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20 Home Security Tips

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Angee, the new Kickstarter campaign that raised over $250,000 already, will revolutionize home security in more ways than one. Meanwhile, get going on these 20 home security tips: ANG3

  • Keep all doors and windows locked at all times. Yes, on hot summer days it’s tempting to keep windows open, but at least be very discriminate about this.
  • Keep the garage door closed at all times, even on hot days. But if you’re positive that leaving it slightly open cools the rest of the house, limit this to about four inches.
  • Reinforce doors with door jamb reinforcements.
  • All doors should have high grade deadbolts.
  • All first-story and basement windows should have Charlie bars, rods or gadgets that prevent horizontally-sliding windows from being slid open.
  • The address numbers for your house should be big and easy for first responders to see.
  • Though you may not care what your grass looks like when not cut, burglars do. That’s because a lawn that looks like it hasn’t been cared for in a while makes burglars think nobody’s been home for weeks…
  • And speaking of which, burglars also notice if paper delivery has been accumulating, or the house is always dark in the evenings. If you’re away a lot or don’t use much lighting when you’re home, use automatic lighting devices.
  • Never put a note on any door outside that says you’ll “be back in a few.”
  • Before you go out on errands, put the phone’s ringer on mute so that burglars don’t hear unanswered rings.
  • Before dusk approaches, close curtains and blinds. A favorite way burglars case houses is to look inside when it’s dark.
  • Never smoke when drowsy and always rinse butts before tossing them.
  • Never hide spare keys near your front door; a burglar will find them. Give to a trusted neighbour or other adult.
  • Put valuables in a safe—preferably a big one (small safes are often stolen without being picked open on the spot).
  • Doors should have peepholes. Never open the door if you can’t tell who’s there and are not expecting anyone.
  • Have a smoke alarm on each floor.
  • Devise a fire escape plan and then regularly drill the family in it.
  • Always turn off hot things like curling irons when you’re not using them.
  • Never leave anything burning while you’re outside the house.
  • Flammable items should be kept away from the house. This includes dried up leaves and brush.

Robert Siciliano, personal and home security specialist to Angee. Learn more about Angee in this Video. Support Angee on Kickstarter. See Disclosures.

Surveillance Video captures Home Invasion

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A man was assaulted by three or four men when he arrived home, through his garage door at 5:40 a.m. It’s very apparent that the attackers knew he’d be arriving home at around this time and decided to wait for him, says a report at ksla.com.

2BThis recent home invasion occurred in the Dogwood South subdivision in Louisiana. Though video surveillance recorded the crime, it’s not clear who the assailants are, as they were masked. Detectives are working hard at getting some leads.

The man, along with his wife, were bound with duct-tape. The man suffered minor injuries. The couple’s two young children were not harmed. The assailants made off with money and jewelry.

Needless to say, neighbors are unraveled, and the victims do not want to appear on camera for a news interview. The presence of police that lingered around the victims’ house went anything but unnoticed, so a post went up on the sheriff’s department Facebook page.

Rumors had developed that there were more home invasions in Dogwood South, but the Facebook page straightened this out by reporting “This simply isn’t true.”In fact, it’s been a very long time since the last home invasion in this area.

Residents should not equate the vehicle burglaries in the area with the crime of home invasion.

The Facebook post is asking that people call in tips to 318-965-2203.

I guess the good news is that, unlike some home invaders, these crumbs spared their victims’ lives. But now the victims probably keep wondering if the assailants, who were armed, will return.

Could home invaders be waiting for you? You just never know. Certainly, the victim in this story never thought something like this could happen as he arrived home.

  • Have pepper spray in your home and car, ready to pull out.
  • Look carefully around before you exit your car in the dark.
  • Have the pepper spray in your hand.
  • Close the garage immediately; don’t let it linger open.
  • Make sure no obscuring shrubbery is growing near any entrances to your house or near any windows.
  • Before entering your car, even if it’s been in the garage, look in the back seat. You just never know if a dangerous person could have somehow gotten in and is waiting for you.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Do It yourself home security getting easier

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How would you like a home security system that’s also your personal assistant? Angee Inc., a new company out of San Francisco, knows you’d like one.

ANG2Features of the Angee Device

  • Smartphone controlled
  • Has a Full HD camera with night vision.
  • Learns habits of and senses presence of household members to automatically arm and disarm.
  • Camera rotates 360 degrees—and does so as it detects motion; intruders will not be able to get out of view while they’re burglarizing.
  • Security tags provide security of a property’s entire perimeter, so that entrance via a tagged door or window will be detected.

