Security and surveillance systems have become a lot more powerful over the past decade, and it's easier to customize systems to fit your specific needs. Just as desktop computers and faster internet have lead to great portability advances in modern smartphones, tablet computers, audio technology, and cameras, your security system has a lot of modern benefits to tap into. Here are a few newer alarm and surveillance system features, along with ways to tailor the experience to your needs.

Better Cameras And Easier Reporting

Whether it's a webcam or smartphone, cameras are a lot better at a much lower price than in the past decade. If you've dealt with grainy camera quality in the 1990's or early 2000's, the boost of quality is even higher than switching to high definition (HD).

Modern cameras can record at the basic level of HD at 720p, and can go as far as 4K if you're willing to invest. The 720p option is the best entry level option, since the lowest quality will have more affordable ways to bring in additional options such as motion detection, low light visibility, and thermal secondary recording. The last part is a bit overkill, but a much more achievable possibility if you stick with the cheaper camera options.

For alarms and motion sensors, there are more ways to send out alerts. The old feature set of each systems would be able to make an audible alarm, a silent alarm to emergency services, or both options. Now, you can add alerts to your email or a phone app.

The easiest option is a combination of all alerts, but there are times where you may not want the most aggressive reporting turned on. If you have a proximity alarm to pick up whenever someone enters your yard, you may simply want an email about the event. Bigger alerts can be saved for forced entry or motion detection inside the building.

Connecting New Security To Computers

A home or business computer is just as good as a security system recording deck, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

Before anything else, be sure to clear any changes to the system with a security installation professional. Even if you're a computer expert, you may be missing a few physical security best practices that you can't know at a deeper level without experience. Connecting cables to your computer instead of a professionally-installed recording deck can expose your cabling to thieves who can use the exposure as a way to disable your systems. Wi-Fi--no matter how secure you think it can be with secure changes--may still have physical tampering vulnerabilities.

If and when the secure concerns are cleared, connecting most modern security systems to a computer system is simple for anyone who knows how to connect a printer to a computer and get it working. That is, it's simple for most people, but the setup can fail for days if you're not familiar with computers.

Look for surveillance cameras that are labeled as computer friendly, or that use common computer video connection types such as HDMI, DVI, or the older VGA connection. You could even find some systems with recording decks that allow computer connection.

Once connected, you can view the camera just like a webcam on the computer. Video can be viewed and recorded as files using any number of recording software options, or uploaded to sites such as YouTube.

Contact a security and alarm systems company like Tele-Plus to discuss other options for configuration.

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