The power of people realised in new age home security
Home security is set to become faster and more effective, with the help of an app and our neighbours.
A home burglary is carried out quickly, often taking around eight minutes. Police and security struggle to arrive within that time frame to catch the criminal or to access to helpful evidence.
With home burglaries still a big problem in the UK, the need to do something different is clear.
United Eyes, the Swedish company behind the popular free safety app, Safeland, today launched ‘Connect Homes’ in the UK, which connects smart home alarms to the collaborative app Safeland.
When a home alarm is triggered, a homeowner’s trusted neighbours, family or friends are instantly alerted on their devices. Neighbours work together in the Safeland app to help keep the house safe or report further information. The collaborating users can check out the home, share images or evidence or even help identify the criminal, all before police arrive on scene.
“We followed the logic of ‘first responders’, where people who are geographically closer to an incident can be of vital assistance before emergency services arrive to a scene,” Safeland UK Manager Sheona Urquhart said.
“In the case of Connect Homes, trusted nearby neighbours of a threatened home are alerted straight away. They are then able to provide witness accounts or call police when a burglary is taking place.”
Connect Homes works with selected smart home alarms that have been integrated directly with the Safeland environment.
“If burglars know neighbours could be onto them in seconds, they will stop targeting communities that are actively connected” Ms Urquhart predicts.
The Safeland app is free and is a great way to activate your community and reduce crime. Connecting your home alarm to Connect Homes costs £49 a year.