Furthermore, says an article on gizmag.com:

  • The Angee system is portable, is powered by a battery and has local data storage.
  • So if there’s a power outage, Angee will be able to keep monitoring your home for at least eight hours.
  • Angee can record about an hour of high definition footage, and longer at lower quality.
  • Footage can also be stored in the cloud. However, Angee can distinguish between benign activity and suspicious activity, so there shouldn’t be any useless footage time.

How can Angee tell suspicious activity from normal activity?

  • It learns to recognize the movement patterns of household members. Intruders move differently.
  • Burglars also enter and exit their target homes in a peculiar manner.
  • If the burglar has an accomplice, there’s likely to be conversation, and Angee will detect these unfamiliar voices.
  • Angee will recognize familiar people by their voice or by a Bluetooth signal that connects with their smartphone.
  • If the Angee user has an iOS or Android, they will receive an alert when Angee detects suspicious activity; Angee will then stream video of this activity.

The gizmag.com article further explains that Angee can be controlled by voice commands, including recognition of vocal passwords. Angee is practically human, as it can even remind you to close windows if rain is predicted. It can also check your calendar and answer the phone. There are many ways the user can “program” Angee to behave, and Angee also gets smarter and more personalized the longer you have it in your home.

Through a Kickstarter campaign, Angee Inc., has raised over $260,000 and is still going. The unit is projected to retail at $429, and the expected delivery date is October of 2016.

Robert Siciliano, personal and home security specialist to Angee. Learn more about Angee in this Video. Support Angee on Kickstarter. See Disclosures.

Introducing Angee Home Security

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Meet Angee.

ANG2Angee (pronounced like Angie) will revolutionize home security in more ways than one. One of the features that sets Angee apart from other home security systems is that this system can learn about you and your family members, and then operate accordingly. Angee is the future, but this future is now here.

Check out what Angee offers:

  • Operates even during a power outage due to a built-in battery and 1.5 Gb storage.
  • Is small and portable, a handsome cylindrical design that can blend in with home decor.
  • Has data military grade encryption.
  • Motion and proximity detection tags that can be quickly and easily placed at all entryways and windows, so you need only one of the small portable units, regardless of the size of your house. Thus, a detection tag in a room on the third floor will allow the Angee unit, which is on the first floor, to tell when someone enters that third-floor room.
  • Recognition of household members’
  • Can connect to your mobile device, tablet or smartwatch.
  • Operation is voice controlled (as well as via smartphone) and includes personal-assistant-type tasks such as answering the phone.
  • Surveillance cameras (which rotate 360 degrees) that will follow intruders by detecting their presence; there’s no escaping “getting caught on tape.” But if you don’t want Angee to watch you during an intimate moment, no problem; just say “Turn away.” And remember, if the burglar says “Turn away,” Angee will disobey because it won’t recognize his voice.
  • Zero subscription fees.
  • The projected retail price will be $429.

The Birth of Angee

Angee Inc., is a start-up company that formed about a year and a half ago. Its founders had an ultra-strong vision and thus, introduced their system on Kickstarter. The founders needed experts in serial production, so hence teamed up with Dragon Innovation.

Who are the founders?

Tomas Turek is a serial software entrepreneur. He and his team have been working tirelessly for over 18 months to bring Angee to life.

If you’d like to support this futuristic layer of home security to bring it to the present, go to the Kickstarter campaign.

Robert Siciliano, personal and home security specialist to Angee. Learn more about Angee in this Video. Support Angee on Kickstarter. See Disclosures.

Self-Monitored Security System Market heating up

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The Angee home security system is the only one with a video camera that rotates 360 degrees as it detects motion. And this high definition camera has smart zones; you can set up specific zones for monitoring. But Angee is more than just a video surveillance setup. It’s a self-monitored home security system, points out an article on securitygem.com.

ANG1Angee isn’t the first self-monitored home security system that allows the user to view a crime at their home in real-time. However, one feature in particular distinguishes Angee from other similar systems. And that is the versatility of the security tags.

So let’s say the small cylindrical Angee unit is on a cocktail table in your living room, and you have numerous windows throughout the house’s many rooms, and other door entries. Just slap a tag on these other windows and doors. When a tag detects activity it will send an alert to your smartphone (Angee comes with an app for this).

