You may or may not be old enough to remember the classic TV series Get Smart starring Don Adams, but one of its running gags was Secret Agent Maxwell Smart’s “shoe phone.” The writers may have been more prophetic then they ever imagined, as mobile phones today are certainly no laughing matter! In fact, your typical Smartphone running the right kind of apps can protect your home or office in ways that would make even Agent 86’s head spin!
This idea of leveraging a personal hand held device such as
Smartphone, or tablet computer to monitor a home or business security system,
is part of a bigger trend that telecom professionals are calling the “Consumerism
of IT”, which has lead to another trend known as BOYD, or “Bring Your Own
Device.” These are both a couple of very popular industry buzz words that
basically boil down to the fact that businesses are starting to realize
employees are already carrying a Smartphone or some other mobile computing
gadget, upon which they would prefer to run all of their personal, as well as,
work related applications. BYOD literally
encourages small business owners or key employees to “use their own devices.”
In the case of surveillance, that means high tech security
systems aren’t just for large businesses any more, or even businesses at all
for that matter. By combining new lower cost wireless sensors and cameras with
Smartphone apps, almost anyone can “Get Smart” and spy on your own home from
just about anywhere you can get a WiFi signal. And these kinds of systems not
only leverage cell phone
technology for your personal monitoring, unlike the typical “hard wired”
security system, which raises the alarm by land-line phone -- they bypass that
all together and contact your alarm company via the broadband network.
Alarming Apps
One of the most popular such tools is provided by Alarm.com.
According to the company’s website, Alarm.com has been
designed to allow you to arm or disarm your home or business security system,
and control and monitor the entire system from “any web-enabled cell phone or
smartphone, including iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices.” Alarm.com is
distributed by 1000’s of retailers, and has pretty much cornered the market due
to its ubiquity and ease of use. But there are others out there. Any of the
major Alarm companies such as ADT, now offer this kind of mobile monitoring
service. Another App similar to Alarm.com is available from Protection One.
No matter which service or system you choose the point is,
Smartphone and other mobile devices have enabled more and more personal and
business time to be spent “on the go”. That means more time away from the
office or business. And when you are away, anything can happen. With
simple real time monitoring via your cell phone you can be instantly aware of
anything from when your kids come home, to making sure your employees open and
close up on time. You don’t have to be a Super Spy to want to keep an eye on
the people, places, and things that matter to you most.
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Authors Bio
Steve G. is an award-winning multimedia writer with close to
three decades of experience. He has written pieces on topical business currents
and cutting edge civilian and military technologies that have appeared on
Television Networks such as PBS, PAX, Discovery, A&E, and within many
international publications. He is a featured Blogger for GSM Nation and several other
technology websites.
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