Video Surveillance and Access Control
Learn how to integrate both into home automation systems
The integration of video and access control systems with smart home automation is transforming residential and commercial security. From smart locks and discreet surveillance cameras to advanced biometric systems and intelligent video analytics, these solutions offer unparalleled convenience and peace of mind.
Whether it’s enhancing rental property management or creating whole-home automation, surveillance and access control technologies are at the forefront of smarter, more secure living. Keep reading to learn more about what this means for homeowners and integrators.
Just like other home technologies, today’s security devices are getting smarter every day. The real value in sophisticated video surveillance and access control solutions, however, is tying them into a whole-house automation system.
That’s when integrators can select and program smart locks and stealthy cameras for homeowners to best fit their needs. As security and smart home continue to converge, the combination of the two opens opportunities for integrators to earn more money and create even more satisfied customers.
Operation of smart locks and other access control devices over wireless protocols such as Z-Wave and Zigbee becomes part of a home control's ecosystem in which owners can access locks and video doorbells with the ease of clicking an app. Just as simply, they can pull up live and recorded footage as well in many cases.
“If it ties into your alarm panel, that's where they would do that; so now we have the ability with one app to arm and disarm the alarm system, unlock the door, maybe have a few cameras around the house which are tied specifically into this type of system to be able to view those cameras as well,” explains AJ Shaw, ADI's supervisor over fire intrusion and home automation product lines.
“So when the in-laws come over and they ring the doorbell, you can even have it pop up on [the app], see who it is and go, ‘Sure, I guess I have to let you in’ and they would just unlock the door,” he adds.
Compelling use cases for smart locks and video doorbells, in tandem with the ability to schedule and control such devices, help ensure peace of mind for homeowners. For example, knowing their children have gotten home from school and into the house safely.
“Programming wise, it can send a signal to the parents and say, ‘Hey Johnny, just unlocked the door,’ and it could even give you a screenshot depending on the [security] panel you have of who was there when the panel was disarmed, or who was at the front door, so they can see if Johnny brought his friend into the house and things like that.”
Integrators can also set parameters and advanced permissions for certain people entering the property. The cleaning service staff can access a home between 9 and 11 a.m., or the lawn maintenance crew can open the gate at 1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, for example. Again, homeowners can check the video feed thanks to the integration of smart home and security systems.
“They can punch in their code, unlock the door; it sends a signal to the alarm panel, disarms the alarm panel if it's set up,” Shaw adds.
Residential security does have some crossover with the commercial sector when it comes to surveillance and access control, which creates opportunities for integrators to impress clients that need more enterprise-level systems.
Customers for the bigger or more high-profile properties might employ a solution that utilizes biometric (facial recognition, gesture/motion, fingerprint) access control tech for super-strong security. Of course, the bigger the property the more cameras of various form factors will need to be designed into the surveillance system, which will likely include a more sophisticated video management setup.
“If you have your larger homes or you know something, like what’s jokingly referred to as a small hotel, 25,000 square feet or larger, they could definitely use stuff like [enterprise-type solutions],” Shaw says.
“That’s where [family and visitors] walk up the driveway or they come up to the door, you see it on TV, they have a tele-entry system, or they have an intercom system and or they can punch in a code and go through. They use an access control card and just wave it by to get in,” he adds. “A lot of those things are not specific; you don't have to use a device only in commercial because it's got a card reader. It can be used in residential.”
With the vacation rental scenario, intelligent access control and video surveillance within a whole-home system can relieve burdens on property managers who can check on things remotely. That includes other solutions linked to the security system, such as lighting, shades, thermostats and more, that can be set up to control in real-time or work on a vacation schedule.
As far as integrating video surveillance, one aspect in line with the rest of the industry is that products are becoming less obtrusive. Form factors might be similar to commercial industry usage such as bullet cameras, dome cameras and pan/tilt/zoom cameras, but on the residential side they are blending into a home’s exterior better thanks to increasingly smaller footprints.
