A lot of homes today especially in countries like America and Europe have installed Home Security Systems in their neighborhoods. Wouldn’t it be nice be able to check on your systems even when your away from home? True enough there is already such a thing they call the Wireless Home Security. It allows you to check on your Home Security System, and allows you to know when something goes wrong at your home or disarm it properly even when you’re far away from home, on a business meeting, while you’re watching your son’s soccer game or simply traveling around the world.
A police officer in central Florida for example, named Greg Varley, was dispatched to investigate as many as 10 false alarms a day at residents' homes. He was frustrated to discover that most people didn't disarm their security systems properly. So after retiring and moving to Cookeville, Tenn., Varley looked for a home-security system that would give him more control over arming the sensors, helping him avert false alarms. He soon came across a company called InGrid Inc., a security system that he could install himself and control using the Internet.
InGrid is just one of a wave of Internet- or cellular-based home security and monitoring products on the market now, joining iControl Networks Inc., NextAlarm.com, Broadband Alarm Co. and Alarm.com Inc. in offering homeowners a do-it-yourself approach. Larger companies, such as AT&T, are also moving into the wireless home-security market.
Just 1.5 percent of homes in the U.S. now use wireless monitoring systems, but that percentage is expected to reach 5 percent to 6 percent by 2012, according to market researcher Parks Associates. That's far below the estimated 25 percent of U.S. households today that use traditional security systems, such as ADT Security Services and Brink's Co. Those systems are linked via the homeowners' phone lines and mainly use wired sensors that are placed on window and doors.
Traditional systems also use a central-monitoring center that alerts police or fire departments when alarms are triggered.
Internet-based security, however, allows homeowners to place wireless sensors throughout the home -- beyond just entryways. Many of these systems have central monitoring provided by a third party. AT&T doesn't offer central monitoring at all.
Using a password-protected Web page, homeowners can use their computers to view the status of each sensor, see a history of dates and times sensors were triggered, and tailor settings to send e-mail, text-message updates and alerts to smart phones or other hand-held devices.
These features have given rise to a new type of monitoring: Homeowners are now able to spy on activities going on in their homes. Sensors can be installed on everything from liquor chests to medicine cabinets; gun racks to garage doors. Some of the systems also come with stand-alone Web cams that can be monitored through the Web site while users are at work or out of town.
Makers of the new wireless alarm systems say their customers don't see the monitoring as intrusive. InGrid Chief Executive Louis Stilp says that people mainly want to know if their children are doing something they aren't supposed to. "The benefits that come from that far outweigh any potential privacy issues," he says.
Since the wireless systems can be set up by homeowners, there may be savings on installation. For example, InGrid's kit for single-family homes, which includes eight wireless sensors and other hardware, costs $299 with a one-year monitoring commitment. Customers who use traditional security systems typically pay $300 to $1,000 for equipment and professional installation.
ADT says it's planning to add Web and mobile interactive features to its traditional security offering in the coming months, but company officials declined to give specifics. Brink's plans to add complementary Internet-based option to its primary service by the end of the year.
Steve works for HSSI where you can find information on
Home Security Systems and
Wireless Home Security Systems.
