hurray your mega menu works

National Home Security Month – Week 5: Smart Security

A look at smart security technology from entry level to uber high-tech

Smart security is a catch-all buzz phrase for security systems that are adaptive, intelligent and can be managed remotely. Smart security systems cover a range of technology from burglar alarms that alert you when the alarm is activated to CCTV cameras that know the difference between a family member and a stranger.

Many people will already have some kind of smart security technology, even if they don’t recognise it as such: speech diallers on alarms that text you when the alarm is activated; CCTV with remote online login; and smart apps that control lighting and curtains for when you’re away on holiday. All these are smart systems.

Other smart measures that you may not be aware of include locks that can be opened using your smartphone or biometric technology such as fingerprint or retina scanning, apps that allow you to operate your alarm or locks remotely and connect to CCTV (so, for example, you could allow someone access without giving them a key) and CCTV cameras equipped with sophisticated facial recognition technology that can tell you which family members are at home and alert you if a stranger enters your property.

Adoption of this more advanced technology is still relatively low, despite many experts heralding it as the next big thing some years ago. There may be several reasons why; the cost has been prohibitive, as new technology often is; people are naturally wary – especially when it comes to sharing information online and via the cloud and the potential problems that could be caused if a smartphone, armed with such capabilities were to fall into the wrong hands, both representing a security risk in themselves; and of course, some people are just unaware of what’s available. However, as other smart systems, such as being able to control heating remotely through systems such as Hive, become more mainstream it does seem likely that many of these new security technologies will become more commonplace.

We’ve all probably seen the media reporting on the smart homes of the future where everything is automated and remotely managed but actually, much of the technology is available now, it’s just a case of waiting for it to filter down. Watch this space!

This is the final week of National Home Security Month for 2015. We hope that you’ve learned something useful over the last month. You can catch up on the posts from each themed week below and we’ll be posting all the Q&As from our #AskCalder initiative at the end of the month.