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By Kenneth Saxe, MCSE, MCSA, MCPS, MCNPS, CNE
Senior Technical Consultant
SN Business Solutions, LLP
Like thousands of other parents I was shocked and appalled to see the most recent "nanny cam" video of a woman repeatedly shaking a 5-month-old baby in her care. If you are a parent of a young child or if you have an elderly parent living with you have you considered adding a "nanny cam" or "elder care giver cam?" It's now easier and cheaper than you may think.
When our son was a new born we purchased a video baby monitor. It came with a small camera and small monitor. It worked well. We could watch him while he was napping during the day or at night when we heard him sneeze or become restless.
Recently I purchased a refurbished Linksys compact wireless camera (model WVC54GC) from Buy.com for $43. This small device had the features I was looking for in a wireless camera: able to send live video to my home network wirelessly, viewable from any Internet accessible Windows PC anywhere; built-in stand-alone web server, no PC necessary; security mode automatically sends email alerts with video clips upon motion detection; support for up to four simultaneous remote users.
If you wish to take advantage of the camera's wireless capabilities and secure broadcast over the Internet via remote access, you should already have in place the following:
1. High-speed Internet such as cable or DSL
2. A secured wireless router preferably a Linksys for ease of compatibility. The wireless should be secured with WEP or WPA.
The Linksys camera uses a straight forward web-based administration utility to configure the device. Setup was simple especially if you just wanted the basics. It did require a brief review of the manual and help screens to do a few of the advanced features such as viewing live video from the camera over the Internet away from home and setting up the motion detection features.
Within just a couple hours I had the camera configured for the following: able to view or record live video on my home PC at specific times or when motion is detected, able to view live video from Windows-based PCs away from home with an Internet connection, and finally able to receive emails with recorded video whenever motion is detected within a specific area of the camera's viewpoint.
It is unfortunate that we must even consider adding video surveillance to protect our children and parents from those that would do harm to them. However technology now makes this type of monitoring practical and cost efficient even for the sheer peace of mind.
Wireless cameras can also benefit business owners. A business owner can install wireless cameras in the office or warehouse and be notified by email if there is any activity outside of normal business hours.
| If these initiatives concern you, please contact Ken Saxe at 717-757-6999 or 800-745-8233, or send him an email by using the form below. Along with the many technical services they offer, SNBS provides Internet and website consulting srvices. Ken is also the co-host of the Technology Trust podcasts. Ken's blog is available at http://www.kensaxe.com/. |
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