Is there an alarm & CCTV system that can be operated from a computer?

[Warren14]

Due to the crime rate in S.A. people are building higher walls around their property & trying to upgrade their security all the time.
This is also making them bigger target because the criminals think that the items in their houses must be very valuable.
If they can’t find a way to break into their property, they hi-jack an occupant before he enters the property.
The first thing they do is force them to switch the alarm off then they want to know where the CCTV system is kept & where the safe if.
The other area of concern we have is farm attacks. Farm attacks have become so common these days you don’t even see it in the news anymore.
Below is just one of the incidents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S71PbichSw

In 99% of these incidents where the criminal has been successful, the criminal has had the element of surprise.
One of the things I have been thinking of to combat these crimes is to get an alarm system & a CCTV system that are compatible & can work on a computer.
The reason why I want the CCTV system & the alarm system to work off a computer is because a computer is more flexible & you will be able to program it to do what you want it to do.
Urban Areas
In the event of an alarm activation in a designated zone the camera in that area will record the footage on the hard drive as well as connect to either the internet & save the footage in a cloud or connect to an intranet connection & save the footage on a third party premises.
In the event of a silent panic being activated all the cameras will record their footage off site.
Rural Areas
I was thinking of CCTV & alarm system that are both wireless. You could have a camera that is long range & wide angle & a few alarm devices within the area it is covering. The main function would be to give the farmer an early warning of an intruder on his property. The camera will be able to confirm that it is a person & not an animal that has activated the device. Closer to the property he could have alarm devices that transmit the footage to a third party premises who could also get a reaction unit assist the farmer in the event of an attack. We need the cameras & alarm devices to be as mobile as possible so that the farmer can change the location to prevent anyone who is doing reconnaissance before a planned attack from detecting the devices.

I have spoken to a few security manufacturers in South Africa & none of them have been able to offer me a system that can do this yet.

[HC_Security]

I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for. I do know that there are systems out there allow you to access cameras through a smart phone through use of wifi. I'm not sure if that's doable on a large farm property in the area you're talking about. But there are internet based systems out there.

[Warren14]

I have been able to find alarm systems that are internet based & I have found CCTV systems that are internet based but I haven’t been able to find an alarm system that will work in tandem with a CCTV system yet.
Most importantly I want the system to be designed for the home owner. The price must also be in a reasonable range so that most home owners would be able to afford it.
I want to be able to tell the system when to only record on the hard drive, when to only record on the internet & when to record on both the internet & the hard drive. The system also needs an event log where the owner will also be able to see if any user has been denied access.
To secure a farmland is going to be quite a bit more expensive so the farmer will most probably need to build his system up gradually. I will also need to talk to a few farmers to see what would suit their needs best, but I was thinking of solar powered I.R. illuminators. Battery operated trip switches or contact breakers. Battery operated or solar powered repeaters. You could also have two or three cameras & a transmitter connected to a solar powered batter pack. Most importantly if you loose signal in one of your zones you receive an alarm or an alert notification.

[CameraMan]

You're thinking of cloud based recording, sometimes called VSaaS. Several manufacturers have products that will do what you describe, but it requires a lot of heavy duty, reliable bandwidth. It's expensive, too.

[Warren14]

That is why we need the cctv system to work in tandem with the alarm system.
If you are going to be an idiot & have a lot of false alarms then yes I agree.
Let me give you a few examples to explain myself better.
On my perimeter I have an electric fence & a camera. My main entrance I have a camera & an alarm on my gate motor. Inside my property I have two beams & one or two cameras. Inside my house I have magnetic switches on my doors; a PIR & glass break detection sensors in each room & say two cameras covering where I suspect a thief would try to enter.
You have programmed your system if the following way:
Electric fence, beams, Gate motor alarm activation – Cameras will only record on your hard drive.
Outside doors, Glass break detection sensors & internal PIR activation – all cameras will record as normal & the cameras in the zones that have been activated will record in a could.
Remote panic alarm – all cameras will record in a cloud
Normally if a criminal sees a property protected like this he wouldn’t bother about breaking in, he will just ambush you in front of your property when you are least expecting it.
Let’s say he does attempt to break in. He sees that you have an armed reaction company that comes to your property when you have alarm activation so he keeps on tripping your electric fence hoping they are going to think it is faulty & stop coming. He then connects car jumper leads to your electric fence & cuts the wires (alarm doesn’t go off because the current is still flowing through the jumper leads), jumps over the wall breaks into the house grabs what he wants & gets away.
The cameras from the perimeter to the outside of the house will only record on the hard drive. Once he tries to enter the house the cameras in the specific zones record on the hard drive.
When I used to work in an armed reaction control room we had a few incidents like this.


