Hidden Camera Captures Boynton Beach Burglary

Hidden camera catches two burglars break into a Boynton Beach home while the owner watched online via live video feed. The owner alerted the Boynton Beach Police who surrounded the house, catching the criminals from doing any more harm.

Top Real Estate Blogs

The battle for personal and home security is more than just putting up monitoring devices and new deadbolt locks. One surprising and often overlooked fact about home security that much of yours’ and your family’s safety has everything to do with where you decide to live. We all know that some areas of cities and towns are more likely to be paraded by crime than others, and the most obvious choice when selecting a home is to avoid those areas. A big obstacle with this strategy is that the price of a home is often reflective of such aspects like local crime, and the less expensive homes are usually caused by higher crime rates in certain zip codes which makes the most affordable homes the most likely to be subject to  a home invasion.

Due to the importance that selecting your home has on home security, here are the Top 10 picked blogs for learning more about your area’s real estate:

• Realtor.com
• Redfin.com
• Zillow.com
• RealEstate.com
• Century21.com
• Trulia.com
• Relocation.com
• LuxuryRealEstate.com
• Homes.com
• Movoto.com

Comcast Launches Home Security Service

Internet service provider Comcast Corporation has debuted their very own home security monitoring system branded as Xfinity Home. This new service will offer customers the smart home capabilities to remotely track a home’s temperature, turn lights on and off, as well as watch the video feed from wireless cameras placed in their homes, receiving a text message or email in the event that the monitoring devices are triggered.

With an introductory rate of $199 and a monthly service charge of $29.95 ($39.95 for the preferred package), Comcast will challenge current market leaders in the home automation and home security markets as many of these established services offer similar products in the same local markets.

Some of the customized settings offered by Xfinity Home are email and text alerts when doors are accessed or when a certain level of activity is detected by the motion detectors. Once an email is received, the customer can use their smartphone or check online to see if a window or door was accessed. (more…)

Security on Campus – An Interview with Abigail Boyer

The majority of the information contained here on HomeSecuritySystems.net tries to promote our visitor’s awareness of the level of security their home has, and to learn tips and methods for increasing that security. Much of our time is spent in our homes but we are now at an age where the rate at which people attend a four-year university after high school is increasing at a rapid rate.

For most people, living in dorms is a very safe and overall crime-free experience. The troubling news is that from time to time crimes on campus do happen but thanks to organizations like Security on Campus, Inc., we can be very grateful that the future leaders of America are going to have a much safer experience.

We at HomeSecuritySystems.net had the fortunate opportunity of getting to know more about the mission of Security on Campus thanks to the Assistant Director of Communications, Abigail Boyer, and she was kind enough to answer some of our questions:

HomeSecuritySystems.net: Security on Campus, Inc. was founded in 1987. What has been its mission and reason for coming into existence as a non-profit organization?

Security On Campus: Security on Campus, Inc. is a nonprofit 501 c(3) organization whose mission is to prevent violence, substance abuse, and other crimes in college and university campus communities across the United States and to compassionately assist the victims of these crimes. (more…)

Top DIY Deadbolt Installation Guides

One of the first steps to prioritizing your home’s security is by understanding that there are a few steps you can take that will ensure a big return on safety based on a small amount of effort. One such commonly overlooked area of security that gets a very high return on safety is something you probably interact with on a daily basis. Front doors are the most common way to enter a home next to going through a home’s garage and one of the best ways to increase the safety of your home is by upgrading your lock from a regular pin tumbler lock that your home came with to a full-on deadbolt lock.

The following is a list of the most helpful guides you can find online for installing your own deadbolt lock:

• Dummies Guide
• DIY Network Guide
• eHow Guide
• HGTV Guide
• About.com Guide
• Mother Earth News Guide
• Hipp’s Help Guide
• Do It Yourself or Not Guide
• Find How Guide
• Yahoo Voices Guide

One of the best methods for approaching a DIY project, especially one that directly impacts you and your family’s safety, is by reading as much as you can until you feel you’ve reached a level of competency, understanding, and confidence to know that you’ll do a good job. The more of these guides you read the better before beginning your project, the better!

Photo credit to tmib_seattle

AT&T Announces Plans to Offer Digital Home Security

Telecom giant AT&T has announced its intention to make its way into the home security industry by offering an internet based home security monitoring service. Going by the name AT&T Digital Life^TM, AT&T will give users the ability to access their homes using any device connected to the web including smartphones on any network, PCs and tablets.

