Surveillance

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To the best of my knowledge, the neighborhood (community) has not been one of high vandalism, theft or burglary. Sadly, I am sure it happens almost anywhere, however, it is not the reason we felt the need for a surveillance system. I installed it because at one point, years back one of my neighbors was not one we felt comfortable about. And we figured this would be the best way to keep an eye on things.

Fortunately, that neighbor has long since moved on and without incident, but we have kept the system in place as it really is a good deterrent. Currently, I have 11 cameras about the interior and exterior of the house. Three (3) of them are placed to monitor the cats play room so when away on vacation we can usually see them resting and know they are safe at home.

The DVR and monitor are in the office, and thus all the camera wires feed to the DVR. This was installed years before wireless systems were available and affordable. I would be happy to leave the system in place and provide the necessary training on it. It is web accessible so that one can monitor the system from anywhere.

Having a home surveillance system turned out to be a bit more complicated than a commercial system. This is because you live here, 24/7, and you don’t want it recording all the time or any time there is motion like in a commercial environment. So, configuring the system to work in a ‘home’ environment has been a challenge. I took advantage of ‘home automation’ to make the system work more like an alarm system. That when home, its off and when away turns on. While some of the cameras are on 24/7, like the driveway and front walk so that all motion is recorded, the remaining cameras are idle unless enabled. The system can then then be programmed to send email alerts if a camera is triggered by motion. This is one of the amenities that requires some demonstration and explanation.