Every once in a while, you come across a technical innovation so clearly beneficial to the average person that it makes you realize how amazing technology can really be. You might find yourself feeling this way about home security mobile apps.
For much less money than you expect, you can invest in a webcam system that is easily monitored through your smartphone so you can keep track of what’s happening in your home wherever you may be.
Not only that, smartphones can control your security system, arm and disarm, and advise you of things that are happening outside your door when you’re potentially thousands of miles away. Here’s a look at this new world.
1. The Basic Changes
The most basic use you can get out of a mobile app for home security is that you can monitor your system. Many major security companies have been introducing their own individual apps for the past few years, which let you access the status of your system, arm and disarm it, control the temperature and the lights, as well as access feeds on your security cameras.
If something goes wrong, you can opt to be notified by text or email. No longer do you have to turn around and drive home if you forgot to set the alarm system before a vacation. And if you’re worried the pets are going to freeze? You can lower the thermostat right from your car. It’s a huge difference from traditional systems.
2. Camera Systems
Video surveillance systems used to be a costly investment, but with the rise of the internet, webcams have become cheaper and easier to install. Many people can now set up their own system around the house, and they connect with their smartphones to view things like houseplants or pets when they’re away from home.
Smartphone apps are also great for nanny cams and baby monitoring. If you want to know who left the fridge open or whether the cat’s been going in the baby’s room? All you have to do is rewind the footage. You can program your app to alert you when someone enters or leaves your home, and you can connect to streaming video the moment it happens.
3. The Risks
The world of home security from your mobile might sound too good to be true, but of course it opens up security issues that you didn’t have to think of before. You could be putting your home at risk if you don’t password-protect your phone, and even then there are security risks.
Keep your phone with you at all times. Technology is letting us make our homes infinitely easier to protect with one little device, but we’re giving that device a lot of power and we want to make sure we control who can access it. Set up authentication methods for your security system so it can’t be disarmed, and never store any passwords, social security numbers, or home addresses on your phone.
4. The Rewards
While the true home security system cost depends on the features and amenities you need for your home in particular, mobile apps and even the cameras they monitor are usually pretty cost-effective.
Mobile home security apps have changed the world of home security from the simple detection of breaking and entering, floods, and fires, to a 24-hour monitoring system where your home becomes its own fully-functional network.
This technology is advancing fast, and for many people, the comfort and safety of a smartphone system has taken them way beyond what they thought of as home security.
We live in the kind of world now where a mom can get alerts when her kids get home from school, and where the perils of forgetting your keys might soon be a thing of the past. Smartphone security also allows you to live greener – controlling your electricity usage and lowering your bills at the same time.
It’s amazing to think that the need to protect our homes from intruders could be morphing into something that could change the way we live. If you’ve already invested in home security, there’s no reason not to take it to the next level – as much of the industry itself is discovering every day.