Motorola's Home Monitoring and Control System
I've been burned, or I should say swamped, by flooded basements. One deluge ruined several boxes of treasured vinyl records and another caused $1000 worth of damage within fifteen minutes. So I have a particular interest in home monitoring systems that can detect in-home leaks. One such choice is Motorola's homesight™.
homesight™ is a modular system that can handle basic monitoring, more complex comprehensive monitoring, or be used for focused monitoring on specific areas. Wired and wireless cameras can monitor childrens' rooms or a front walk. Motion detectors can trigger alerts and automatically record still or video pictures. Events such as doors or windows opening, temperature changes, and the presence of water can also be detected.
The Wireless Easy Start Kit HMEZ2000 includes the system controller, a wireless camera, a wireless sensor for a door or window, plus required cables and parts. Optional accessories include various cameras, motion sensor, temperature sensor, water sensor, wireless repeater, siren, power controller, and keypad. The system controller and several accessories require power adaptors, so proximity to electrical outlets will be a necessary consideration. Other components, such as the keypad, are either battery-operated or can use either batteries or house current.
The initial out-of-box experience was nice and crisp. A one-sheet flyer described and illustrated system setup. Each accessory was well-packaged with parts and simple installation procedures. Since some accessories include specific mounting hardware, it's best to install one at a time to keep parts separate. The software CD includes instructions for all components, plus a lavish 145-page color manual. Software installation was quite smooth and the product's 24-hour telephone technical support provided quick and capable assistance.
Aside from the physical installation of sensors or positioning and aiming cameras, connecting a new gadget requires just a few mouse clicks and pushing a Discovery button on the accessory, which allows the system controller to identify the new device. Once added to the system, you can configure specific options such as temperature range (for temperature sensor) or video settings (for cameras). A summary screen displays the status of all components for easy observation and control.
System modes such as Home and Away can be defined much the same as standard alarm systems' Armed and Disarmed settings. The Away mode can define automatic responses to alerts, including using optional fee services to send text or image notifications to email accounts or mobile phones.
With a broadband connection and a computer that's always-on, the entire system, including camera images, can be remotely monitored and controlled via tools such as Windows XP Pro's Remote Desktop and add-on software or services. This allows powerful and inexpensive monitoring of remote or distant locations from a business's cash registers, a livestock gate or vacation homes and rental properties.
Overall, homesight™ is a thing of beauty. Its attractive hardware and user-friendly software are well thought out and complement each other. I would like to see Motorola extend its capabilities by adding components such as home thermostat interface and outside-lights controller.
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Specifications
Product: homesight™
Manufacturer: Motorola
Price: $299 for the Wireless Easy Start Kit HMEZ2000
AARP does not recommend or endorse any of these products or web sites. Please be advised that there are other similar products and web sites available which were not reviewed and are not listed here.
About the Author
Gabe Goldberg has developed, worked with, and written about technology for decades.