  • The tags will detect motion via two motion sensors including the one that fitness researchers use to measure a person’s daily physical activity: the accelerometer.
  • The motion sensors will also detect open and close movement, such as that from a window.
  • The tags, along with the base unit, will detect movement.
  • You can also activate or deactivate Angee with your voice alone, and if someone else who’s unauthorized speaks the same password, Angee will reject it.

Though one of Angee’s competitors also uses tags, its tags don’t provide the extent of operation that Angee’s does, such as the detection of motion or voice arm/disarm. Angee is also the only such system that can answer your phone.

Unlike one of its competitors, Angee lacks a flood sensor and a few other features like an outdoor smart switch. Angee also does not integrate with other online services yet.

But if you’re primarily interested in home security, the absence of some of these other features won’t be a big deal. Angee makes up for this absence with some cool features like night vision and sound detection (though it’s not the only system that has these features), plus limited free cloud storage.

Robert Siciliano, personal and home security specialist to Angee. Learn more about Angee in this Video. Support Angee on Kickstarter. See Disclosures.

Winter Vacation Home Security

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Planning a trip? Thinking of having your snail mail and newspaper delivery placed on a vacation hold so that thieves casing your neighborhood won’t see a pile-up of these items?

2HWell, there’s a better option, because what if…just what if…a crook works for the post office or newspaper company and keeps track of all of these vacation holds? They’ll know for sure you’re gone and will rob you, or at least try to. Have a trusted adult retrieve your mail and newspaper.

Next up for protecting your possessions is a rule that cannot be said too often: Never post your travel plans on social media! The number of people who do this daily is alarming, and this includes posting while on the vacation as well, putting up photos of the beach and boasting about the weather, scenery, etc. A thief reading this is like a dog watching you put steak in his bowl.

Another tactic is to install timed lighting devices so that your house isn’t perpetually dark, or perpetually lit up, which looks almost as suspicious.

Are you still continuing to put off getting a home security system? For as little as about $10/month your home can be monitored, but more provisional systems are still reasonable at $30 a month. The system should alert law enforcement if someone breaks in. Complement the home security with video surveillance. Today’s systems allow you to access them remotely.

Additional Tips for Home Security While You’re Away

  • Lock up all your valuables in a safe.
  • Deactivate the garage door opener.
  • Set up automatic timers that turn lights on and off.
  • Inform the police and a trusted neighbor of your travel plans.
  • Record a message on your voice mail that implies you’re home but busy.
  • Ask a neighbor to park their car in your driveway.
  • Have your grass cut to prevent overgrowth while you’re gone.
  • Make sure your car, if you’re using it to travel, is equipped for the long trip.
  • Load up the car under the cover of night or inside your garage so that nobody sees you’re prepping to be gone.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Home Security in a “Blink”

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Home monitoring, and home security, traditionally target a very specific type of customer: the homeowner who isn’t intimidated by complex set-up, has the resources to pay for installation, and who’s comfortable with monthly or annual fees. In short, a relatively small portion of the population. Blink is a unique entry into the home monitoring space: a wire-free HD home monitoring and alert system that aims to make smartphone-based home insight easy and affordable for the masses–whether they rent or own. How? By building a product around three tenets that translate into real-life benefits for its rapidly-growing community.

2BMake it easy to set up. Blink offers simple, DIY set-up that requires little technical or toolbox know-how. Its battery-powered, wire-free design makes it uniquely appealing, in that users can truly place it anywhere–on a bookshelf or desk, flush on the wall, or in a corner–without having to worry about the nearest outlet, or unsightly wires draped across their home or apartment.

Make it easy to customize and manage. Blink allows users to create a system that suits their lifestyle. Want to make sure your garage is safe? Arm Blink’s motion detection, and receive an alert and video clip if a door or window opens. Prefer to check in on your furry friend a few times a day? Activate Live View for a glimpse of what’s happening at home. Worried about a break-in? Add the optional, 105db alarm unit to ward off intruders. Temperature and status alerts round out a rich feature set that’s scheduled to expand further in 2015.

Make it affordable. With no monthly fees and systems ranging from $69 to $269, users can create a whole-house system for far less than the cost of traditional home monitoring and security products, with the flexibility to affordably expand their system as necessary.

With this user-centric approach, Blink has quickly built a community of more than 5,000 supporters and garnered over $800,000 in pre-order pledges, as well as introduced several new features–including an open API and optional alarm unit–that mark the beginning of an integrated ecosystem.

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/505428730/blink-wire-free-hd-home-monitoring-and-alert-syste