you want professional installation and all the bells and whistles. You can monitor the system yourself through an app on your smartphone, or engage a security firm to do it for you 24/7 and notify the police or fire brigade if there’s a problem.
A basic home-security system might be just a couple of cameras and a control unit, which records video on an SD card or to the Cloud and connects to your home wi-fi for monitoring via your mobile device. To this can be added more indoor or outdoor cameras, door and window sensors, motion detectors and alarms.
Fancier systems might offer a touch-screen control panel, smart locks, video doorbells, garage-door openers, lights that turn on when a motion sensor is activated and smoke detection. Some of the latest highdefinition cameras can detect the difference between a passing car, an animal and a person – or even a family member – so that they don’t shoot off an alert unnecessarily.
The latest home-security technology is voice activation. Using Google Home or Apple’s Siri, it is now possible to operate your home-security and homeautomation features by voice command. Say “open the door” and that’s what happens. This can even be done remotely to let in a tradesperson when you are not home, and you can see what they are doing on your mobile device. Amazon’s Alexa voice activation will join the fray in Australia this year.
“The big shift in home security is to self-monitoring so you can take immediate action,” says Jonathan Krywicki of Urbanintel (urbanintel.com. au). “Reviewing recorded video after the event does not stop a break-in. If you are monitoring your home in real time you can tell the offender you are recording them and have called the police. Some cameras will turn on floodlights and alarms. If you get a smoke alert you can call the fire brigade straightaway, rather than returning home to a charred wreck. It’s all about making people informed and in control.”
According to insurer IAG, thieves are most likely to strike when someone is away from the home, and the most common entry point for a burglar is through the front door or an open window. The company says it’s easy to make sure your home is well protected – and review your insurance policy coverage regularly, especially after a major purchase.