Securing your premises

Posted on 26 Oct 2004 at 11:41

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The best compromise has been to try to catch thieves when they relax. Putting an infrared camera in what criminals think is a dark, safe zone means you might catch them when they take their masks off.

Because all the Axis cameras used by Hindmarch are IP-based, feeding their footage to the web is relatively simple. The proprietors can see what's happening on the forecourt whether they're in the office, at home or even on holiday. This isn't a feature they use, but we can take advantage of it all the same: go to www.axis.com /uk/demo_sites.htm and select the Retail Sites, Petrol Station Forecourt. You'll see a live feed from the very forecourt we visited.

According to Howe there'sa thriving business in remotely monitoring holiday homes. You can count the lizards on your lawn in Barbados from the PC in your living room in Bolton. All you need is a broadband connection in Barbados. If you use motion detection the camera can text or email you when it senses someone in your house.

The ultimate level of sophistication (and entertainment) is to add audio capabilities to the surveillance. Imagine how scared a burglar would be, creeping around a house in the dead of night, only to hear an eerie voice saying "I'm watching you!" This isn't an idle daydream. For £190, you can buy equipment to enable you to do this. Now, isn't that tempting?

Author: Steve Baxter

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