I’m away on vacation with my lovely wifey Pamela, and our first stop on the Gulf tour was the IP Casino and Resort in Biloxi, MS, where we met my older brother, his wife and their oldest daughter…
While roaming around, it was easy to see that the “eye in the sky” was ever present, and I do mean EVERYWHERE. Heck, at check-in, there were 17 cameras that I spotted without even turning my head around! On the 2nd floor, where the big buffet and the non-smoking casino area is, there were at least 60 cameras clearly visible. (How many were not visible?).
There were cameras in hallways, elevators and parking garages. Who knows, maybe even some in the bathrooms. (Let’s hope not).
What it reminded me of was how grateful I am that we have surveillance at our places of business (Homeland Secure IT has at least a dozen that you can see inside and outside), and at our home.
When we are away from work or home, we get alerts in email, letting us know that something, or someone moved in view of our cameras. We can then use our Android smartphone, computer or iPad to watch the cameras in real-time. They record video and audio automatically. They see in the dark, and offer very high resolution.
While setting up a casino is not outside our realm of expertise, setting up your home or business is right in the middle of our sweet spot.
If you crave the peace of mind offered by high quality video surveillance, then give us a call and let’s talk about how we can put a system in place that will meet your needs and desires.
We offer IP Network cameras, both wired and wireless, as well as conventional CCTV solutions. We are dealers for quality products from Cisco, Panasonic and other manufactures and we serve the Greenville / Upstate SC area.
864.990.4748 or info@homelandsecureit.com for more information!
Stranger lurks behind our office
I was reminded just how useful cameras can be after watching a segment on the news this morning where a young lady was using an inexpensive app on her iPhone that allowed her to check in on her dog by viewing the camera on her PC. She just happened to catch a burglar in the process! More on that HERE.
That story had a pretty happy ending. Through the use of the video captured, the police were able to apprehend the suspect, though I didn’t hear whether her iPod and chargers were recovered. If they have the right guy, thanks to a 5 dollar iPhone app, she helped get one more bad guy off the street.
Over the weekend here at our office, I received emails from our digital network video recorder (DVR / NVR) which alerted me to motion taking place around our building. Police cruisers driving behind the building are not uncommon, but the fella to the right who changed clothes, washed stuff off his boots and hands and left his clothing behind was pretty sketchy.
Thanks to the full motion recordings, we are able to offer law enforcement high quality photo stills and video, complete with time stamps, from several angles and cameras. (We have about 13 cameras around our office).
This type of protection is available for your home and office for an amazingly small investment. We have CCTV and network camera systems to fit every possible scenario and budget. From a single camera at your home, to 4, 8 or 16 at a small business, or even dozens of cameras with pan, tilt and zoom capability at your corporate office. We have cameras available that see in complete darkness, and even cameras that are so small you can’t see them (or may be disguised as a smoke detector, sprinkler head, exit sign, etc).
You can view the cameras in real-time from your iPhone, Android or even Blackberry smartphone, or any web browser, from anywhere in the world! You can be alerted when motion occurs in a particular area via an email. Recordings can be accessed days, weeks or even months after an event occurs.
For a free consultation about how security cameras can help protect your Greenville / Upstate SC property, loved ones, and even reduce your insurance costs, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com.
Since we have cameras at our offices and homes, it was only natural to want to see them on our new Android phones (Samsung Epic 4g).
IP Cam Viewer by Robert Chou for Android
We downloaded every app we could find in the marketplace and tried each of them out. Without a doubt, the best remote camera viewer was “IP Cam Viewer” by Robert Chou.
This app is only $10.00 to purchase, and free to use if you only have 4 cameras. The registered version will view all of our cameras at all locations as the app supports up to 32 cameras.
Will it work with your system? Chances are good that it will as it supports over 200 camera systems. It had settings for our office CCTV DVR where we have 8 cameras and our Panasonic IP cameras at the office (4 additional cameras) as well as the cameras that keep watch over our home, which are also Panasonic IP cameras.
We can view all of them at once on the phone, or view one large and several smaller frames. We can use the Pan-Tilt-Zoom functionality and a really cool feature is that we can enable the microphones and listen in at the remote site for the cameras that support that.
So if you are looking for the perfect app for your Android based phone, skip all the others, which seem to have annoying issues and lack of compatibility and download IP Cam Viewer Lite first. I bet you pay the 10 bucks and register it within 24hrs!
