When purchasing products for a security system, it’s easy to only consider the outside of the home. And why not? It’s always preferable to deter intruders than to catch a burglar in the act when they’re already actively inside, stealing. Better to prevent it all together than to merely have evidence later. And while this is true, there are plenty further benefits one can get from having security cameras inside the home, many of which have little to do with potential crimes taking place.

Security cameras are a major component of just about any home security system. When placed along the perimeter of the house, security cameras provide clear views of the property, and if placed in such a way it is clear there are cameras monitoring the property, act as an excellent deterrent to prevent potential break-ins. Indoor security cameras are often incorrectly assumed to only be used for business, for asset protection and safety purposes. However, there are many home uses for indoor security cameras people may be interested in.

How Your Indoor Security Cameras Help You

Catch Intruders

Indoor security cameras are still an excellent means of protecting the home. Not all burglars will be deterred by the outdoor cameras. As a result, having security cameras inside your home can help you capture crucial footage of the intruder, and hopefully, cause them to turn tail and leave without damaging or stealing any valuables in your home. Many indoor security cameras which offer two-way speakers can even allow you to speak to these intruders, even while you’re away, allowing these possibly unnoticed cameras to suddenly be noticed – and the would-be criminal to think twice about sticking around to take anything.

Additionally, indoor security cameras can be very useful for insurance claims and evidence gathering in the event of break-ins. By having clear video evidence of the thief, it will become much easier for law enforcement to track down the culprit. And if said culprit has successfully stolen or damaged anything, if it’s caught on tape, it becomes much easier to know which items are truly gone when filling out insurance paperwork to have these items replaced.

Keeping Loved Ones Safe

But indoor security cameras aren’t just good for keeping an eye on intruders. They can be even more useful for just keeping an eye on the home while you’re away. A major use for indoor security cameras come in the form of keeping an eye on the pets while you’re out. Cats and dogs can usually be comfortable staying at home alone for a few hours without being looked after, but that doesn’t mean they’re entirely safe.

Additionally, indoor security cameras work wonders when children or elderly family members are home without supervision. When the kids get home from school, you can check on the cameras to ensure they got inside okay, and the addition of the cameras can help children feel safer while home alone, knowing their parent or guardian is keeping an eye on them while they’re away. Keeping an indoor camera at home with an elderly relative brings about a lot of peace of mind for their caretakers, especially with the rise of the elderly population choosing to live alone or with family. With regular check-ins, you can make sure your elderly loved ones are okay without bothering them with calls they might have otherwise missed. Accidents can become a much smaller concern for people when they can check in on a loved one at any time to ensure they’re doing alright.

The History of the Security Camera

Security cameras are a major component of a modern security system, first commercially available in the United States in 1949, with a system known as Vericon. Early surveillance systems with security cameras required round the clock monitoring, due to recording video being impossible at the time. Reel-to-reel would soon make recording possible, but unpopular, as it required consistently changing the magnetic tape manually, making recording still not widespread. VCR technology, however, made recording and erasing information easier, and recording security camera feeds became the norm. Time lapse and motion-only recording also saved time and space on recordable media.

Modern day security cameras are used largely in the same way. By placing them strategically around the home, both indoors and outdoors, users can monitor their homes in ways never thought possible. Modern day security cameras typically record in higher quality than the closed circuit TV of days passed, and in higher framerates, providing a smoother picture to ensure the footage captured is clearly visible. These new cameras can record directly to an SD card inside of the camera for later viewing, and many can even send the video feed directly to smart phones and computers, or saved to cloud storage.

Outdoor security cameras work best to prevent home intruders, as once a potential intruder notices outdoor cameras, they’ll tend to give up on sight. Indoor security cameras help keep an eye on children and caretakers, as well as continuing to get a clear recording of intruders who either did not notice or did not care about the outdoor cameras. Outdoor cameras can even have motion detecting floodlights, turning on suddenly and startling would-be intruders from even considering entering the home.

Why People Don’t Like Cameras in Home

Despite several of the benefits in having a security cameras in the home, there are a few undeniable downsides that can come with their ownership. The largest, of course, is privacy concerns. Although some may feel more safe having the watchful eye of the security camera on them, others won’t feel safe, but rather feel as though they’re under surveillance. Potentially being watched and scrutinized for privately made decisions watched by someone they don’t know is there can be a massive invasion of privacy. Having indoor security cameras should come with an agreement with residents that still provides some level of privacy. Many indoor security cameras will only be activated when a security system is in away mode, allowing them to only be used when motion is detected when nobody is expected to be home, and off when the system is disarmed. Additionally, only placing these cameras in non-sensitive areas of the house – such as only near entryways – will help prevent these cameras from being used to snoop on family members.

Indoor security cameras can also deal with privacy issues from being hacked. Reports of unknown users able to access these cameras are infrequent, but certainly exist. The fear that a camera watching your home can be frightening for many people, and may cause them to opt out of getting them. Thankfully, a vast majority of modern day indoor wi-fi cameras include high-end encryption across the board, preventing any old onlooker or would-be hacker from accessing your private footage. Once more, these hacks can be alleviated by placing them only in non-sensitive areas of the home.

Indoor security cameras are useful for so much more than capturing and preventing criminal activities, but all their uses still provide what anyone wants from a security camera: a feeling of security. Motion detectors and 2-way speakers present in many modern cameras can allow you to call out these “uninvited guests” before any crime can take place, and on their own, provide a feeling of calm being able to check in on your home while you’re away. Keeping an eye on a loved one to ensure nothing goes wrong while you’re away is a luxury that’s hard to go back from. While not needed for every home, keeping an eye on things in the home is a benefit that’s hard to deny.