Importance of smart security during COVID-19

Why Smart Security Is Good to Have During the COVID-19 Pandemic

May 25, 2020 by Anas Mustafa

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a wave of emergencies across Canada, with restrictions on movement, business, work, and recreation. Self-isolation has suddenly and intrinsically changed our lifestyles: how we interact with people, how we monitor our assets, where we go, and so on. The security of your home and property is now even more important to stay on top of the increased risks and enjoy a sense of peace.

With people spending more time at home, there are fewer cases of home burglaries. Yet, vehicle theft in March was up 44%, while commercial break-ins increased by 45%. Indeed, staying at home doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re completely safe. You still need to improve the security of your home, property, and business. This means taking into practice every security measure available. Everything from ensuring that your doors and windows are locked when you go to sleep, to subscribing to a professional video monitoring service, to have eyes on your property and assets 24/7.

Generally, any modern security system will give you and your family peace of mind while you’re at home all day by letting you know if any of the doors are opened in a break-in. This means that your family can sleep well, knowing that if someone does try to break into the home at night, the authorities will be dispatched quickly. But with a smart home or business security system, you can enjoy many more benefits, especially following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Some of the smart security devices that you can use to manage COVID-19-related problems include:

Smart Door Lock

A smart door lock is one of the vital components of a truly smart home. During this pandemic period and even beyond, installing a smart lock will prevent you from having to touch the locks on your entrance doors when entering or leaving your home, since you can unlock the door from your smartphone. This smart device allows you to not only enter and leave as you please, but also monitor anyone passing through the door. The smart lock can be controlled from a mobile app that requires you to tap a button to lock and unlock the door, or from a web app for you to control the door via your laptop or desktop.

With an advanced smart door lock, you can assign special privileges to certain family members, employees, or workers to access restricted areas, set access schedules for specific times and days, or activate it using voice commands or other triggers from connected smart home devices. Besides voice activation, you can also use the geofencing feature to set up a perimeter around your home. This means if the signal in your phone moves beyond that point, the locks will be automatically engaged. As such, you can enjoy peace of mind that your house is locked when away.

For Bluetooth-enabled locks, you need to be within the range of around 40 feet to send signals. With a Z-Wave smart lock you can communicate with them from anywhere provided they’re linked to your Security System. So, if you want to ensure that your children don’t leave the house without permission, a smart door lock can be the key to keeping them indoors. And with the activity logs, you can always go back to check who has accessed the door at any time or date.

Video Doorbell

Besides using smart door locks that allow you to control where deliveries can be placed once they reach your home, you can also use smart doorbells or video cameras to communicate with people arriving at your door without exposing yourself through face-to-face interaction. Video doorbells give you an extra set of eyes and ears, so you always know who or what is at your front door by checking your smartphone app from anywhere.

A video doorbell will allow you to maintain a social distance when answering the door. This device works by sending a notification to your smartphone when your doorbell button is pushed or if the built in motion sensor is triggered by a person or object appearing in its way. You can then check the app to see who’s at your door and communicate via the two-way audio option so you can speak to the individual, all without having to go to your door.

Remote Health Monitoring and Emergency Panic Button

While there are fewer cases of robbery and assaults due to social distancing, spending more time at home has, in fact, led to an increase in mental health emergency calls by 52%, and for “serious” domestic violence by 62%, in March. Also many seniors no longer have their family/friends checking up on them as often due to social distancing. There’s a need to integrate your smart home monitoring with remote health monitoring. It features a medical panic button on the keypad and optional medical wearable panic buttons in case of a medical emergency so that you can get the help you need quickly.

Your medical alert system comprises an in-home communication system, featuring a two-way audio system that connects you with the monitoring center linked to your phone line. It then wirelessly communicates to your wristband or pendant within a minimum radius of 300 feet. Provided you’re in range; you can always press the “help” button on the wearable item to communicate with your monitoring center to seek help.

Video Monitoring for Your Business

With many business premises sitting empty, they have become an easy target for criminals. During such times of panic and financial hardship, crime increases. With the current pandemic, many businesses are closed, so no one is ever on-site. This is leading to a significant increase in commercial break-ins. Theft and vandalism of your premises or construction site can lead to huge losses and even more time wastage, especially with some industries closing down and some areas in lockdown, making it difficult to access new materials and inventory. Updating the security in your commercial building or site with HD security cameras and video surveillance can make the difference.

While some criminals may be bold enough to intrude into your property even in the presence of surveillance cameras, the more advanced video monitoring systems will make it possible to track and arrest the perpetrators due to the high-quality video feed and pictures. In addition, having a reliable remote video surveillance system can reduce your security costs by eliminating the need for guards on the premises. With real-time video monitoring, you and your monitoring service provider can promptly check and respond to alarm events.

Final Note

Security is important now more than ever during these uncertain times. Smart security allows you to maintain a hands-free approach to many security functions, which helps to reduce the risk of spreading infection while giving you peace of mind. Integrated voice control function in these smart devices is particularly important, as it keeps you from touching common surfaces such as door handles, light switches, thermostats, and more. The precautions you’re taking now to control the spread of COVID-19 will continue with smart security products allowing you to maintain the safety of your loved ones and property with voice activation or mobile app control.

For more information, call Canadian Security Professionals at 1-877-494-9911 or contact us here.

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