Local insurance broker and tech guru Andrew Biscay was recently looking for a way to protect his home after a string of car and home break-ins hit his neighborhood. This is what he did to make sure his family was well protected.
Nov 18th, 2019 by Andrew Biscay
As somebody who works incredibly long hours, I oftentimes stress about my wife and two daughters (ages 1 and 3) at home while I'm away from home. We live in a changing world and after a recent uptick in crime, I wanted to make sure I could keep an eye on my home and family while not home. As somebody who has been a first adopter of technology, I always find family and clients turning to me for advice for home security. Naturally, I decided to give the RING lineup of devices a fair shake. Here is what I found.
Doorbell
For most people, the Ring Doorbell camera is their first purchase in the Ring lineup of devices. The doorbell itself is less than $200, and comes with both a hardwired and battery option standard. We chose to install hardwired, since we had the wiring in-place already from our previous doorbell. We did not need to have any special wiring experience, though you should be comfortable around electricity and know proper safety procedures. Surprisingly, the installation only took about 10 minutes and we were totally up and running. Right away, we began getting notifications when folks would approach our front door, and push the button to ring our bell. The easy-to-use app automatically records both so you can go back and review footage, but also see real-time. This is especially useful for seeing when Amazon packages are delivered and also interacting with guests or solicitors without unlocked or opening the door. About 3 weeks in, we were approached by two young people who mistakenly tracked their stolen phone back to our home (the school bus drop-off is near our property), and showed by yelling + banging on the doors loudly. I was able to call the police, instruct my wife to stay inside, and defuse the situation while my wife stayed inside to protect our family and property. I’m honestly not sure what would have happened if she opened the door to greet them. At that point, we knew we wanted to beef up our system even further.
Spotlight Cam
Naturally, we wanted to be able to see the whole driveway + street. We also loved that the Ring Spotlight cam which includes a motion-activated powerful LED light AND this was completely battery powered (rechargeable) which was nice in an area with no wiring. Sold. As an added benefit, this was our first device that included a siren feature that was easily activated in the app. At $199, we found this a great add-on option that allowed us to add even greater security features. In fact, we ended up buying two so we could also install one near the exterior access door on the back of the garage. Note: Amazon oftentimes has 2-packs for $350.
Plug-in indoor camera
Next, I knew getting a camera inside my garage would be a great idea. My garage has an outlet, and of course has no exposure to the elements so the Ring Indoor camera for $59 was a great value. Garages are oftentimes the target of break-ins. Since we have a connected garage w/ outside access as well as access to the home, we for sure had to add this option. This gives Kat a lot of peace-of-mind when she hears a noise coming from the garage. She can quickly open the app and see the entire garage. What an upgrade from before.
Stick-up cam (battery)
Finally, we found ourselves with an additional area where we wanted a camera + siren + 2-way talking but didn’t need a light and didn’t have an outlet. The Ring stick-up cam saved the day. We quickly mounted this to a post in our yard and boom, was able to add a whole new view to our ring app. This was the shortest install yet, of only about 2 minutes.
With a relatively small overall investment, we have a whole new sense of safety. The night vision is amazing which helps so much in these cold and dark Minnesota 4pm sun-downs. We also subscribe to the $99 program that allows you to store (longer), and share video footage from the app. As a bonus, that subscription also opens up access to the full self-installed ring alarm home security kit. We haven’t taken that step yet, but that’s next as soon as we’re finished with our current interior monitoring service.
Here's a real example of what was shared in my neighborhood just 3 nights ago.
Bonus: Most local police departments are now on Ring so can send local alerts directly to the app for instant neighborhood updates. Also, you and your ring-enabled neighbors can share out alerts + video clips so everyone around you can completely stay in the loop of neighborhood events as they unfold. I’ve never felt more up-to-date with the happenings in my neighborhood until now.
The installation of everything was extremely easy. The only thing we needed was a wi-fi (of course), free downloadable app, a screwdriver (included), and you will be totally up and running.
Biscay Score: 10/10 Absolutely amazing so far on every level. This has brought us significant comfort for our growing and busy family, and Ring has made the purchase, install, and monitoring a complete breeze!
We’ve included links below to the products we’ve talked about today. I highly recommend starting with the doorbell, and then adding products from there.
Drop a comment below and feel free to email any questions to Andrew@SouthLakeMN.com!
Don't forget to let your insurance agent know when you get these device to make sure you earn any qualifying discounts!
Please feel free to get a home insurance quote from us anytime at SouthLakeMN.com/quote
Andrew Biscay
President, South Lake Agency Inc
24000 Hwy 7 Excelsior MN
952-856-5500
ENJOY!
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