Fergie's Tech Blog

AT&T Launches Video Monitoring Service

An AP newswire article by Bruce Meyerson, via USA Today, reports that:

AT&T Inc. is introducing a home monitoring service that includes live video surveillance on a computer or cellphone, as well as lighting controls and detection sensors for motion, temperature changes and flooding.

The service being launched Thursday, priced at $9.95 per month, is compatible with any broadband Internet service. The cellular feature is limited to mobile phones from Cingular Wireless, a majority-owned subsidiary of AT&T, and requires the customer to subscribe to a wireless Internet package costing $10 to $20 a month, on top of voice plan fees.

A customer also needs to buy a $199 equipment package consisting of a tilt-and-pan video camera, a motion sensor for a door or window, a central router to connect those systems to the Internet, and two power-outlet modules that transmit the video between the camera and the router using the home's electrical wiring. Shipping is about $10 extra.

While a wide array of remote surveillance technologies have been available for some time, the AT&T system integrates a variety of capabilities and adds some novel features. There's no need, for example, to leave a home computer running to operate the system.

posted by Fergie @ 10/26/2006 01:39:00 PM