Back after a while - Looking for Mac system

[thewinelake 0]

Hi,

 

I was here a couple of years ago and looking into replacing my Swann 4 camera system with something more useable.

 

One of the problems I have with the Swann system is that it was designed to be sold cheaply in CostCo - so technically quite decent, but skimped on usability. Hope that's not too controversial to say!

 

Some of the problems:

1) Very hard to remotely (or even locally) view recordings - eg. if I want to rapidly scan through some footage, it just won't allow it - will just play the clip in real time.

2) Buggy Mac software keeps bombing out

3) Alarm keeps going off and I can't stop it (yes, I've tried disabling all the places I can find in the GUI)

 

Then there are more sophisticated things I'd like to do that the scripted Mac based systems (I tried security spy) could do very nicely, like emailing me with little chunks of "interesting" video (eg. the postman walking up the drive!).

 

Not sure if Security Spy is still one of the better games in town (I quite like it) but I'm also interested in integrating with motion detectors that use z-wave. That was a bit trickier, but hopefully z-wave to AppleScript technology has improved recently. Or maybe with the arrival of HomeKit, it hasn't!

 

Should I consider trying to use any bit of Homekit? I don't have any hardware that supports it at the moment.

 

But maybe there's a thread or two around here that detail people's adventures setting up Mac or PC based security systems?

 

What I'm looking to do in general is:

1) Get early warning of external activity by text/email

2) Be able to remotely inspect inside and outside house with cameras (maybe even a small drone?!)

3) Be able to review who was lurking around in the night (eg. if I think someone tried to break into my car)

4) Maybe link alarms or other deterrents to the system

 

Thanks for any advice or views...