Safety and Security

Security is often the primary reason for installing a home network. Adding features to an alarm system can provide an easy way to incrementally integrate home systems. With the security system acting as the brain of a home's network, information on occupancy, motion and the condition of doors and windows can be used to improve the performance of many home systems. Sensors that detect smoke, carbon monoxide, moisture, daylight, wind, power outages and even the "sound signature" of a tornado can be integrated into alarm and home systems to provide a complete picture of what is going on inside and outside a home.

Home networks can give new meaning to the term "electronic baby-sitter" by watching the kids when you are not home. By integrating the systems in a home (fire and burglar alarms, appliances, speakers and microphones, closed circuit TV and the telephone), parents can maintain a virtual presence at home while they work. For example, if the kids are to be home at a predetermined time, the house can be programmed to call you at work if they do not arrive when they are supposed to. The same system can call you when they do arrive home from school. The TV can be set not to come on until after homework time and various appliances can be rendered inoperable until you are there to provide adult supervision. With a link to the fire and burglar alarms, a home automation system can notify you and your closest neighbors that there is an emergency.

For parents or people working at home, there are a number of things that can keep the children safe while they are out of your sight. Small cameras and microphones can be placed in an infant's room. The sound can be channeled through any or all stereos in the house and the video viewed on a computer screen or on any TV. Most of these options are available remotely as well, via phone or Internet.

Security systems can be given some "muscle" in the form of motorized windows and door locks. Gates, skylights and drapes can also be automated, either as stand-alone units or as part of an alarm or home automation system. Many motorized windows and skylights come with small rain sensors and close automatically when the weather turns bad; and drape controllers can be configured to open and close depending on the time of day or position of the sun.

There are several alert or notification options available as well. The traditional siren is still part of most security systems, but surveil-lance cameras and microphones can give a home's occupants a view of what is going on from the relative safety of their bedroom. Remote monitoring and notification devices can be added to most security systems to ensure that everyone who should know there is a problem can be found and notified. Autodialers, for example, dial phone numbers and play a prerecorded message alerting someone that there is trouble. Many systems can call several locations until the homeowner is found and enters a security code.

More advanced systems offer the homeowner the ability to hear and even see what is happening inside the house in real time. When checking in from a computer, the view from strategically placed cameras can be seen via the Internet. Remote users can even control networked devices through a Web based interface. Answer and unlock the door for a repairman from your office computer. Or check on the lawn and start the sprinklers from your laptop when you are out of town.

Home networking offers passive triggering options such as voice recognition which can respond to a cry for help or sensors that detect a lack of movement, listen for sounds that might accompany an emergency (like breaking glass) or monitor a person's vital signs as they sleep. Some systems can be set to trigger an alarm when something does not happen, like the person doesn't get out of bed at the usual time.

The greatest advantage however comes from the integration of several components and the coordination of responses. Automation systems can be configured to respond to an alert by turning on all the lights in the apartment and unlocking the door, making paramed-ics' job easier. They can turn off all appliances to avoid the risk of fire if the injured person was cooking at the time. Some systems can call many different numbers until they reach a family member who could then listen and talk to the injured person via speaker phone or in-wall speakers and microphones.

Article provided by Homesteader.