The Latest in Wireless Security

With “crime at TEN YEAR high with huge increases in robbery, burglary and knife crime*” now is not the time to be complacent about securing your home or business.

Today we have the highest national crime rates in a decade and that’s according to the Office for National Statistics. As such home owners are looking for the latest in wireless security to protect their home.

But what should you have installed to protect your loved ones and everything you own?

Apps to control your security

Most people now expect an App with their electrical products and why should security be any different?

Well, now it isn’t and Apps are available for intruder and cameras systems, CCTV and door viewers.

All can be controlled by your smart phone, tablet or lap top from anywhere in the world!

 

Wireless intruder systems with cameras

Wireless IP cameras have been around for a while now hooking up with your Wi-Fi to send the images either direct to your smart phone or a Network Video Recorder (NVR) or both.

Unless cabled using ether net over ring main wireless IP cameras all require an electrical power source. This sometimes dictates where the camera can and cannot be installed as well as having clunky fuse spurs with each camera around your home.

As these use Wi-Fi it will really depend on how good a coverage your Wi-Fi has and this can also determine camera location, if at all!

Wireless technology is always advancing and now battery powered genuinely wireless cameras are available with a range of up to one mile from the camera to the panel.

These cameras also have an intruder detector built in as standard (CAM/PIR) meaning only one device needs to be installed instead of two devices. Once the detector detects an intruder the panel sounder or outside sirens are activated similar to a burglar alarm.

Then, however, the images are sent direct to your smart phone providing visual verification of the event. The short video clip is deliberately not in HD so the video event clip can be sent down the line as fast as possible.

Alternatively, a sim card can be used in the panel sending the images as your smart phone would when not on a Wi-Fi network.

The wireless CAM/PIR comes complete with an App so you can arm and disarm your system from anywhere in the world!

A very useful feature if you want to check your children have armed the system when you are at work or if you have guests staying.

You can also request the video clip from one or all your cameras live real time.

Going to ruin kids’ impromptu parties when you go out and they should be doing their homework!

 

Wireless CCTV

High Definition (HD) is traditionally 720 or 1080-pixel depth across the height of your screen.

When sending the signal by Wi-Fi this is a large constant streaming signal.

So most installers are still using Cat 5 or Cat 6 cabling to enable a higher picture quality such as two or four mega-pixel (MP) cameras.

Since 4k (2,160 pixel-depth) is still out of most home owner pockets

Better than-HD with 1,520 pixel depth seems to be the best value for money versus picture quality when having a wired CCTV system installed.

All the systems come with Apps that allow real time viewing anytime from anywhere! Some Apps are better than others allowing playback, adjustments etc.

Companies using the Video over Power (VOP) electrical adaptors are able to now install up to 4 wireless cameras to almost 3k TV quality using 4 MP cameras with 2,592 pixel-width.

As the latest quality CCTV is not the prerogative of the home building contractors’, wireless CCTV to this quality can be retro installed to existing properties without the need to run cables anywhere.

 

Wired picture quality without the wires is here!

 

Wireless Door Viewers

People always like to know who is at their door.

How great would it be just to look at your phone and know who is there without opening your front door?

Well now you can!

Door viewing camera call points are available with Apps enabling you to view who is at your door from anywhere in the world as well as talk/listen and in some cases, open the door.

The traditional fixed to the wall viewing screen is not really needed anymore and becomes something more like traditional choice.

Burglars who may be checking out your house think you’re still at home.

Answer as though you’re there –  even if you’re not. Your home is never empty.

Never miss a delivery again.

Life becomes so much easier if you’re not as mobile as you used to be – particularly if you live in a flat.

No more embarrassing conversations on the step with cold callers.

Your home becomes even more of your castle…..feel more secure 24/7.

Some of these camera call points hook up with your Wi-Fi and so only need mounting to the outside of your front door as it has a rechargeable battery. These do need removing every so often and charging though.

Other Wi-Fi door viewing systems use the mains power near your front door sending images using Wi-Fi to send the images to the screen and onto your smartphone.

Another clever system is using Video Over Power (VOP) to send the images. The camera call point on the outside of your front door is powered using an electrical socket from the hallway sending the images down the power lines.

The HD quality of VOP is really good enabling you to obtain wired picture quality without the wires.

 

Fog systems

It’s a very simple philosophy that if they can’t see it they can’t steal it.

Fog systems have been used commercially in retail, garages and warehouses for some time. As the intruder breaks in the alarm activates, in turn setting off the fog system, which then fills the room with a pea soup fog. Just the fog system activating is enough to deter the intruder and many clips of CCTV recordings illustrate this.

However, although the fog is harmless enough what if a user were to activate their system by accident (which they will). The fog canisters can be replaced but security companies have traditionally stayed away with fog systems from the residential market for this “self-activation” reason.

Genuinely wireless cameras that can be retro-installed into any home now make it possible for a monitoring operator to remote activate the fog system once an intruder has been confirmed.

This breakthrough of hooking up fog systems with a CMS (Central Monitoring Station) and visual verification has meant that home owners are now going that step further with fog to prevent loss and damage to their home.