Here is a few incidents from our Community Policing Forum.
There was an armed robbery on my neighbour in Grafiet Street Jukskeipark at about 6.50 p.m. last night. As she and her daughter drove into the driveway two men with guns came in after them and held them up, taking her handbag with all her money and every document and credit card. The robbers then rushed out the gate and seemed to be picked up by a silver BMW. Thankfully, neither the my neighbour nor her daughter was shot or physically harmed but the trauma will still be extreme.


We have had yet another robbery at our residence in Kwartz Avenue. Yesterday, 9 Nov, I had a security company install an 8 strand electric fence from the existing 5 strand, to tighten the risk of thieves jumping over at a particular section of the property. Last night or early morning 9/10 November 2011, they got access at the other end of the property by removing the wall beneath the fence. The alarm did not activate as the fence was intact.
This is extremely frightening and has everyone rattled. This is the third such access to our property in a month, despite increasing security at great cost. My sons who reside at the house, keep their dog inside for fear of the animal being targeted for poisoning.

In the incident below if the footage was recorded in a cloud he could have given it to the police, if the perpetrators had seen cameras they would have stolen the DVR.
To all our friends and colleagues

I’m sharing this terrible experience with you because if anything positive may be derived from it, it is the frightening lesson that we have learnt from dropping one’s guard.

Last night I was working at my office in belvedere Road until about 10.30pm, my Son Jamie was working next door in his studio and was just about to lock up and head back to our home.

I packed up my things and locked up the office, got into my car to discover that my car fuel was almost empty. I then proceeded to go to the Caltex garage on route to home. I filled up and went into the store to buy something. I was extremely tiered and half asleep. I got back in my car and proceeded home driving down Milner road into Sandown then into Jamison and Riverton. At my Gate I would normally stop open the gate and the Garage door, look and then drive in. I wasn’t very vigilant in checking the area for any suspicious movement before driving into the garage which was in complete darkness. As I got out of my car I was confronted by four armed black intruders dressed in dark clothing. There where another two at the gate. Simultaneously they all cocked their guns and then the nightmare began.

“Don’t look at me I’ll shoot you was the clear message delivered in a low whisper”
“ Give me your cell phone and your car keys”
I immediately obeyed.
“ What is your name”
Tim I said, “please don’t hurt us take what you want “
“Don’t look at me I’ll shoot you do you understand?”
“Yes”
By this stage my pulse was racing and my adrenalin was pumping. This was it I’m going to meet my creator.
In a low whisper “Who else is in the house?”
“My wife Louise and my dog”

“we’ll take care of the dog, take us straight to Louise now!!”

With one on either side of me with a cocked gun at my head I proceeded to take them upstairs to our bedroom where Louise was asleep.
We walked straight past Gypsy our dog who immediately sensed that there was something very wrong. She didn’t move she stayed right in her place by the downstairs bathroom door. Not a movement, not a growl, she held her breath in fear of what was to come.

I pleaded with them” Don’t hurt us just take whatever you want don’t ...”
“Shoo.. keep quite” was his response in a very stern whisper as we reached the upstairs landing and walked into our bedroom.
The second guy immediately focused on Louise ,who awake from a deep sleep to be staring down the barrel of a gun”
“Louise, Don’t look at me look away”

“Tim lie down on the bed face down don’t look at me” Always talking to me in a stern whisper in clear English.

