Home security has come a long way since the days of bloodhounds on the stoop and a musket at the door.
In fact, recent progress in home security technology approaches levels of sophistication only dreamed of in sci-fi movies!
Here is a quick look back at the evolution of home security:
After the First World War, the West experienced the Great Depression with its attendant poverty and population displacement. This led to concerns about crime and home security. Insurance companies, seeking to lower their risk, began offering premium discounts to alarm subscribers, thereby increasing consumer demand. This confluence of factors created the ideal breeding ground for the emergence of the modern home security industry as we know it today.
To say that early home security lacked some of the sophistication we know today is a slight understatement. “Door shakers” are a case in point. They were men hired to rattle subscribers' doors at night to make sure they were locked. But there were also hints of what was to come. Some early systems included electromagnetic contacts attached to doors and windows which were relayed to a battery and bell. Some systems were even monitored at a central station
And then there's video surveillance:
Who can forget George Orwell's depiction of the ubiquitous Big Brother watching over our every move in 1984? This novel was penned in 1949; coincidentally the decade when video surveillance technology saw its emergence.
By the 70s, video surveillance was making its way into homes. Early versions comprised large moving cameras on tracks that beamed grainy signals back to a stationary monitor and control panel.
Let's not forget fire safety:
A Canadian study in the 60s determined that equipping homes with heat and smoke detectors could reduce house-fire fatalities by up to a staggering 41%! These findings contributed to a host of new policies and standards for smoke detectors in homes, which contributed to a 50% reduction in U.S. fire deaths between 1975 and 1998.
Today you have to be an expert just to keep up with all the mind-boggling advances in home security—“Door shakers” have been replaced by remotely controlled, web-enabled devices; today's cameras are one square inch and stream high definition video anywhere in the world; while smoke detectors are connected to the internet and can be monitored and controlled from wherever you happen to be.
If you are considering a security system in Calgary, give Guardian Security Solutions a call. We've been installing and monitoring Calgary security systems since 2005! Our technicians are certified to install the custom alarm system in Calgary that suits your needs.