If you are wanting security / surveillance cameras for your home or business, we offer a wide selection of standard CCTV systems and IP Network Cameras, DVRs, NVRs, and more! Call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
badadadadadadadadadadadaadadad (Simulated drum roll)…
Hal Westmoreland from AccessAbility Services Inc, of Simponsonville, SC was the lucky winner of the wireless network security / surveillance camera giveaway for July! Congratulations to Hal!
Incidentally the first name drawn was Pamela Hoyt, my wife, which somehow didn’t seem fair, so we drew again.
I would like to thank everyone for playing our little game, those who are signed up will be automatically entered into our next contest… Watch for details coming soon!
Only a few days left until we giveaway the Wireless IP / Network Security Camera so be sure to get signed up to win….. Visit this URL for more information or hit the “follow me” link over on the right hand side of this page.
Next month, we will probably give away some awesome Trend Micro Anti-Virus product!!!!!
Thanks for playing…
IRS Tax Code Section 179 can save your business lots of money!
Time to upgrade your server or servers? Need new computers for your business? How about upgrading all your firewalls to the latest technology? New VoIP phone system? CCTV Cameras? Notebooks for all your field reps?
Congress extended the amount that small businesses may write-off for capital expenditures in 2010 to $250,000, and that means this may be the best year ever to upgrade your infrastructure!
Business Equipment:
Business owners who acquire equipment for their business, such as computers, servers, network & security equipment and other tangible goods, usually prefer to deduct the cot in a a single tax year, rather than a little at a time over a number of years. This deduction is known by its section in the tax code, a Section 179 deduction.
Under Section 179, businesses that spend less than $800,000 a year on qualified equipment, may write-off up to $250,000 in 2010. The rules are designed for small companies so the $250,00 deduction phases out when a business purchases more than $800,000 in one year. (Companies cannot write off more than their taxable income).
Benefits of a Non-Tax / Capital Lease:
The benefit of a Non-Tax/Capital Lease is that it can take advantage of Section 179: expense up to $250,000 if the equipment is put in use in 2010. In addition, you may depreciate any excess on the depreciation schedule for that asset. Examples of Non-Tax/Capital Leases include a $1.00 Buyout Lease, an Equipment Finance Agreement (EFA), and a 10% Purchase Upon Termination (PUT) Lease. Example: Assume you finance business equipment, put it in use in 2010, and take advantage of Section 179. Your tax savings could be significant:
An example of a typical server installation and how this applies might look something like this:
Cost of equipment: $9,500.oo
Section 179 reduction if expenditures are over $800k: —
Dollar for dollar phase out if over $800k: $9,500.oo
Section 179 write-off amount: $9,500.oo
Regular First Year Depreciation Deduction: -
Total First Year Deduction: $9500.oo
Cash Savings on your Equipment Purchase: $3,325.oo
(Assuming a 35% Tax Bracket, Deprecation 5 years)
Lowered Cost of Equipment after Tax Savings: $6, 175.oo
Tax Code Section 179 & Election to Expense Detail:
The election, which is made on Form 4562, is for the tax year the property was placed in service or an amended return filed within the time prescribed by law. The total cost of property that may be expensed for any tax year cannot exceed the total amount of taxable income during the tax year. Section 179 property is property that you acquire by purchase for use in the active conduct of your business. To ensure property qualifies, reference Publication 946.
This expense deduction is provided for taxpayers (other than estates, trusts or certain non-corporate lessors) who elect to treat the cost of qualifying property as an expense rather than a capital expenditure. Under Section 179, equipment purchases, up to the amount approved for a given year, can be expensed (deducted from taxable income) if installed by December 31st. Non-Tax leases qualify for this deduction in their year of inception. Any excess above the expensed amount can be depreciated depending on the equipment type. Not all states follow federal law. Contact your tax advisor for the specific impact to your business or visit www.irs.gov.
Further Detail:
Reminder: to take advantage of the tax incentives, your business equipment must be put in use by year-end. You should contact your tax advisor to learn about the specific impact to your business.
We can help you maximize this as we offer leasing and financing… Please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864-990-4748 for additional information!
Network surveillance camera giveaway
I present to you: July’s freaky fun thing from Homeland Secure IT…
We are going to give away a cool color WiFi IP surveillance camera!
