Smart Home and IOT News
Rising Above the Noise: What Security Equipment Do I Actually Need?
• 5 minutes read
Before batteries and Wi-Fi, home security behemoth ADT ruled the landscape. They would come to your house, assess your needs and your budget, and then charge you an arm and three legs to install some sensors tied to a multi-year service contract. Psh, gone are those days. Now you can order and set up a great home security system to protect your family and your valuables for a fraction of the price, in a fraction of the time, and with a fraction of the hassle. New and affordable technologies have caused a venerable Cambrian explosion of home security options, services, and devices. Let’s rise above all the noise and get down to brass tacks: What are you trying to protect?
The answer to this question will determine what sort of gadgets you need. If you’re just trying to keep an eye on your kids, you need a camera. There’s a nauseating amount of security cameras on the market. Our go-to recommendation is Nest Cam (of famed Nest Thermostat and Google origins). If you’re trying to make sure your house is secure when you’re out of town, or give your loved ones a sense of safety when asleep or home alone (without creepily monitoring every room with a camera), you need a loud alarm, door sensors, and a monitoring service. Our go-to recommendation for this sort of system is, go figure, Scout Alarm. If you’re trying to protect every single tile in your house and don’t want a burglar to put so much as a fingerprint on your vintage Corvette, you need to call ADT, give them your weight in gold, sign your life away, and tell them to Fort Knox your house.
If you’re anything like me, you don’t want your every action broadcasted on the internet via wireless cameras and your mid-life crisis hasn’t pushed you to buy a Corvette yet, you just want to know if your house is safe. By their very nature, burglaries and home invasions are out of our control, and the purpose of a home security system is to give back as much control as possible. When protecting your loved ones, this control could be in the form of an audible alarm which might not only deter a trespasser but also give you enough time to move your family to a safe place. This control could also come in the confidence that your alarm system has already notified nearby authorities and all you need to do is wait.
Sure, you can go all out with bells and whistles to protect your family by installing a security-fog machine, laser sensors, and strobe lights. That said, with my family nearby, I’m not sure I’d want an agitated, scared, possibly armed criminal flailing in a cloud of flashing smoke in my kitchen. No, when it comes to protecting our families, we don’t really need bells and whistles, we simply need to be in the know so we can do what’s best.
Finally, whatever equipment you install, you probably already own a key component of modern home security: your mobile phone. Whatever system you choose, it needs to have a mobile app. It’s 2016, we all sleep with our phones near or next to us. As great as it is that we can play Angry Birds all we want, we should also be able to do useful things, like protect our home and our family. Your alarm app needs to tell you if, when, and where somebody entered your house. Nothing feels better than getting into bed, setting your alarm to “Home,” and resting peacefully with the knowledge that you are in control of the situation.
