Indoor security cameras are an important part of any smart home security system. Alarms and cameras help keep your home and family safe, while deterring criminals and making your smart home even smarter. Security cameras for the home can even get you insurance discounts. And more and more often, they’re becoming a key part of an effective emergency response – thanks to the benefits of video verification.
You Can Use Security Cameras for Home Alarm Video Verification
There are two ways security cameras can assist in alarm verification. When an alarm is triggered, customers have the first opportunity to view what’s going on by pulling up the live video stream or viewing recorded video clips of the active alarm. After looking at the video via the InTouch™ app, customers can quickly verify that the alarm is real or cancel the alarm if it’s false. This action will immediately notify the CPI Security monitoring center to expedite or cancel response to the alarm. This feature is key to CPI’s alarm experience and reduces false alarms by more than 30%.
Alarm systems and security cameras have an important partner, your professional monitoring center. With your permission, professionals at your monitoring center can view your indoor security cameras during an alarm event. Cameras like CPI Security’s indoor camera will record clips when alarm events occur, creating a real-time record of what’s happening. Your monitoring station can confirm the alarm is real and assist first responders by sharing key information about what’s happening inside.
Indoor Security Cameras with Video Verification Improve Emergency Response Times
In most jurisdictions, police agencies prioritize responses when there’s confirmation of a human presence, a threat or damage to property, and a threat to life. By having an indoor security camera, your professional monitoring center can visually verify a threat and provide information to authorities to substantiate an escalated response. In layman’s terms, first responders could get to the emergency faster if they know it’s for an emergency that’s been visually verified.
Similarly, indoor security cameras and the in-app customer response option can help reduce calling first responders for false alarms. We all have a responsibility to use our alarm systems responsibly, so we aren’t waste important community resources. The less time first responders spend on false alarms, the more time they can spend on actual emergencies.
Law Enforcement Can Respond More Effectively With Indoor Security Cameras
When an alarm is visually verified, first responders will not only get there faster, they’ll know exactly what they’re walking into. Your monitoring center can forward the video clip to first responders before they arrive. Having the video clip can help first responders identify the perpetrator, who may still be in the area, as they arrive.
If the incident results in criminal charges, the video clips from your indoor security cameras can provide vital evidence to authorities. From the moment an intruder breaks in until the moment they’re convicted and sentenced, home security alarms and cameras are powerful allies in fighting crime.
And because video verification dramatically reduces the number of false alarm calls, it’s more likely that first responder resources will be available and ready to go in a real emergency.
Pro Tip: Wide-view indoor security cameras provide even more detail. The CPI Security 180° Indoor Camera gives you and your monitoring station a clearer view of key spaces in your home. So, you can see if someone’s headed upstairs to family bedrooms, or down the hall to a study filled with expensive tech or collections.
Best Practices for Installing Indoor Security Cameras to Avoid False Alarms
For complete coverage of your home and video verification when you need it most, the best bet is a professionally installed and monitored home security system with indoor cameras, from a provider like CPI Security. Our 24/7 monitoring service includes video verification, for alarm support when it matters most.
Whether you go with a pro or decide to DIY, having properly installed home alarm cameras makes a big difference. Here are some factors that help you make the most of your indoor security cameras and their video verification abilities:
- Number: The right number of security cameras for your home is a personal preference regarding privacy and depends on other factors like how big your home is, how many floors it has, how many people live there, and where the most valuable items are kept in your home or property.
- Location: Start with your ground floor main entrance, other ground floor spaces you pass often to enter or exit the home (like a garage-adjacent mudroom), and the main hallways of upstairs floors. You may also want cameras in particular rooms like a children’s nursery.
- Type: Consider which spaces will benefit from a standard versus wide-view camera, as the latter not only provides greater coverage, but often includes additional communication features for those in the home.
- Objective: While most cameras are used to protect and detect incidents in your home, however many people have cameras to monitor children or elderly parents, to view and check in on pets or to monitor teen activity.
These and other factors make it easier for a central monitoring station to verify an alarm using your indoor security cameras, and to provide critical information during and after an emergency.
How CPI Security Respects Your Privacy
Many people are wary about getting an indoor security camera out of fear the cameras could be hacked. CPI Security takes customer privacy concerns very seriously and has strict protocols to uphold the integrity of each security system.
First, CPI Security will never access a camera unless authorized to do so by the customer. CPI will only access cameras during alarm activation or if you gave authorization during a service visit. All remote access is logged in your system history for your awareness.
Secure access, transmission and storage of your video is an important part of your solution. All CPI live video streams are encrypted and sent over a secure VPN connection to your app, browser access, or when viewed by the monitoring station. Cloud stored video clips and locally stored videos are also encrypted for your protection and privacy. The inTouchTM app also offers two-factor authentication, which is highly recommend by CPI. This ensures that users need both a login credential authorized by the owner and secondary verification like text, email or authentication app to log into the inTouch to view live or stored video.
There’s no question that it’s a good idea to have a professionally installed and monitored home alarm and camera system to verify alarms and cancel false alarms. CPI Security offers 24/7 monitoring, with an emergency response team that responds to alarms and relays vital information to first responders in real time. Get started today.
