Home Automation Security Systems

We are now in a much more advanced situation, as far as home automation security systems are concerned, thanks to the phenomenal progress of the PC and internet. State-of-the-art software and hardware, in combination, can provide video surveillance with intelligent tracking. This means that they can be programmed to come on and go off in response to a set stimulus, like when you leave home and come back, and they can also be programmed to follow movements or even sounds that they detect.

Another example of the very useful advances that have been made can be seen in the case of light timers. In the past light timers could really only be set to switch lights on and off at fixed times each day. Nowadays, however, computer technology makes it possible to program the timers to switch the lights on and off at random times during the evening and night. This makes it seem much more natural and will fool any criminals that have decided to keep an eye on your house over a period of a few days.

Some systems have the drawback that when the power goes, the system goes. Thieves can easily turn the power off to your home at the street or by flipping off unprotected circuit breakers on a panel on an exterior wall. That can disable any computer, cameras, lights and more that you’ve installed to protect your home.

But that need not be the case. A simple battery backup system, ranging in price from $50 to a few hundred dollars, can provide a few minutes or even a few hours of enough power to keep the PC, and one or two lights and cameras functioning. When thieves see that their scheme to disable your system failed, they are more likely to pick another target. Systems that can be built for a few thousand dollars could power your whole home for hours.

Automation can disable locks at certain hours or under programmable conditions. That means, if you’re not home but the thief has a key, it’s unusable. That key could have been obtained by an unscrupulous babysitter who is a partner to the thief, for example. That leaves them in the (unplanned) position of having to break in. That again increases the odds that they’ll give up and pick a more vulnerable target.

Automated locks can go beyond the traditional key/deadbolt system, though. There are lock systems that work off a combination, which can require a small token only you and family members carry. The combination is changed at random, but synchronized with the token. That means that at any given moment, only you and trusted others have the correct sequence of numbers.

Such features have been incorporated into alarm systems, as well. Older-design alarm systems, which are still common, work off a special combination. But that information can be obtained by techniques that are common among identity thieves today. Passwords are often written down, where they can be seen by someone willing to do a little spying. But a token-based system changes the combination every minute, making it possible to disarm it only if you have the token.

These are just a few of the new “tricks” that can be incorporated into your home security system. And because computer and technology costs are coming down all the time, you might be pleasantly surprised at how little these improvements can cost you - especially when you consider how much you might lose without them.