By When the doorbell rings, how do you know who’s standing on the other side? For many people, the only way to tell is to look through the peephole. But peepholes don’t give you much more information than the fact that someone is, in fact, standing on your front porch. That’s part of why home security cameras are becoming a popular addition to residential security in Kansas City and across the country.
There are a lot of good reasons to not want to answer the door for a stranger, but until recently there haven’t been a lot of good solutions for knowing who’s standing at your door before you open it. Recent advances in home security cameras like the Ring Video Doorbell system let you keep an eye on your property and make an informed decision about opening the door. The Ring Video Doorbell offers smart motion detection that can alert you when someone is on your front porch—whether they ring the bell or not—and lets you see and talk to them via your smartphone, whether you’re just upstairs or out of town.
Standalone home security cameras like the Ring Video Doorbell are a good, cost-effective solution that can give you greater control when you answer the door, but they’re just one of the options available to homeowners who are looking for residential security in Kansas City. For a more robust solution, there are also wired camera systems that can let you know what’s going on anywhere on your property. You can record everything onto DVR for playback later, or pull up a live feed on your TV at any time.
Wired home security cameras are for more than just home security, too. They offer peace of mind, and many people use them for things like keeping an eye on the kids when they’re playing in the yard. Studies have found that 33% of intruders enter a home through the front door. Burglars and home invaders have been known to masquerade as everything from utility workmen to sales representatives and police officers. Some particularly brazen—or maybe just ironic—burglars have even posed as sales representatives for home security companies.
According to a study conducted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, most burglars attempt to determine if a house has an alarm system before attempting a home invasion. This means that burglars often probe a home in advance, looking for opportunities to strike. Most residential burglaries take place during the day, when the home is more likely to be unoccupied, so having access to something like the Ring Video Doorbell, which lets you answer the door via your phone even when you aren’t home, can discourage potential invaders.
Even if the person on the other side of your door isn’t a burglar or a home invader, answering the door when you don’t want to is a hassle, and one that the right home security cameras can help you avoid. Maybe you’re in the middle of eating dinner when the doorbell rings, or working from a home office, or on the phone. If the person on the other side of the door is selling something you don’t need, then there’s no reason to answer. This is doubly true during the hot summer or cold winter months, when opening the door lets the heat out or the cold in and drives up your energy bill accordingly.
Think about it; when you get a call from an unknown caller on your phone, you probably let it go to voicemail. Pretty much all phones come with built-in caller ID, which lets you know who’s calling before you answer. Home security cameras are like caller ID, but for your front door. And with systems like the Ring Video Doorbell, you can even give the impression that your home is occupied if it isn’t, thereby discouraging would-be burglars.
Typically, home security in Kansas City is made up of systems that include door and window sensors, motion sensors, glass break detectors, keypads, and a panel that controls it all. For many people, video cameras were the province of commercial security systems, not something that they factored into their residential security plans. But with recent advances in security camera and DVR technology, home security cameras are becoming an increasingly popular add-on for homeowners and even renters, especially external cameras that monitor entrances and let you see who’s knocking at the front door before you decide whether to answer it or not.
Want to learn more about how home security cameras can protect your home and family, and let you know who’s knocking at the door? A-TEC Residential Security in Kansas City installs home security solutions for every need, including residential home security cameras, and provides 24/7 monitoring. For more information on residential security and home security cameras, contact A-TEC Security today.