Why safety and security have become so popular in the smart tech world
Surveillance and security have become a serious priority for South African homeowners. And it shows, with the global security industry predicted to surpass $100 billion by 2020 as more and more people invest in smarter home security systems.
Nowadays, a strong deadbolt simply won’t cut it as we look towards surveillance products that fully integrate with our home networking systems and smart devices. Read on to find out everything you need to know about smart surveillance in 2018 – from why it’s so important to the types of products you should be investing in.
Why is home security so important?
No matter what kind of household you live in, everyone craves the comfort of knowing that their family is safe and sound. And with burglary still a prominent issue here in South Africa, home surveillance has become a top priority to combat crime in our country. But just how bad is the current crime climate?
The South African Police Force released the country’s latest crime statistics from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 at the end of October 2017, and the results were rather sobering. House burglary was reported as the most feared crime in South Africa in its Victims of Crime survey, with 246,654 home burglaries in 2016/17 – an average of 675.8 houses every day.
So what can you do to reduce your burglary risk? South Africans need to be more active in protecting their own homes and start getting smarter about home security. Fortunately, technological advancements are changing what’s possible and safety and security are becoming a big focus of the smart home.
Start with smarter lighting
For illuminating security, choose a smart LED lighting system. MyLights by MyPlace Africa allows you to instantly turn on all your indoor and outdoor MyLights from the comfort of your couch, bed or even the car, so you’ll always have peace of mind. That means if you hear a noise in the middle of the night, you can investigate from the safety of a brightly lit home immediately.
Speaking of bright lights, it’s a well-known fact that burglars want to remain unseen and will avoid well-lit homes like the plague. Therefore, installing a reliable smart lighting system like MyLights that turns the selected lights on automatically, will present more risk to any potential intruders and deter them from entering the home.
Better yet, with our MyPlace smartphone app you can even make it appear like you’re home while you’re on holiday. Connected to the MyPlace home hub, the app allows you to control the lighting to any room from anywhere in the world – all you need is an internet connection. That way, it’ll be harder to determine if anyone is home or not, making intruders less likely to enter.
MyLights is also hardwired and electronically controlled from one central hub within the home, making it practically impossible for the cables to be tampered with from the outside. So with no wires in sight, it decreases the chances of your system being manipulated by unwelcome intruders and adds yet another layer to your home security system.
And for even tighter control, you can manage visibility with our scheduled lighting options. Here’s some of our top picks for programmed preferences courtesy of our MyAir 2:
- MyWelcome: MyWelcome is like a master switch for your MyLights system – and it’s also great for making you feel safer. One touch of MyWelcome turns on all the lights you’d like to come home, so now you can always arrive home safely.
- Sunset: Sunset looks to the internet for the sunset time in your current location and then turns on your pre-selected scene, with up to 10 scenes that can be programmed. So if you’re working late or going out for the night and want to make it look like you’re home, the Sunset feature automatically turns the lights on.
- Scheduling: Thanks to Scheduling, you can run a scene up to once a day, each day of the week for further control of the security in your home. Simply choose a time you would like that scene to run and then select the days on which you want that to occur. It’s perfect for people with active lifestyles who want to make it look like they’re home when they’re not. You can also leave the schedule running while you’re on holiday and it will look like you’re at home, going about life as usual.
Want to make sure your family is always protected? Talk to MyPlace Africa about installing MyLights today for a safer tomorrow.
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