Alarming

While really not directly about Voice Over, you do have some valuable equipment tied up in your home studio.  Of course, not to mention just your "normal" belongings.  So, especially in tis day and time, you need to do something to protect your stuff.

Some folks go through an alarm company and have their place secured that ay.  No way am I knocking that approach, but sometimes the monthly maintenance cost might be tough to absorb...especially if you're just starting out and money is tight.  So, I sought a way I could keep an eye on my place without monthly fees.

My choice was a wireless webcam.  I figured (maybe wrongly) that if an alarm company monitoring my place got an alarm, they'd call the police.  So, avoiding the middle man, I figured the webcam would do the trick.

I chose a Foscam FI8910W.  It's not top of the line, 720p, etc. In fact, it look as though it's no longer being sold.  But, I wasn't planning on providing any crook that broke into my house with 8x10 portraits.  I just needed something to give me a good image and alert me of someone breaking in.  I picked on up on Amazon for about $64.  They have other, more improved models starting at $70.

What's cool about this camera is it has a built-in motion sensor and alarm software.  It takes a bit to tie it into your wireless network, but if you follow the directions you should be able to set it up in no time.  Once tied to your network, you can go into the camera software and set the times you want the motion detection alarm active, how many seconds between pictures and aim the camera to give you good coverage.  You set it up so that it sends an email to you if there is an alarm (thus, avoiding the middle man).  Accompanying the email are snapshots of whomever created the motion.  I also have it set up so that it also uploads the same pictures to my web server in case I accidentally delete them from my phone.

Using an app for my Android phone, I have it set up that the phone makes a distinctive alert sound whenever it receives an email from the camera (I gave the camera it's own email address).  There are similar apps out there that do the same thing for iPhone.  That way I don't just dismiss an alarm thinking it's just a "normal" email.

With some back-up power supplies (not very expensive) I can insure no one can kill the power to my house and get around the system.  Once set up, your computer doesn't have to be on, just the camera and your router.  If you're delayed or your schedule away from home changes, you can adjust the "alarm active" settings through a secure website (FYI, the camera and web site are only secure if you change the default passwords right off the bat).  As long as your phone is connected to your carrier or WiFi you'll know almost instantaneously someone is in your house.  And you can send the police pictures of the crook.

Maybe not the most secure way of safeguarding your belongings, but for less an $70 you'll have some piece of mind that someone is watching over your place.