“One of the things that was eye-opening to me when I started in this industry was the size of some of the commercial cameras. You'd have a dome that was 6.5 inches wide and 6 inches tall — so if you had a residential home, a ranch, one story, having that hanging off the side of your house probably isn't ideal,” says Nathan Vaughn, ADI senior technical sales specialist.
Shaw echoes that sentiment, noting that for smart homes, integrators should focus on installing video cameras that balance concealment with just enough visual presence to catch passersbys' eyes.
“If you can fit it inside of a softball, if you look at Google Nest cameras or Amazon Ring cameras, that's kind of what we're looking for,” he suggests. “On the residential side, it's something that if you're driving down the road and you just kind of look over, you're looking more at the house than what's hanging off it. But if you stop and say, ‘Hey, what's that in the yard?’ now you scan the property to go, ‘Oh, there's a little camera up there.’ Nice and small — it’s there, but it's not there.”
As is the case with many residential smart home systems and devices, surveillance cameras and integration customers gain much intelligence from trickle-down features of commercial video technology.
Artificial intelligence (AI) might be the current buzz in residential electronics, but it’s been part of commercial-grade video surveillance systems for some time now. Even features such as license plate reader technology are moving into the residential space.
Companies have built systems with advanced analytics capabilities and aforementioned parameter settings relying on a camera’s sight smarts, so to speak. Cameras and their video management systems can figure out what to record as well as what not to record by understanding what’s happening in the frame or by what time of day it is happening. Otherwise, homeowners’ smart phones would be dinging nonstop.
“A leaf falls, it rains, a cloud moves across the sun creates shade, whatever. You have a motion analytic and then that motion is classified in the camera,” Vaughn says. “If it's a human event, if it's a vehicle, you can choose to send that [notification] based on a timeframe.”
In other words, owners likely do not wish to be disturbed every time a deer enters the backyard, or maybe they don’t want to be notified on Fridays between 1 and 2 p.m. because they have a standing business meeting that requires their full attention.
High-resolution 4K color images can provide impactful and detailed footage during the day and can easily identify what subjects to record and what to filter out. At night it’s more difficult to achieve, but dealers can offer high-quality night-vision cameras.
“Now, preferably on the residential side, I like using human vehicle detections with white light analytics and traditional IR analytics,” Vaughn remarks.
When there are insufficient light sources at night, a traditional infrared camera can still enable homeowners to view the scene via their connected smart home interfaces.
-Nathan Vaughn, ADI senior technical sales specialist
Two-way communication and cameras with built-in microphones or loudspeakers can further elevate the level of surveillance. More than just a video deterrent, these cameras use lights and audio so intruders know they are being watched — and owners can even have a pre-recorded announcement blared at an intruder.
“So those are nice little additions that give extra security,” Vaughn says. “It just depends on the needs of the customer.”
Recording features are another area where resimercial or commercial solutions will be more robust, with simplified scrolling of perhaps 30 days’ worth of video footage from a network video recorder (NVR) to assist law enforcement on a case.
On the residential smart home side, most video cameras record to the cloud in 1080p rather than bandwidth-intensive 4K. This preserves space, and the technology may compress footage to lower-quality, short clips to deliver more instantaneous access via apps and other connected displays.
Overall, while security devices such as smart locks and video cameras might not have the same conspicuous flair as home theater systems, there are still plenty of attractive perks for residential smart home security integrators.
At the fore, integrators can offer video monitoring or access control subscription services to earn recurring revenue, whether it’s monthly, quarterly, annually or otherwise. Homeowners and business owners put trust into companies that deliver this peace of mind on a 24/7 basis.
Customers can start with basic systems and expand from there, giving custom integrators upsell touchpoints for additions and upgrades every time firmware updates are released, new panels and locks come out, etc.
Combining smart security solutions with whole-house control platforms and interfaces creates the best of both worlds for integrators and customers alike. Integrators have the opportunity for extra revenue streams, while customers experience peace of mind and are excited to tell friends and neighbors about the advanced technology in their home.
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