Solutions Consulting

No boring details (actually the story is pretty awesome, but I'm not sharing it here) but there was an attempted robbery at my home. The would-be thieves were interrupted and left with nothing, but the entire experience was invasive and unnerving. There are a number of overdue improvements to security that will take place, however, there's no way to stop a determined burglar from victimizing you.

Technology has a response, if not a solution. Given that I can't stop burglars, I can do a bit to dissuade them and I can also do my best to make them more identifiable to law enforcement. I purchased a very inexpensive IP-based camera with a motion sensor and WiFi.

After an easy setup I was able to place it with a view of the most likely point of entry and it now sends me an email alert with several still frames each time the motion detector is activated. It can record continuous video, video on a schedule, video with or without audio, record in near darkness and store this all on a sharepoint on a desktop, a server or a NAS.

It can also be monitored in real time in the house or from outside, via a computer or an iPhone.

The camera I chose is the LinkSys WVC80N, but there are many others that will do this same job, including some with PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) controls.

I'll be adding a real camera system and DVR to cover the exterior of the house but this is a simple approach that can be added to an office or to monitor a door or any secure area for an investment of little more than $100.