“Checking on the welfare of loved ones, protecting your home from intruders, fire or water damage, unlocking a door for the repairman or changing the temperature setting on the thermostat – and doing it from wherever you happen to be, here or abroad – can be as easy as if you were right at home,” AT&T said in its announcement.

Included in the Digital Life group of products will be professionally monitored security services, control system applications for water and power, as well as an online automation platform.

According to the press release, AT&T Digital Life will feature a robust lineup of connected devices including cameras, window/door sensors, smoke and carbon monoxide sensors, motion and glass break sensors, door locks, thermostats and other control system devices, moisture detection and appliance power controls.

The platform will include built-in “AT&T mobile internet service, Wi-Fi, Z-wave, and wired broadband.”

“We’re planning a unique suite of services, from start to finish, that will give homeowners control of their property and their possessions through an easy to navigate user interface,” said the senior vice president of Digital Life, and AT&T Mobililty, Kevin Petersen.

AT&T plans on beginning trials in Atlanta, Georgia, and near its headquarters in Dallas, Texas, this summer.

Microsoft Releases Prototype of HomeOS to Academic Institutions

Microsoft’s HomeOS smart home platform prototype has been released under a free non-commercial license to academic institutions which will be used to work toward simplifying the management of household technology across multiple electronic devices.

At least 16 Universities across North America and Europe are currently taking advantage of the non-commercial licensing of the HomeOS prototype in their courses from USA’s MIT to as far as the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca in Milan, Italy.

Smart home application development is considered to be one of the next technological frontiers and is slowly being encroached upon by large companies including Microsoft, Google, and IBM as well as smaller firms such as Z-Wave and ZigBee who have grown by providing consumers with simpler applications to control light switches, home security systems and thermostats.

“You need either time or money,” says Microsoft Researcher Ratul Mahajan to describe the current situation of Smart Home application availability in a demonstration of HomeOS’s potential and uses. In its current infant state of home automation a user either needs to understand how to develop their own applications to synchronize their home technologies or have enough money to pay someone who is talented enough to do so.
Smart Home technologies, like those being development along with Microsoft’s HomeOS, are currently experimental at best and will take time and testing before we see a product we can purchase.

HomeOS Demonstration from TechFest 2011:

Platinum Protect Q/A Review

Located in Utah, Platinum Protect installs home security systems nationwide. The company was founded in 2005 by security industry experts, with a goal of superior customer service and technology innovation. The company has set industry sales records, with a 200% growth in customers since it began.

What kinds of monitoring services does the company provide?

Platinum Protection is partnered with Monitronics International and GE Security, selling and installing these quality security systems. The company’s monitoring system transmits to a security specialist for dispatch in the event of an intrusion, medical emergency or fire. The company prides itself on extensive and skilled monitoring services.

All of its products are wireless, and include two way voice alarms and remote access. The company’s products include the Simon XT which allows (more…)

Protection One Security Solutions – Q/A Review

Protection 1 is a large nationwide electronic security company, the second largest in the U.S. It offers installation, maintenance of monitoring for both single and multi-family dwellings, and businesses. The company is number one in the nation providing whole sale monitoring services.

What monitoring services are provided?

Protection 1 offers home and business security systems including intrusion detectors for homes and businesses; cellular backup allowing wireless signals when land based phone lines are disabled or unavailable; and wireless security systems. The company also offers LifeLock Identity Theft Protection, a variety of controls and keypads for home security systems, wireless smoke detectors, and the eSecure option that allows remote home security monitoring from smart phones or computers. Security cameras for businesses, multi-site (more…)

Smith Thompson Home Security Q&A Review

Established in Texas during the late 1970′s, Smith Thompson is the largest independently owned security company in the state. The owner suffered a devastating robbery prior to founding the company, and has dedicated himself to preventing such a scenario for others. The company offers a specialized wireless system to prevent any chance of outages in coverage.

What kind of monitoring services does Smith Thompson provide?

Smith Thompson uses cellular wireless monitoring to monitor both new and existing alarm systems through an Uplink transmitter to customer’s alarms which communicates directly to their dispatch center.

The company provides these transmitters at no extra monitoring cost, and notes that dropping land line connectivity saves costs, and covers security services even if a land line is down or the power goes out. The company notes that their Uplink transmitters feature (more…)