Hello to you techno-guys:
There's an individual in my area who is interested in starting a security patrol service that would specialize in real estate and construction properties. By "real estate", I understand that he means two things:
1. Vacant properties for sale that need to be patrolled while they're on the market. Risks would be vandalism, "squatters", fire, water pipe bursts, copper thieves, etc.
2. "Open house" and evening-hour real estate agents showing properties and who are at risk when they work alone. We have had some very sad incidents in this regard, including rapes, robberies and murders.
Construction properties are fairly self explanatory. Primary risks are vandalism and thefts of materials, tools and installed appliances.
What all these venues have in common is:
1. Fairly brief patrol commitments while a specific property is on the market and/or under construction. 30-90-120 days, typically...150 possibly.
2. Uncertainty about power being present on-site. Unfortunately, some property owners are dumb enough to discontinue electrical service when they vacate their homes, and of course construction sites often won't have accessible power until a certain point in the project.
3. Ditto #2 regarding telephone service.
So...what he's looking for is video (and possibly other sensors) that is:
1. Quick-install/de-install. "Portable" isn't really the word I want, but it conveys the flavor.
2. Battery (or solar?) powered.
3. Cell-capable.
4. Relatively low bandwidth. What I understand him to mean by this is that we're not talking continuous video, but "alarm-and-email a picture" when movement is detected, or something like that.
His vision, although I don't know if it could be done, is that the patrol unit in a particular district would directly receive a notification from a camera or sensor via Nextel or other cellular data type or SMS service, etc.
I mention "other sensors". Here, he is thinking about a real estate agent having a "panic button" or something of that sort that would perhaps activate a unit in their car (presumably parked outside the property being shown), which would in turn transmit an alarm with (ideally) GPS location information.
If anyone works with products having these characteristics or if this rings any bells regarding something you've seen advertised in a product catalog, etc., I'd be very grateful for any input on this you might be able to offer.
There's an individual in my area who is interested in starting a security patrol service that would specialize in real estate and construction properties. By "real estate", I understand that he means two things:
1. Vacant properties for sale that need to be patrolled while they're on the market. Risks would be vandalism, "squatters", fire, water pipe bursts, copper thieves, etc.
2. "Open house" and evening-hour real estate agents showing properties and who are at risk when they work alone. We have had some very sad incidents in this regard, including rapes, robberies and murders.
Construction properties are fairly self explanatory. Primary risks are vandalism and thefts of materials, tools and installed appliances.
What all these venues have in common is:
1. Fairly brief patrol commitments while a specific property is on the market and/or under construction. 30-90-120 days, typically...150 possibly.
2. Uncertainty about power being present on-site. Unfortunately, some property owners are dumb enough to discontinue electrical service when they vacate their homes, and of course construction sites often won't have accessible power until a certain point in the project.
3. Ditto #2 regarding telephone service.
So...what he's looking for is video (and possibly other sensors) that is:
1. Quick-install/de-install. "Portable" isn't really the word I want, but it conveys the flavor.
2. Battery (or solar?) powered.
3. Cell-capable.
4. Relatively low bandwidth. What I understand him to mean by this is that we're not talking continuous video, but "alarm-and-email a picture" when movement is detected, or something like that.
His vision, although I don't know if it could be done, is that the patrol unit in a particular district would directly receive a notification from a camera or sensor via Nextel or other cellular data type or SMS service, etc.
I mention "other sensors". Here, he is thinking about a real estate agent having a "panic button" or something of that sort that would perhaps activate a unit in their car (presumably parked outside the property being shown), which would in turn transmit an alarm with (ideally) GPS location information.
If anyone works with products having these characteristics or if this rings any bells regarding something you've seen advertised in a product catalog, etc., I'd be very grateful for any input on this you might be able to offer.
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