The ‘internet of things’ has become one of the most popular search terms of this year. IoT gives individuals the ability to control devices through internet applications and is now making huge advancements at an exciting pace. This is most evident is in the home automation field, so what does this mean for home owners?
The IoT is beginning to transform home security. According to recent information released by the London Metropolitan Police the number one reason for break-ins is the ease of accessibility. As technology improves and the IoT grows, authorities believe that homes will become more difficult to enter and burglary rates will fall as a consequence.
Home automation
Through the internet of things has been one of the strongest upsides to home security. Home owners now have the freedom to control various aspects of their homes whilst they are away. This includes lighting, locks, plugs and cameras. The IoT devices allow homes to appear occupied when in fact they are empty. This has been proven to be the biggest deterrent to burglars.
Gone are the days when you have to spend a lot of money for a good system, in fact the days when you have to pay a lot of money every month for a good security system are quickly going away too. IP Camera Hosting is quickly dropping in price, and with it a whole new array of opportunities is starting to appear. No longer will you need some kind of server to store the camera data, it will all be stored on the cloud from now on. This will make it easier and cheaper to run home security in the future.
Fingerprint Scanning Devices ten years ago seemed like a distant idea for the rich class only. Now days this is something that exists on smart phones, tablets, laptops, and a few homes as well. The technology still has a ways to go, but in the next few years we will start to see it entering homes, and when it does it will make picking locks much more difficult than it already is.
As technology that catches criminals improves the expense keeps getting cheaper. Gone are the days when companies had to hire security guards to constantly be on watch. Many companies are switching over to services where a third party is alerted whenever there is suspicious activity, and that third part can than decide on the course of action. What this does is it cuts down on costs as well as false alarms. As these companies continue to come up with better surveillance technology we will start to see a large drop in price as they are able to take on more customers. This means that these services will no longer be locked in with big companies, but will now be an option for the common house owner as well.
One of the biggest changes that the internet of things has brought to homes is the ability to control your home while you are away. You can now change the temperature, lock the doors, turn off the lights, and even turn on your T.V. while you are away. One security benefit of having this technology is the ability to know if anything is removed. For instance if a burglar enters your house and removes your T.V. suddenly you could receive a message on your phone, that tells you someone has unplugged your T.V. These types of messages can be programmed so well that you can receive for just about anything, for instance if your front door opens while you’re away on vacation. Now imagine that you also have control over your home alarm, you can check your IP hosted camera and see who is in your house and then sound the alarm if you need to.
The possibilities are endless, and the low cost involved in setting up these types of protections will allow the majority of households to set up powerful home security systems in the future.