July 02, 2003

"Keeping a close watch"
By Matt Cappellini
Published in the Herald News 06/26/03

Now, through the miracle of the Internet you can keep tabs at what is going on at the home or office when you are not there.

Safeworld PC Surveillance Kit: Encore (about $80); Windows, P 266, 50MB of RAM, 4X CD-ROM, USB and Internet connection. www.encoreusa.com

If you are the suspicious sort, well maybe you've got good reason to be, here is an all-in-one kit to help put your fears to rest.

The Safeworld PC Surveillance Kit includes a USB Web camera and the necessary software to turn your PC into a security device. Installation is as simple as plugging in the camera and following the on-screen directions for the software setup.

The Visec Software from Philex Enterprises is being published by Encore.

The uses of the surveillance kit are numerous, from checking up on a baby sitter at home to seeing just how much work your employees are getting done while you are away from the office.

Among the features are remote real-time monitoring, automated video recording, remote alerts (via e-mail to compatible cell phones, pagers or PDAs) and discrete operation (others can use your computer without being able to detect the surveillance mode is in play).

The camera can be set to operate on a 24-hour basis, at intermittent intervals or based on motion detection. Users also have the ability to set the level of motion detection sensitivity.

The software includes instructions for FTP (file transfer protocol). Using this, owners of the surveillance kit can set up their their system so that video files are stored at a remote location. Users can then log on to that site to see what has been recorded.

The main snag users may run into in using remote access is that it works best with an always-on broadband connection such as DSL or cable. With those services, the PC's Internet address usually stays the same. Therefore, users as a remote site can more easily find and connect to the PC in order to see what the Web camera is picking up.

Provisions are made for dial-up users, where your Internet address is likely to be different every time you connect to the Net. In that case, users can create an account with www.visec.net. When the home PC connects to the Internet, it will send its IP address to the Visec Web site. Then, when users log on to the Web site, it will know how to connect them to the home address.

All of these details are adequately covered in the manual so that you don't need to be a computer expert to get the system running.

Safeworld PC Surveillance Kit offers a convenient one-stop solution to peace of mind