Security can be anything you want it to be. Put up a dummy camera or external siren? Put warning stickers on you doors? But maybe the un-savoury characters can see past these options in today’s world.
People think of security as an expense that you can avoid, but at what cost. If you are naïve enough to think that your street, your house, or your business has not been “cased” by some un-savoury person then you have a problem already. And if the un-thinkable does happen then the self-doubt about what you could have done creeps in. Your peace of mind has gone forever. So what can we do about it? There are some great products on the market today that can make us feel secure. Let’s start at the low end of the market price wise and build up.
The first product is the “Trinity 1800 PIR Sensor”. It has scanning red LED’s with a PIR motion detector. During the day when it is not acting as a lighting sensor the red LED’s are scrolling and flashing. Now what is your visitor going to think? It has been proven that a red light does produce an alert to the brain. What colour do our emergency services use to alert us when something has gone wrong? OK, back to the subject at hand. Is the person’s first thought e.g. is this device a camera that has detected me? And at night this sensor has a dual purpose. The red LED’s are scrolling as your visitor comes up the path and 
when the PIR senses motion it will turn the outside lights on it is connected to. A double deterrent!
The second product is the “Twin LED Sensor Lights”. You can also get a version of these with the Trinity scanning red LED’s. Strategically place a couple of these units around your house so if someone comes onto your property at night the PIR sensor will pick them up and they will turn on. That additional light is great for cameras at night. By bringing the lights on the camera will sense “daylight” and switch into colour mode which is like viewing and recording in normal daylight conditions. We will talk about cameras later in the article.
The third product is the “Security Alarm System”. How many of your neighbours have them? The person casing your street will note who has the alarm system and who hasn’t. Guess which property they are going to first? We have systems now days that can send an alert to your cell phone if there has been PIR motion activation. Imagine another scenario. You get a call from your monitoring company to say there has been an alarm activation at your business. They arrive on site but can’t find any issues. You have to get out of bed in the early hours of the morning to go down and check your premises. Great. Imagine if you could view your home or premises on your smartphone just in case it was a false activation and save yourself a trip! Let’s move onto the next product.
The fourth product is an “IP Camera System”. There are two distinct markets out there for these.
Residential – Our home is our castle and we are very protective of it. The visual view of cameras on your property should be enough of a deterrent for the un-savoury to visit, but if not, then they will be caught on film. Nothing like the feeling of handing footage in to the police that gets these scumbags caught. With your Network Video Recorder (NVR) working 24/7 you will have the peace of mind to know that your home is secure. Connect the NVR to your broadband network, do the set up in the menu, install the appropriate APP on your smartphone, and view your cameras from anywhere in the world. Now isn’t that cool.
Commercial & Industrial – In this market we not only want the cameras to protect our business as above, but we also have health and safety considerations to consider. In this world of red tape and whose fault was it, wouldn’t it be peace of mind to know you have captured an incident exactly as it happened. Was it the employers or employees fault? No ifs and buts. Has stock been going missing from the warehouse? Let’s check who was in there at the time. Knowing you can go on holiday while leaving your manager in charge but still able to see what is going on via the APP on your smartphone. The thoughts are endless.
IP, or network cameras as they are known, allow you to connect to other Ethernet based devices such as wireless bridges. Now you can put a camera of a farm building away from the house and connect it to the NVR in the house. All you need is good line of sight and power at the remote location and you are away. And line of sight can be over kilometres. Now if you don’t have power then a solar panel, charge controller, and battery will do the trick. The possibilities for surveillance are endless.
Here is another example of what can be done in today’s world. You have a remote site that you would like to protect with cameras. A broadband connection is not available but you have cell phone coverage. Well, you can use a cellular router and connect your NVR to this. Buy a pre-pay SIM card, load it up with data, do the set up, and you are connected. View the site from your smartphone APP.
In summary, security is the catch phrase in today’s world. It is down to the electrical/data contractor to discuss the options for security and surveillance with their customer. Smart devices are here to stay whether you like it or not. Take advantage of this. Security is a great opportunity for you to upsell your business. If you need advice then talk to the resident expert at your local Powerbase branch.
Don’t let someone ruin your day. Secure you property so you can sleep easy at night!