Smartphones are not labeled “smart” for no reason. Your smartphone hosts technology that can secure your home and family. From controlling home alarm systems to managing appliances in the home while you are away, your smartphone can act as your safeguard to prevent accidents and burglaries.
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1. Home Automation
It happens to the best of people. You run out of the house quickly and leave on the curling iron or coffee pot. Or you’re away from home longer than planned and want to turn on some lights to deter prowlers. Wouldn’t it be nice to control small appliances and lighting right from your smartphone? Vivint is a security app that can handle it all. It locks and unlocks doors, allows you to arm and disarm door alarms remotely, control small appliances and lighting, and gives you a live video feed of your home.
2. Home Surveillance Cameras
Sometimes you just want to monitor areas inside your home. Maybe you have small children who have a nanny. With so much going on these days, you’ll want to check in during the day. The same holds true for families with teens. You don’t want a party happening without your knowledge. Nanny cams give you real-time video and also allow the videos to be converted to pictures. You can download them to your smartphone or your computer.
The Protection 1 app is a great app to download from the Google Play store to use with your nanny or even pet cam. It has live video monitoring, gives you real-time text and email alerts, and can arm and disarm a device. Another useful feature of the Protection 1 app is that it alerts you if someone is approaching an off-limit area. This again is useful for homes with teens who may attempt to get into the liquor cabinet or for children who you want to keep away from medicine.
3. Home Alarm Systems
Home alarm systems also integrate smartphone technology. A glitch with home alarm systems is that the connection could be severed during a burglary attempt. However, if the system is connected to a smartphone, nobody can cut the phone line. A smartphone app, such as AlarmForce VideoRelay, is rated high in both the Google Play and Apple stores. This app allows you to arm and disarm your system directly from your smartphone.
No matter if your children frequently leave home during the middle of the day, you are away on vacation, or at work, you can always ensure that your home is secure. You can even communicate with a two-way voice audio system using this app. If someone is at your door, you can communicate via your smartphone once they’ve rang the bell.
Image via Flickr by Eastlaketimes
4. Security in a Snap
If your child is away at college or you have an elderly parent at home, you worry about their safety. Giving them a smartphone, such as the LG G2 is a great way to stay connected to them. You can also add a security app to these smartphones as an additional security feature. The Guardly mobile security app allows anyone with a smartphone to connect instantly with up to 15 loved ones with a single key press in the event of an emergency. They can program anyone in, including campus security. So you never have to worry about someone coming to their aid.
5. Deterrent Home Security Systems
One of the best home security systems is one that deters burglars from attempting a break-in in the first place. Digital Life, by AT&T, has a wireless light dimmer that homeowners plug into an electrical outlet. You can dim the lights in your home or turn them on using your smartphone. Burglars will assume that someone is home if you turn your lights on during a particular time, rather than the same pre-set time interval. Xfinity customers have access to a similar service. Both allow users to control the temperature as well, saving on energy bills.
As home security solutions continue to advance, you can rest assured that your smartphone apps will be updated and ready. Your smartphone has the power to interact with your entire home’s security devices cleverly.
