New Homeowner? 6 Ways You Can Help Secure Your Home and Protect Your Family and Assets

Are you the proud owner of a new home? Congratulations! Hopefully, you are taking the steps necessary to protect your new investment from crime. According to the F.B.I., In 2013, there were an estimated 1,928,465 burglaries in the United States, and 74% of those burglaries were residences. There once was a time when simply locking your windows and doors was all that was needed to secure your home—but this is no longer the case. We have to approach the idea of home security while covering all bases to truly be protected. Here are some tips to help:

1.     Close the curtains and blinds at night.

Leaving the curtains or blinds open at night (whether the lights are on or off), is simply welcoming criminals to take a look at what you have inside.

2.   Install motion-activated lights outside.

Motion-activated lights are fairly inexpensive, will deter burglars, and will also help add some extra light to assist your infrared night vision security cameras.

3.     Install a Security Camera System.

Install security cameras in your home and outside to protect yourself. If your house is burglarized without cameras, good luck in finding the culprits—however, with security cameras, you may be able to identify the criminals, pinpoint the time of the burglary, and assist the police officers with their investigation.

4.     Install a security Alarm system.

The combination of security alarms and security cameras is nearly foolproof in deterring thieves and bringing them to justice.

5.     Invest in shatter-safe unbreakable security windows.

This will prevent burglars from entering through what is usually one of the most vulnerable areas in houses- the windows.

6.     Get a Best Friend.

Dogs are one of the best alarm systems around. They can detect an intruder long before you can, and the barking will usually scare away an intruder before they even try to break in. 

Read more HERE. 

How to Secure Your Surveillance System from Hackers

 Security IP cameras are great. They are high-tech, internet-based cameras that provide a great picture and high performance.  However, having an internet-based security camera system puts you at risk for attacks by hackers. Here are some tips on how to set up road blocks for hackers before they can even try to crack your system.

• Get rid of that default user name and password. Did you know that you can look up default passwords and other default information for most products on the internet? Just make sure it is a password unique to your system–don’t use your email password!
• Use video encryption. This can be a bit tricky, but with a little help from a tech-saavy friend or a professional, it is a very viable option for securing your system.
• Turn on your firewall. Make sure your firewall is enabled for your router and modem, this is another layer of protection.
• Avoid wireless systems. Wired systems are much more secure than wireless.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Until next time… Stay safe!

How to Hide Your Nanny Cam

Worried about your children’s care and want a way to “check in” on them without your nanny knowing? Many parents opt to use nanny cams, hidden recording devices in their homes to monitor their children and the people who look after them. If you are concerned about how to have a nanny cam in the house without it being found, here are 6 tips:

1. Houseplants. Hide the camera in a potted plants or trees where most people wouldn’t think to look.
2. Smoke Detectors. There are smoke detector clones that actually have hidden cameras in them. Genius!.
3. Get a pinhole camera. They have very good quality, are extremely small, and can pretty much fit anywhere.
4. Ceiling Fans. Works best in the winter or when you won’t be using the fan.
5. Ballpoint Pen Cameras. The pen works, but contains a tiny camera that can capture anything that is going on.
6. Air Fresheners. This is a place people would never look, and Air freshener cameras are genius.

Do surveillance cameras really have an effect on crime? Researchers in recent published studies say “Yes”

In a study by Mikael Priks of the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, newly installed surveillance cameras in subway stations in Stockholm, Sweden were shown to decrease crime in that area. Cameras were installed in over 80 subway stations in Stockholm and stayed in operation for two years. The overall crime rate in these usually high-crime stations was reduced by 20 percent, and incidences of robbery, drug-related crime and pickpocketing were reduced by 20-40%. What was also found was that crime outside of the stations where there weren’t any cameras was also reduced.

In Baltimore, Maryland, the city placed hundreds of security cameras in the high-crime and downtown areas. These cameras are “actively monitored” by retired police officers. A study done on this surveillance system showed that there has been a reduction of at least 30 incidents of criminal activity per month since installment. According to the Urban Institute, while the city spent a whopping $8 million on the system (installation and maintenance), they have saved over $12 million in criminal justice costs!

Although the success rate of crime reduction in security camera use depends on users actively monitoring the system , the majority of studies about this subject come to the conclusion that camera surveillance is indeed a great tool to prevent crime in public spaces, homes, and businesses.

The Pros and Cons of Wireless Cameras

We have gotten quite a few people asking about wireless cameras lately and we would like to go over a few things to know about wireless cameras.  We will give you some pros and cons surrounding wireless security cameras and then you can decide if you think wireless is the way to go for you.

Pros

The biggest advantage of wireless cameras is that there is no cable to run to the DVR.  This makes it very convenient when you need to put a camera in an area that it would be a little harder to run cable into the wall.  For example, on a cement or brick wall. These cameras only need a power outlet close to them to operate.  If there is no outlet the camera will not be able to operate as it will have no power.

Cons 

Wireless cameras are not completely wireless.  As explained before they still must have power with in a small distance so that the power chord will reach.  This can be a problem for some people when it comes to their idea of wireless.  Another issue with wireless cameras is the fact that just like baby monitors and cordless phones they communicate through frequency waves.  If there is anything in the area of the cameras that is putting of the same or even higher frequency waves it can interfere with your cameras causing a disturbance and possibly loss of video feed.  This also means that they are able to be hacked by people who know about hijacking radio frequencies and can be viewed by outside of the area that they are meant to be viewed.  You are also limited on the number of cameras you can have for the same reason. If you have to many cameras all communicating at the same time it can cause interference with the other cameras as well.  For this reason we recommend wired cameras.

