ADT Technology Allows Homeowners To Take Advantage Of Video Surveillance
For years, business owners have used video surveillance systems to keep tabs on their operations remotely. Now homeowners are taking advantage of the same technology to monitor their homes when they are away.
Through the use of ADT's professionally installed video cameras, homeowners can make sure family members have arrived home safely, check on possible damage to a vacation home after a storm or monitor the progress of repairmen from anywhere.
Tim McKinney, director of ADT's Custom Home Services, said ADT's Safewatch Videoview service is a new offering that builds on ADT's standard home alarm and security services. It offers homeowners added security plus the flexibility to check in on their household even when they are away from home.
"Homeowners are discovering that motion-sensing cameras can make busy lifestyles a little easier by providing customers with e-mail notifications of triggered events and the ability to look in on their homes at any time," McKinney said. "All they need is an Internet connection to log on to an encrypted and secure, password-protected Web site, which can be accessed even through a corporate firewall."
Take, for example, a busy professional who commutes to a downtown office, McKinney said. She can log on to her computer and access live video of her home to see that the pool service has arrived to fix the broken filter. Later during a meeting, an e-mail alert on her PDA signals that her teenage son has arrived home from school. During the evening while watching her favorite TV show, she can switch the channel to view video of the front door to determine if the person ringing the bell is a neighbor returning an item, a delivery or an unexpected guest.
"Only the customer can access the cameras and view the live or recorded video," McKinney said. "They have total control of the system."
ADT Safewatch Videoview includes cameras, professional installation, connection to the customer's high-speed broadband account, and ongoing service to access live and stored video. Cameras are installed by ADT's home security professionals and are hard-wired to help ensure maximum privacy and image quality.
The ADT system also can generate an e-mail alert each time a customer- defined event occurs at the home. For example, the service can be programmed to record video and send an e-mail notification to the customer each time the front door is opened. The homeowner can then log on to a secure Web site to review the video and download selected clips to their local computer. The system can also be set up to record and store video to a DVR placed in the home.
"Working with ADT, homeowners can customize the video service by predefining events that will trigger cameras to record video and then save it to be viewed by the customer, and only the customer, at a later time," McKinney said.