Home Security: now with streaming video
By john on Jul 18, 2008 in Home Security, featured
I’ve had my home security system for a few weeks now, and let me just say - I still love it. While I have had some minor issues with sensor placement, the company (FrontPoint) has been very good, thorough and fast about resolving the issues and helping me be sure I’m getting the best coverage possible.
I’ve also had a chance to see the response times of their central station, and I was pleased with the results. I’ve accidentally set off the alarm twice (both within the last week, actually) - once when leaving, and once first thing in the morning. The first time it was a full on alarm - and they called to verify everything was OK. They followed procedures, got my pass phrase and made sure everything was alright. They also called about 15 - 20 seconds after the alarm went into full alarm state.
The second time I was able to disarm the system before it went to full alarm state - they didn’t call as fast (presumably because it recieved the proper disarm code), but DID call within two minutes to verify with me that everything was, in fact, OK.
The latest technological addition to my system is a security camera. The unit is an alarm.com wireless video camera that is integrated into the alarm.com features FrontPoint offers their clients. This enables you to view a live feed from the camera from any internet enabled computer through your alarm.com enabled portal - but it ALSO means you can do so from many cell phones and pdas as well. In fact on my iPhone (1st gen, sadly, 3G is sold out here) it works great - even streaming over an edge connection. It’s not SMOOTH video, but it’s passable if you want to see what’s going on at home and edge is all you’ve got.
A representative from FrontPoint told me that the video image quality was surprisingly good, and that he thought I’d be quite happy with it - and he was quite correct - it’s got good image quality for a camera it’s size, streaming over a network.
The service, which is between $5 and $10 extra a month (prices subject to change, as I don’t control them!) Isn’t too expensive and it allows for several cameras from the same location (I’m not sure exactly how many but I think at least up to 4 cameras).
The camera’s mount is a durable metal mount that comes with mounting screws (and drywall anchors) and allows it to swivel wherver you need it pointed. It’s wireless, but has a network port to be run wired if that’s your cup of tea (initial configuration requires it to be hooked up wired to the router).
Cool features of the service include the ability to record video upon certain events happening (like, if your alarm is triggered), or even when it detects motion. Those video recordings can then be emailed to you automatically if you so choose, and are stored on your account portal to view at will. This is pretty slick as I can have the system automatically capture evidence for me in the event of a breakin. Going one step further than that, you could have it set up to monitor say, your liquor cabinet, and record when it detects motion in front of the cabinet - then when you go to confront your kid about why he/she snuck into the booze - you’ll have evidence showing them do it.
So - while I think the camera is great, and am quite happy with the product - are there any downsides? Yes.
The one BIG downside, and possibly the only real gripe I have with the camera, is that any configuration you want to do on it has to be done using Internet Explorer. This is, IMO, a design flaw. I’m a Mac user primarily, backed up by Linux workstations - I rarely use Windows, and IE is not cross platform. This essentially means that any user who wants to use this camera HAS to have a Windows computer if they want to set it up or modify the configuration. Luckily for me I have a laptop that has Windows on board.
That is an issue that *SHOULD* be solveable, though I think that would need to be done on the Alarm.com side, and not the FrontPoint side - and outside of that one issue i’ve yet to find something I didn’t like about the camera - and the service.
Overall I give the service and hardware an A. The hardware and service works great - even over slower edge connections (you will get reduced FPS, but it will work). The downside, and thing I wish would be fixed, is the dependence on IE for configuration.
If you’re looking for a good, relatively inexpensive and fully interactive way to have video monitoring coverage of your home - the alarm.com camera system is a great choice. You can get the system from any of the alarm.com authorized providers, though I have my hardware and service from FrontPoint Security Solutions and am very happy with the service, personnel and support.
I still recommend you shop around and do your homework, but definitely give FrontPoint a look.
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John- thanks for taking the time to review FrontPoint’s new Interactive Video service! Let me start by saying that I am an employee of FrontPoint.
I wanted to comment quickly on a few things in your posting:
(1) To verify what you said above, with respect to central station response times, you’re absolutely correct… we do prioritize “alarm” signals ahead of other “non-alarm” signals, including “cancels”. A “cancel” is simply when you do input a disarm code shortly after the alarm is triggered. This prioritization allows us to ensure that unverified alarms get the fastest possible response time. I hope you are pleased with our overall response times — 20-30 seconds for an alarm and ~2-minutes for a cancel. We’re proud to offer our customers some of the best response times in the industry;
(2) with respect to FrontPoint Security’s new Interactive Video offering, you mentioned between $5-10/mo. I wanted to clarify because we are currently running a great promotion - and offering the service for FREE through 12/31/08. For customers who sign up during this promotion, the monthly charge will be $5 for up to 4 cameras and $10 for up to 8 cameras. We haven’t released pricing for customers who sign up after the promotion. You can learn more at http://www.frontpointsecurity.com/choose/product/wireless-camera;
and (3) with respect to using Internet Explorer… we hear you! We do get lots of interest in using other browsers, especially from Mac users such as yourself. As we do with all our services, we’re constantly working with Alarm.com to improve our existing services and features offered through MyFrontPoint.com and release new features to help customers get more from their systems. Stay tuned!
Again, thanks for taking the time to post on the new Interactive Video services. I hope you continue to enjoy them.
Christopher Villar | Jul 19, 2008 | Reply
Chris,
Thanks for the response, especially the disclosure of your employment with FrontPoint.
To your points:
1 - yes I am quite happy with the response times, and that the employees who called were polite, made sure to ask for my passphrase and genuinely seemed to care about what was going on. I appreciated that. I completely understand the difference in response times; different events warrant different responses.
2 - I appreciate the clarification there - and that IS a nice promotion. Sweet deal!
3 - I will stay tuned
As I mentioned, it isn’t a deal breaker for me, but does make things a tad more challenging. The fact that I can view streaming video on my iphone over edge…. that makes up for it 
john | Jul 19, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for you assessment John. The training and verification abilities of central station employees make all the difference with the effectiveness of a home security system. Every burglar alarm company needs to give focused attention on the false alarm problem across the country.
Pamela | Jul 21, 2008 | Reply