A spy camera helps you to view different parts of your home. It is very useful when you are absent at home and still needs to know what happens in your absence. It gives you peace of mind when a reliable spy camera ensures your home's safety when you are away at some important task. You can have a publicly visible spy camera or a hidden spy camera that secretly records the activities at a given spot.
Some spy cameras are placed publicly visible to scare away thieves or unwanted intruders to a home or private property like a day care center. In case you live in an area where the crime rate is supposedly high, spy cameras are a must. The presence of a camera can make the burglars cautious about making a theft or any attempt to break into a place for any criminal activity. It is also possible that the intruder can destroy a visible spy camera. So, if you want fool-proof security, a hidden spy camera is the best option.
When you have a surveillance system where you are alerted for any suspicious activity at home, you can still use the spy cameras to monitor and record such activities. So, spy cameras come hand-in-hand with surveillance systems providing additional information about any activity at home in your absence.
In today's fast-paced world, where parents have a need to be away from home very often, spy cameras provide the desired security to homes. Spy cameras can also help in monitoring your home, children, domestic help, elderly, or pets for safety purposes.
Choosing the Right Spy Camera
There are many factors to consider while choosing a spy camera. The choice of a spy camera usually depends on factors such as storage size, quality of video and audio, portability, power consumption, etc.
Spy cameras are available in different models like the compact mini camera, wall camera, pen recorder, or doorbell camera. The choice of the spy camera depends on the purpose for which you are using the camera. For instance, if you want to completely hide your monitoring activity similar to that of a detective, a mini spy camera with Wi-Fi can provide the right portability and quality. This device also allows you to verify the live footage from the camera via your smart phone.
Scenarios at Home where Spy Cameras can be Useful
The spy cameras can be useful in many scenarios at home. This can be in actively monitoring the safety of children and elderly who are in the care of another person. An added advantage of using a spy cam is the additional protection it provides to your household belongings from domestic helps and maids.
Benefits of Nanny Cameras (or nanny cams)
Working parents who want to leave their child in the care of a nanny or caretaker always have concerns about the safety of the child. When the child is too young to speak up or when the nanny hired is new to the parent, working parents depend heavily on the nanny for the well-being of the child. But there can also be many concerns when trusting a nanny or caretaker. Parents may wonder if the child is being taken care of appropriately, or is the nanny trustworthy? Information from neighbors about how good the nanny is taking care of the child may not be true. The neighbors may not be watching the nanny always- they may see the nanny only the child goes to the park or outside at times.
Hidden nanny cameras can record the activities of the caretaker and the parent can view the activities (live) or recorded sessions at their convenience. If the parents have complaints about any abuse or neglect towards the child, the nanny camera-recordings can be good pieces of evidence in the court.
As the name suggests, a nanny cam can record the activities of a nanny with or without the nanny’s knowledge. You can record anything that happens at your home if you have a reason about why you are recording it. It is legal in many countries to record the activities of your caretaker and baby in a video using a nanny cam. After all, monitoring your child’s safety is your right as a parent.
It is legal to place nanny cams at home and make a video recording in almost all states in the United States. But, in several states (for example, California) it is illegal to make an audio recording without consent. This can be a breach of privacy laws. In such cases, you as a parent can get the written consent from the nanny that all activities are being recorded and proceed with a mutual agreement.
You can disguise the nanny cam like a normal object at homes such as a clock or a toy. If you do not want to hide it, it can be a regular security camera visible to everyone.
Suppose you intend to hide the nanny cam, it is important to place it in such a way that it blends perfectly with the home surroundings. You can place your nanny cam anywhere at home where you need surveillance such as the living room, child’s room, kitchen, or dining room. It is advisable not to keep a hidden spy camera in places where privacy is needed such as restrooms.
If you want a nanny cam with less portability, an AC-powered nanny cam is the choice to opt for. But if you are looking for a more portable option to move around a lot, the option to choose is a battery-powered nanny cam. You can also choose a cam that gives a high quality video with many details or a less-expensive camera unit that may give a moderate quality video. The choice depends on your requirements.
Some spy cameras allow parents to watch the young children from smartphones which is a more convenient way of surveillance. These Wi-Fi streaming nanny cameras provide real-time monitoring of the events at home directly to the smartphone or computer of the parent. Wi-Fi nanny cameras connect to the available Wi-Fi network in your home or office. This allows the camera to live-broadcast events through the camera feed to specific devices like a phone or computer.
The nanny cam feed is secure as it is password-protected allowing only the authorized people to watch it. If you provide the login information to any other user, they would also be able to watch the camera feed. You can use the live-streaming app to configure the camera, view the camera feed in real-time, or make adjustments in the camera options. The live-streaming is free to use and is available for both iOS and Android devices.
In addition to live-streaming, you can also record the events to a memory card present in the nanny cam. Consider a scenario where you do not want to do a real-time monitoring of home events, but only want to know what happened when you were away. Here, a nanny cam that records to a memory card might be the right choice. These nanny cams are also known as non-Wi-Fi nanny cams or self-recording nanny cams. You need to plug-in the memory card to the camera before using it. Once the recording is complete, you can remove the memory card and playback the video in your computer, at your convenience.
Some cams provide different recording modes like the motion-activated mode or the continuous mode. In the motion-activated mode, the cam records only when it detects an activity or movement. In continuous mode, the nanny cam records all activities without a break. Most people prefer motion-activated mode as it saves memory card space than the continuous mode.
When the child gets older and becomes independent, still the spy camera comes handy in ensuring his or her safety. The spy camera can give the parent live footage about when the child has returned home from the school.
Spy Cameras for the Safety of Elderly People
If you have elderly at home, spy cameras come in handy for monitoring them. Elderly people need assistance when required. If there are no caretakers and you are away at work, spy cameras can give you on-the-spot details. This helps you to give any assistance to the elderly on time. Again, if a caretaker is taking care of the elderly people at home, then the spy camera helps you to monitor the caretaker in doing the assigned activities.
Consider another scenario where the elderly people are taking care of young children in the absence of parents. The spy cameras can still be useful to ensure safety as the parents get real-time monitoring about both the elderly and children at home. In this scenario, the spy cameras can also keep the parents informed if someone tries to break into their house.
The spy cams including nanny cams allow you to be better connected with the child or elderly people at home simultaneously allowing you to do your other jobs conveniently. In short, for many working parents tied up in long official duties, nanny cams and spy cameras have become the new-age child surveillance and monitoring systems.