The idea seemed so far away five years ago when next generation model homes unveiled the unattended digital help we could apply to many of the chores we do manually from turning on lights to raising and lowering window shades to adjusting the house temperature to starting the laundry before we get home.
The aspiration has climbed further out of the laboratory box and into popular use. Remotely monitoring our homes from anywhere, which was once an exclusive benefit to the high net worth set has become increasingly accessible to sensitive budgets and the do-it-yourselfer.
“After 911, real-time security got really big,” said Jeffrey Gordon, an independent Microsoft certified engineer in Baltimore who has helped customers choose the equipment they need.
What used to be a $35,000 and up investment can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand. Almost anyone who is comfortable with loading a program on a computer and is not intimidated by directions can do it themselves using already familiar technology including a cell phone.
“Monitoring your home and the people in it is a simple technology now,” said Damion Harris chief executive officer of www.Qumulus.Us, a web-based computer technology company in Anne Arundel County.
“You can see what’s going on at home from anywhere on the Internet with low cost software and equipment.”
Automated security can let you know about anything you program it to monitor and there isn’t a need for a professional monitoring service. You can sit at the computer at work or use your laptop in the airport and look around your house and make adjustments if you wish.
If there are any dramatic changes in temperature or movement at home or a smoke alarm is set off the program can trigger alerts to be sent to you in an e-mail or text message to your cell phone rather than triggering an unnecessary call to the 911 emergency service.
Digitally network all your electronics at home to allow communication through computers to dim the lights, lower the blinds, turn up the heat and get those movie files downloaded and paused for you to see when you get home — affordably.
“The technology you use depends on your personal preferences. You can buy the cameras and the software to run it on your personal computer,” said Gordon. “All you need to do is decide what you want.
