HowTo Articles

How to View My DVR With My Cell Phone or iPhone

How to View My DVR With My Cell Phone or iPhoneTechnology is changing more and more every day, and it has affected all sorts of electronics, including security camera systems. Although you typically had to sit directly in front of the monitor in the past in order to monitor your surveillance camera footage, this is no longer the case. Nowadays, you can stream your surveillance footage onto your smartphone or other device from anywhere in the world, making it easy to keep a close eye on home or business-related security.

Why Monitor Your Home Security System From Your Cell Phone?

Although you might be wondering why you would ever want to monitor your home surveillance footage from your cell phone, you should know that there are actually plenty of reasons to do so. In fact, once you get used to being able to view your DVR from your cell phone or iPhone, you will probably wonder how you ever got by without being able to do so.

The first reason why a lot of people like to view their surveillance footage from their cell phones is because they want to be able to keep an eye on their kids. If you have children at home but spend most of the day at work, you probably know how it can feel to be worried about your kids. If you leave them with a babysitter, you might wonder if he or she is doing a good job, watching them carefully and making sure that they abide by household rules. You might even be a bit nervous that he or she is harming them in some way. If you have surveillance cameras installed in your home, however, you can check in on your little ones and their babysitter or nanny with the touch of a button from your cell phone. This can provide you with peace of mind and can allow you to do something about whatever might be going on in your home. Even if your kids are old enough to stay home by themselves, you might worry if they made it home safely. With security cameras that you can view from your cell phone, however, this doesn’t have to be a concern.

There are other reasons to view your DVR from your cell phone or iPhone as well, however. For instance, you can check on your home while you are on vacation, and you can even peek in to see if everything is OK at your house while you are working.

Should You Monitor Your Business Security System From Your Phone?

Although you might understand the benefits of monitoring your home from your cell phone, you might be wondering if you should look for the same technology for your business. However, there are just as many reasons to consider doing so at your commercial company.

First of all, it is always a good idea to keep an eye on your employees. Even though you might not want to think about it, your employees might decide that the time that you aren’t around is a good time to snoop through your office, steal from you or simply slack off or break the rules. Employee theft is a lot more common than you might think, and it can cost you a lot of money. If you are able to monitor your surveillance cameras from home or on the go with your cell phone, however, you can keep a closer eye on what your staff members are up to. From making sure that everyone still gets their work done while you are away to spotting out employee theft that is costing you a fortune, you can really find out what is going on at your commercial business when you aren’t around if you can use your cell phone to view your surveillance camera footage.

Another reason to consider watching this footage is so that you can check on your business and get peace of mind when you are at home relaxing or when you are traveling, whether for business or pleasure. It’s totally natural to worry about your company when you aren’t around due to all of the blood, sweat and tears that you have probably put into it, and it can be difficult to actually relax and enjoy yourself or get things done on business trips when you are feeling worried and anxious. With the capability to watch your footage from your cell phone or iPhone, however, you will be able to quickly and easily get peace of mind because it will only take a minute or two to zoom in on your surveillance footage and see what is going on.

Having surveillance footage that you can stream on your cell phone is also a good thing in the event that some sort of disaster or crime strikes your office. Being able to spot what is going on from afar can help you make the necessary decisions and moves in order to get the situation back under control, and you can also check on your business during a major storm or other natural disaster that might have you concerned about how company’s structure fared during the disaster. All in all, you can get a lot of peace of mind and make necessary moves in order to run your business more effectively and efficiently if you are able to view your DVR footage from your cell phone or iPhone.

Purchase a Cell Phone With These Capabilities

Before you will be able to view your surveillance footage on your cell phone, you have to make sure that the phone that you have is capable of streaming this footage. Older-model phones might not offer this capability, so consider searching for information about your phone or reading your cell phone manual to find out if you can stream footage on your phone. If you can’t, you might want to spring for another phone so that you can enjoy these capabilities and more. Although you might think it will be costly to purchase one of these phones, you should know that some of the more affordable phones do offer these capabilities, and you might be able to get a good deal on your phone if you sign a contract with your cell phone provider. Contacting someone from your local cell phone store is a good way to find out more about how to acquire one of these phones.