In any case you can make the decision yourself.  For some people wireless is the perfect solution and for others they are not.  If you want more information about cameras and installation please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have.  Let us protect what matters to you!

7 Major Things to consider when choosing surveillance cameras

Below is a list of a the most important questions that we ask when we come to your location for a security evaluation.  We need as much information as possible to ensure the proper installation and equipment to cover the type of application required.

• Where is the system going? Is it a home or office? – This is helpful to know as the types of cameras used for different applications can be very similar but coverage can be more limited on lower end cameras that on higher end cameras.
• Are the cameras going to be inside or outside? – Many camera types are suitable for inside and outside but not all of them.
• What is the lighting like where the cameras are to be mounted? – This is important to determine if you need infrared cameras or just basic cameras.
• What is the size of the area that you are trying to cover? (Distance from camera to the end of the property and width of area to be covered) – Many of the lower end or Analog cameras are only able to focus on shorter distances.  These cameras are great for indoor applications but not very useful outdoors.  Then there are the higher resolution HD or IP cameras that will reach quite a bit further or even better, PTZ cameras that you are able to control manually and point, tilt and zoom to the area you want to view.
• What types of coverage are you looking for? – Are you watching over a cash register? Are you watching over an office? Are you trying to catch someone who is stealing your mail at home? Are you tracking license plates in a public parking lot? These are all different things that we have seen people use cameras for.  This will help to determine the clarity that you need and range of view that you need.
• What is your budget? – This too can help determine the type of equipment to offer.  If you are a homeowner then chances are you are not going to have the same budget that a large corporation will have.  This can also determine the type and number of cameras to offer.
• How much time do you need to be able to review? – Some types of companies are required a certain amount of time be available on their camera recordings.  For example: we had a client that due to the type of clients that they catered to they were required by law to be able to access footage as far back as 90 days.  This helped us to determine the proper hard drive size and settings for the cameras to make sure that the footage was guaranteed to save that far back.

All of these are very important things to consider before sitting down with one of our representatives for your free custom security review.  We take pride in everything we do and we want to be sure that you get the right system to fit your needs.  Please feel free to call us if you have any questions or to set up your free evaluation today.

The Rising Need For Security Camera Systems: 4 Reasons Why

In the world of advanced technology, Security cameras play an important role in safety and security. These security cameras are utilized for commercial as well as residential purposes. The main and foremost reason for getting security cameras is to observe and supervise during times that you cannot be there. It also ensures safety and security by ensuring that your investment is being monitored at all times. Security cameras are widely used in homes, businesses, malls, stores, convenience stores etc. With the amount of robbery and burglary activities on the rise, it is very important to install a security camera.

Sense of control -

When you are away from your home or business there is a sense that you are not completely in control of what is taking place.

As a home owner it may be that while you are at work you worry that your home and belongings are secure.  You may even be a parent that worries that your children are home alone and are doing things they are not supposed to be doing. There is also the feeling that they are not safe because children are vulnerable to predators and negative influence when they are out of our care. Having Security Cameras installed in your home will allow you to monitor and check on them to be sure that they are safe and sound and that they are staying out of trouble.

As a business owner, if your business operates while you are away, you have a lot of money invested in your business and the most common form of theft is theft in the work place.  As our economy is unstable more and more business owners are experiencing a rise in theft and there is no way to prove who is doing it unless you have evidence.  You can eliminate your suspects but in the long run the fact is that if you don’t have the “evidence” they will not admit to it.  Cash register theft, office supply theft and even merchandise theft cost both you and your customers money because as things are walking out the door you have to raise your prices to cover the cost.  With a surveillance system we have solutions for all types of businesses including a POS system that ties right into your register and can watch your cash at all times.

Remote Access:

As technology advances more and more people depend on their smart phones to stay connected.  When our system is tied directly into an internet connection you will be able to log in to your system from anywhere in the world and monitor your home or business at times that you are not able to do it in person.  This allows you to go on vacation, go to your other locations when you are a business owner that has more than one location and to monitor your investment at all times.

Deter crime

The existence of security cameras definitely reduces the chances of robbery and damage in homes, stores, shopping malls and various locations. As the actions are continuously observed it reduces the possibilities because the offenders never want to get caught. If there is a higher chance that they are going to get caught they will likely move on to the next home or business that doesn’t have cameras.

Assists in preserving proof

The data is recorded by the security camera in the form of videos that are regularly documented and saved on the server or DVR. As a result, this data is effortlessly recovered as needed and helps in preserving evidences and documentation if the authorities are involved.

The videos generated by the security camera are a legitimate evidence source and fact in opposition of the offender if the case should go to court.  If any crime is to occur on private property where cameras are installed then the footage is admissible in court and can prove to be quite powerful evidence in a court of law.

Bottom line, Surveillance Systems cameras are our eyes when our eyes can not be there.  If you are interested in getting a customized quote or one of our package specials, feel free to send us a request for more information through our contact us quick form on our home page.  We look forward to hearing from you.