“If you don’t do what we want we will shoot you”
My greatest fear at this point was that Louise would start screaming, she was completely startled and shocked by the situation.

“Where is the Safe, where is the money, the jewellery, your laptop come we want it all”
“ Please I beg you just take whatever you want and leave, we don’t have a laptop here, or cameras and I have already given you all my money.” I had handed over my wallet which contained close to R 5000-00 in it for my Thursday trip to KZN.

“Louise where is your cell phone and your jewellery, quick else I’ll shoot you”

By this stage I was praying like I have never preyed before. There was nothing I could do to project my wife and I was scared of what they might do to her.

“My bag is downstairs in the office, it has my car keys and my money, here this is the only jewellery I have on me”

The intruder covering Louise started pulling off her jewellery and instructed her to remove her earrings.

The third intruder left the room and went downstairs to the office and returned shortly. He proceed to open all the cupboards and draws looking for money and jewellery. He finds a small bag of jewellery in the top cupboard. At this point he turn his attention to removing the Sony TV attached to the wall. He battles a bit....

While he is busy I’m pleading please take whatever and just leave us don’t hurt us. By this staging I’m distraught, I’m thinking that they are going to shoot us and I’m thinking Jamie is about to walk in on all of this. Please God let this nightmare stop!!!

“Tim where is the safe, where is the money come on I know there is lot’s of money here, tell me else we will Shoot you?”

“I promise you there is no money, take what you want, please I beg you don’t hurt us”

“Where are your credit cards, tell me what is your pin number don’t lie to me because I will shoot you?

“ I can’t remember, I promise you I can’t remember”
“ Louise tell them her credit card number”
“Don’t look at me Look down” We won’t hurt you if...”

A cell phone rings and the third intruder talks in a black language. The two in the room with us talk to each other in their language.
The third intruder frees the TV from the wall bracket and leaves the room with a bag full of stuff they have removed from our draws and cupboards.

The one with the gun at my head whispers to me” do what we tell you and we won’t hurt you. You need to understand I don’t have a job I do this to put food in my stomach....” almost as if he was trying to apologise to us for putting us through this nightmare.

“get up and don’t look at me, go to the next room...”

“ We leave our room looking away from our intruders begging for mercy...”

“Lie on the ground face down, don’t look at me....”We are going to the ATM to draw money if your pin code is wrong we’ll come back and shoot you”
My heart is pounding, my mouth is dry and all of a sudden I’m cold and my mind is fixed that this is the end. I’m preying ‘Please God let it be quick and don’t let Jamie walk in, Please God, please.....”

The intruder says “ we are going to get the money we will be back, don’t look at me lie on the floor don’t look at me...”

The intruder leaves the room and locks the door. I look out the window and see the fifth intruder at our gate standing guard, there is a vehicle reversed in our drive way and he see’s me looking at him.

The next minute we hear feet running up the stairs the intruder unlocks the door and says I’m going to shoot you if you look at us, my man outside saw you looking at him” He closes the blinds and leaves the room locking the door behind him” There is a screech of wheels on the bricks as they drive off.

[MarvinLamont]

In my opinion CCTV camera is operate from the computer and through internet but Alarm system is not operate by computer..
By CCTV system we can monitor everything from anywhere over the internet.

[air web works]

I agree with GaylordSecurity. Surveillance cameras can be operated using computers or in some cases, mobile devices and tablets. However, if you're looking into an alarm system, the most common ones (as you might have known already), include hard-wired and wireless systems. But there are also broadband alarm systems which makes it possible for you to manage your alarm system through the Internet (although this is quite uncommon, most homeowners still prefer hardwired, wireless and cellular options). Here's a link if you want something comprehensive. Home Security Without Landline.

Now, if you're thinking about purchasing a CCTV instead, then you might want to try Alarm.com's cellular monitoring (although I'm not sure if they also offer services in your country) but there are plenty of benefits to have it mobile than only through your home's monitor, which i think is applicable to your situation.

Hope this helps! Good luck,