Where Should You Buy DVR System Equipment?

Since you are planning on making a pretty big investment by purchasing a new digital video recorder and other related equipment, you should make sure that you are purchasing the right model. Although you might have seen a few systems at your favorite mass market retail store that offer these capabilities, it is typically a better idea to avoid these systems completely. Instead, you should look for a system that you can rely on to provide you with high-quality footage and lots of good features, and you will also surely want a system that will last for a long time. By shopping at a store that specializes in selling cameras, digital video recorders and other similar security-related equipment, you can often get a better deal on a better system, and you can also benefit from talking to individuals who are highly experienced in selling and installing security-related equipment instead of a teenager who works in your average mass market retail store.

Shop for a DVR System That Will Link to Your Cell Phone
If you think that you can use your existing DVR system in order to watch your footage on your phone simply because you have a capable phone, you might be disappointed to find that not all DVR models offer these capabilities. You should still consider reading your system’s manual or looking for more information online before switching to another system, however, because you might find that you already have these capabilities in place.

If you don’t have a DVR system that allows you to send your footage to your cell phone or iPhone, you will need to shop for a system that does. Fortunately, there are more and more of these systems hitting the market today, and many of them are surprisingly affordable. You should know that some of these systems are a lot more user-friendly than others, however, so make sure that you look for a system that will be easy for you to use. By talking to a security professional, you can get tips about a system that is within your price range and that works well for streaming surveillance footage to a cell phone or other device.

Purchase the Appropriate Security Cameras

Along with shopping for a digital video recorder that allows these capabilities, you will also need to purchase and install security cameras for your home or business. When purchasing your cameras, make sure that they will work with your DVR system; in some cases, you can purchase cameras as a package deal. You will need to look for cameras that are appropriate for your needs, however, so make sure that you purchase cameras that are meant for outdoor use if you are planning on using them outdoors; if you can’t find an outdoor use camera, you can also try looking for a protective cover or box that will keep your security cameras safe from the elements when they are placed outside. It is also important to look for a camera that will be able to capture good footage in the lighting conditions that it is exposed to, so consider looking for cameras that automatically switch back and forth from night vision to regular vision when lighting conditions change for best results.

Install Your System

After you have purchased all of the equipment that you need in order to view your DVR from your cell phone or iPhone, you will need to install it. You can always hire a professional installer to help you, but it might be a task that you can handle on your own. When installing your cameras, make sure that you hang them in places where they can’t be easily tampered with, and also ensure that you are able to capture good footage of the area that you are putting under surveillance.

Set Up Your DVR System

After installing your cameras, you need to link them to your DVR system. This is generally relatively easy to do if you follow the manual. Then, you will need to link your footage to your cell phone by installing software or downloading an app that will allow you to do so; this is what will allow you to watch your surveillance footage remotely from your cell phone or iPhone.

Test Everything Out

Once you have everything installed, you will need to link your surveillance footage to your phone and test everything out to make sure that it works. There are a few things that you should look for; for instance, you should make sure that you can clearly see the important areas that you are trying to keep under surveillance, ensure that you are able to easily stream your footage onto your cell phone and make sure that you clearly understand how to work your system, both from your DVR device and from your cell phone. A bit of practice and tweaking in the beginning will help ensure that your system is ready for you to use when you really need it.

Alternatives to Watching Your DVR From Your Cell Phone

If you don’t have a smartphone, you might think that you won’t be able to monitor your surveillance camera footage from another location. Fortunately, however, there are other options. If you have a laptop computer, for instance, you can typically rig it up to watch your surveillance footage just as you would with a cell phone. Another option is to use your tablet for this same purpose, and you might even be able to use one of the newer e-readers for remote video camera surveillance as well.

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