Have you ever thought about what goes on when you’re not home? Perhaps you have teenagers who are at home by themselves some during the afternoon or evening hours. Perhaps you are concerned about babysitters in your home during the evenings. Or, perhaps you’ve been concerned with people tampering with stuff in your office after hours, but you could never quite put your finger on what was going on.
Well, perhaps I have a solution for you. A new service is up and running in beta testing right now called Home Camera - Home Monitoring Made Easy. Now, I’ve looked at software in the past for monitoring activities in my home. In fact, a good friend of mine set up a home camera monitoring system down my his pond to track the wild pigs at night, so he could find out how many there were, and when they came to root. Okay, I know most of you aren’t back in the woods like I am, but you’ve probably got a good reason to consider a home monitoring system. Whether it’s kids, pets, janitors, or burglars, you probably would like to stay informed.
As most of you who are regular readers know, I write for Pay Per Post from time to time here on the blog. This post is a sponsored post by HomeCamera.com, and they have asked that I be impartial in writing this review. So, just for the record, I’m not tooting their horn just because they are paying me, I am actually going to tell you what I really think about thier program. At the end, as you will see, I do have some concerns … but we’ll get to those in a bit.
The system seems to be very simple. The software download currently works with Windows 2000 and up, with a Mac version in the works. The system can be set up to work automatically with timed recordings, or set to be on motion detection within a time range. It works with most existing webcams and even supports the Dlink DCS 2120 wirless network camera as well. This is a definite plus in my book! In addition, you can get e-mail or mobile phone alerts and video sent to you directly when a motion sensor is recording is triggered. This is very cool … talk about catching the kids red-handed (or the crooks, whoever). Videos are stored on their servers for 30 days, and you can download them at any time. That’s another nice feature.
On the downside, although the service is free now (and they promise beta testers will always have a ‘lite’ service model available for free), I can’t help but wonder what the pricing will be like once the final product release is announced. In addition, I guess there’s always some concern with start-ups in other countries. Although the parent company seems to have all their ducks in a row, being located half-way around the world in Singapore just makes me raise an eyebrow. The site is very slick professional, and seems to have everything in order. Security issues, of course, are always on my mind when I start sharing vital information with people or services on the web (what could be more personal than a camera in my house?).
All in all the service deserves a change, and is worth looking in to. Sign up is free, and you don’t even have to provide a credit card during the beta testing. So with literally no expensive outlay (if you already have a webcam), you can set up your home monitoring system tonight. So what are you waiting for?
