golf13055

Traditional home alarm security systems rely on sensors that, as long as someone has remembered to turn them on, can detect windows or doors opening. It is a simple cause and effect relationship: a trigger sets off an alarm to alert neighbours or passersby, or an alarm goes off at the police station or the local security company.

The paid, and often expensive, local security company maybe phones to hear if everything is OK, or maybe even drives by. The police might show up if they're not too busy, but the system is prone to many loopholes. The proclivity of false alarms and the dull routine of the job means that security forces are often slow to respond, and the police are often too busy. However, that was then, this is now. Wireless home security has changed the way we protect our homes. Let's take a look at some of the benefits a modern domestic security system has to offer.

Wireless: Just One Feature of Many
A wireless home security system is more than simply a traditional alarm system minus the cables. There are two keys to the system:
1. The whole system is digital, so you can program it to function in the way you want.
2. The system is part of your home networks.

What does this mean for your home security? If your house is broken into, the system could ring your mobile phone, or send a text message. You could set it to send messages to more than one cell phone. It could be connected to webcams positioned around the house, all accessed from your cellphone or blackberry. In short, if it can be programmed, it is possible.

The Central Nervous system to Calm Your Nerves
Once you have a wireless home network with a powerful CPU at its heart, you can pretty well add any kind of detector. Why not cover every eventuality and hook up smoke, carbon monoxide, temperature or motion detectors? If anything abnormal takes place in and around your home, you can get a message via your mobile phone. If your mobile phone can access the Internet, the possibilities are even greater. You could call up your browser and get some live footage from your array of webcams, switch to infra-red if it's dark and maybe listen in too. The security possibilities are obvious, but it also sounds like something that would be great fun to play with... so with motivation that high, your home would be safer than ever.

Suddenly you can monitor all kinds of things going on at home without having to be there. Motion detectors and webcams can let you know whether the dog has curled up on your favourite armchair again. You can monitor the temperature of your greenhouse in winter and your wine cellar in summer. And you can even send a message via the network to regulate the temperature before anything gets spoiled. I'm not sure what you'd do about the dog though. 'Train' it when you get back, I suppose.

The Home of the Panic Button
An often overlooked, but extremely useful feature of a wireless home security package is the addition of a panic button. If you have an elderly or infirm family member, a panic button is a must. If someone sounds the alarm, you can pick up your cellphone and find out what is going on by taking a look, listening in or answering the distress call. Perhaps the sound of your voice coming from the loudspeakers would be enough to sooth your confused aunt with Alzheimer's or your sick child off from school. Perhaps you could even shout at the dog to get out of your lazy-boy.

Finally, the big advantage of building up a wireless home security system is its inherent flexibility. You can add, reposition and take away different components such as motion sensors or webcams without having to rip out lengths of wiring. As the hardware becomes more readily available and commonplace, it is falling in price. Upgrading your entire home would have meant employing a team of professionals just five years ago. Now you can do it all yourself after a brief and relatively inexpensive trip to the mall. Nervous about your home security? Give your own central nervous system a break; give your home its own central nervous system.

Chris Lee Ramsden is a freelance writer and editor. He writes both short fiction and non-fiction for both online and print publications. Although he stems from the UK, he currently lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Find out more about Wireless Home Security and home improvement at Where We Live.

John was on a business trip in Europe, when his cell phone rang. He picked it up and there was a text message that read motion has been detected at your home on camera #2.

No one was supposed to be in his house while he was away, so this could only mean one thing, someone has broken in.

John immediately logged on to the Internet and in less than 2 minutes he was watching a stranger rummaging through his house. By comparison, the 10 minutes it took him to contact his hometown police department seemed pitifully slow.

Yeah John said Im watching the guy on my surveillance cameras right now, you can still catch him if you hurry

A few minutes later the police arrived at Johns house and caught the thief just as he was leaving with a bag full of Johns stuff.

John thought to himself, this surveillance software has just paid for itself, unlike my neighbors alarm system that calls the police every time his cat triggers a sensor.

Home security and surveillance can be an indispensable tool for keeping an eye on things while your not there. video surveillance software allows you to use your home computer monitor as your viewing platform, and involves minimal set up using inexpensive software to connect your security cameras with a home network.

Applications can include doorway or gate security, grounds surveillance, or you can even view a hidden nanny cam right from a computer monitor inside your home. Or by logging in through the Internet to view your surveillance cameras, you can view what your security cameras see from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection.

In the past, it was quite expensive to maintain and implement such security systems because they were tied to expensive recorders and other fancy hardware components. CCTV Systems and other high-tech surveillance systems can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars up to many thousands of dollars. But now, you can turn your computer into a powerful surveillance system at a fraction of a regular security system cost.

These surveillance software packages have no monthly fees, which means that for a small one-time cost you can have remote video surveillance for a lifetime.

Most of these software surveillance systems are easy and quick to setup and require only a very basic knowledge of networking. Some of them only require you to place the CD in your computers CD drive, and the software will walk you through the process in about 5 or 10 minutes.

These surveillance software packages can be used with wired or wireless security cameras. A high quality video stream will be viewable from a computer within your home, or from anywhere with an Internet connection. One such software package that I have discovered is the Visec security software. For around $100, you can install, set up, and immediately start viewing up to four surveillance cameras, remotely, from anywhere in the world.

Using your computer's IP address to log on, you can view live or past video, and many of these software packages even allow for a motion detection mode which will record video activity just when motion is detected.

They can even be set up to alert you by email, cell phone or PDA when motion is detected.

While these streaming surveillance videos can be viewed with a dial up connection, a High speed cable or DSL Internet connection is recommended. The use of a dial-up modem will tend to give you a choppy video due to the slow bandwidth speed of the connection, whereas a high-speed Internet connection will allow for a much smoother real-time video.

Steven Rubin is the owner of North American Security Products, LLC. A company dedicated to providing you with the means to protect and defend yourself against crime.