These network security cameras are pretty nifty! They feature wireless 802.11b/g connectivity, or wired CAT-5 to your network, as well as full color via a 1/4″ CMOS sensor, with 640×480 resolution at 30fps (full motion). They support WEP and WPA encryption.
These babies can automatically email you a snapshot at the first sign of activity, so you can get it on your smart phone, or you can log in and watch the video feed live with a web browser or some mobile smart phones… It comes with software to turn a computer into a DVR to record the video.
Oh, did I mention that it features infrared illumination so it can see it total darkness? Yep… pretty cool!
All you have to do is to attach the little mount it comes with to a wall and then attach the camera to that, connect the power supply and your network cable, or you can program it to connect wirelessly to your network.
What’s the catch? There is none… Absolutely no purchase, no obligation to enter our giveaway, other than to get connected to us via our mailing lists or this blog. On this blog you can look to the right, and enter your email address in the “Follow Me” section and then hit subscribe and you can sign up for our email mailing lists HERE.
We combine the subscription lists from the blog and our two mailing lists into one list and draw randomly, which creates a loophole that can work to someone’s benefit – If you are subscribed to all 3 places, you have 3 chances to win…
Legal mumbo-jumbo: This offer is void where prohibited. Winner must pick up prize at our office in Greenville SC, or make arrangements for it to be shipped at his/her expense.
We will select the winner on July 31st 2010 and announce it the following week via a blog post, social media, etc!
In the meantime, if you want to purchase one of these snazzy cameras, we sell them as well as a full line of security and surveillance cameras and DVRs, so shoot us an email at info@homelandsecureit.com or call us at 864-990-4748….
PTZ or Pan Tilt Zoom cameras can change your outlook on life!
We have been using Panasonic network cameras which feature PTZ, or Pan, Tilt and Zoom here at Homeland since we moved into this building. They are awesome little cameras and I even use them at our home because they will email me when a car or person is in our driveway or front door, etc.
Earlier this week, I ordered a new system to install at our office. Not network cameras this time, but 8 channels of standard CCTV goodness with 600 hours of real-time recording time on the DVR (Digital Video Recorder). They *are* reachable via the internet using Microsoft Internet Explorer or a 3g phone like a Windows Mobile, and thanks to our great bandwidth here, we can view all 8 cameras in real-time at once from remote, as well as our Panasonic network cameras.
We opted for several different styles of cameras to use in this system. Four enhanced color dome cameras with night vision and 580 lines of resolution, a couple “bullet” cameras with 100+ft of infrared illumination for night viewing outside, and two PTZ cameras that will allow us to change what we are looking at from remote. We also purchased a heavy duty power supply to power all of these devices.
This system was not expensive, though it costs a bit more than some of the budget packages that are out there. We will be using it as a demo system to show potential clients what video surveillance can offer them.
What are you doing for physical premises security at your business? Could a small investment in a video surveillance system like this give you peace of mind or even lower your insurance rates?
Should you have questions, or would like to see a comparison between a standard CCTV system and a network camera system, give us a call at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com!
We offer a full line of CCTV and Network camera systems from Panasonic, Cisco, Sony, Digimerge, and many others!
Homeland Secure IT provides Greenville IT & Network Sales, Service & Consultation
I’ve noticed a trend where friends, family and clients alike will feel as though their IT service provider is only there to fix their broken computer. When they need a computer repaired, they call the technician. When they need server service for their business, they call the technician. When they need a new network drop in their office, they call the technician. But in some people’s minds, that is where it stops.
If you build a relationship with your IT support provider, they already know more about your network than you do in many cases. So the next time you are thinking about adding a VoIP (Voice over IP) phone system, network security cameras, access control system, biometric time & attendance (time clocks) monitoring, or even mobile devices, you might want to give your IT company a call and ask if these devices are a good match for your existing network, and if they can provide you with a quote.
At Homeland Secure IT, we want to ensure your technology experience provides you with the highest level of satisfaction possible. We will work to determine if that new gadget, say an Apple iPad, will easily integrate into your network. We will also tell you if it will not work well, and how that can be corrected. Give us a call and find out just how much more you can get out of your network! http://www.homelandsecureit.com/technology.html has a short list of some of the devices we work with every day. It doesn’t stop there. If a product integrates into a network, chances are, we can help you with it!
