4 common misconceptions about connected home surveillance

False positive spy the expensive and constraining power failure The Protected House of OrangeComments

Are you hesitating to set up a connected surveillance solution for your home? It is completely normal to ask questions and to have preconceptions about the systems put in place. We explain to you why certain preconceived ideas are no longer true today, in particular with solutions like Maison Protégée by Orange.

Source: Tobias Tullius via Unsplash

To put these assumptions to rest, we are going to rely on Orange's connected surveillance solution with its Maison Protégée offer. This is a turnkey service with no obligation. If you want to protect your house or apartment, all you have to do is sign up on their website. A technician will then make an appointment with you to install the equipment in your home free of charge.

Here is precisely everything that the Orange solution does not do.

Misconception #1: By taking a remote monitoring solution we no longer have privacy

Remote surveillance solutions involve installing surveillance sensors at key locations in your home: motion detectors with photo capture, door opening detectors and of course an alarm. They are present to detect an intrusion and one could then think that this device monitors the slightest action and gesture of the user.

It is not the case at all. All detectors, for starters, are only active when you want them to be. In the case of the Protected House of Orange, you activate the system whenever you want, for example via the app.

Opening detector, numeric keypad for the alarm, motion detector with photo capture, infrared motion detector, alarm unit… These accessories do not monitor you, they only work when you are away or when you need them.

And even when they are active, they do not communicate permanently with the monitoring center of Orange. In fact, remote monitoring agents are only alerted when the alarm goes off, motion sensors pick up suspicious activity, and you don't answer calls to notify you of a trigger. In this case only, they watch what is happening in your home. You are always the first alerted.

Finally, it should be noted that none of the monitoring devices of the Protected House of Orange incorporates a microphone. You will never be listened to by this monitoring device which is above all an extra pair of eyes.

Misconception #2: Detectors and surveillance cameras can alert me for nothing

If you have a night owl type pet, you can legitimately fear that it will panic every night with the various motion sensors located in your home. This is called a false positive and can quickly render a monitoring device obsolete.

Here again, this is an a priori. Strategically placed by the installer so as not to be accessible to our animal friends, the Orange sensors are thus capable of ignoring the movements of pets weighing less than 30 kilos.

No matter how much he walks around at night, he will never set off the alarm. // Source: Paul Hanaoka via Unsplash

In addition, when a suspicious movement is detected, you are notified by a phone call, a text message and an email. This notification can take several forms:

You then have the possibility of indicating that there is no danger or of handing over to the remote monitoring centre. If an intervention is necessary, the remote monitoring center triggers the intervention of the security guard and/or the police.

Misconception #3: In the event of a power or Internet outage, there is no longer any protection

A connected surveillance solution is necessarily dependent on electricity and the Internet to function. This is indeed the case. In the case of Orange Maison Protégée, the various detectors are all connected to an alarm center which takes care of centralizing the data and communicating it via the Internet. So when the power goes out or the connection breaks... all the protection should fall and your home should become vulnerable.

In fact, security and monitoring devices still work during outages. On the one hand, the various detectors operate on batteries. Even when there is no power, they therefore continue to operate.

The alarm panel is equipped with a GRPS SIM card. In the event of an Internet outage, it then connects to the Orange mobile network. It also has a backup battery, in case of an unexpected power outage.

As for the alarm centre, if it is well connected to the mains and connected to the Internet via the WiFi of your Internet box, it has a backup battery (and warns you via a notification if the power cut lasts more than 30 minutes) and also has a SIM card to switch to the mobile network in the event of an Internet cut.

Misconception #4: The installation is long, expensive and restrictive

Monitoring your home requires more or less equipment depending on its size and nature (in a house? in an apartment? upstairs or on the ground floor?). There are therefore more or fewer sensors to install, which is costly and complex. Not to mention the uninstall. What to do with sensors if you no longer want to have a surveillance system in your home?

From this point of view, Orange Maison Protégée is the most flexible solution on the market. There are no quotes or the need to buy and install the hardware yourself. All you have to do is sign up for a no-commitment monthly subscription on the Orange website. An advisor will then contact you to make an appointment with a technician.

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He will then come to your home to assess your home, install the entire system in the best possible way and explain how it works. An installation that takes no more than two hours. The appointment is free and you do not pay for the equipment installed at your home. Its price is included in the monthly subscription.

Finally, as it is a non-binding solution, you can end the monitoring solution whenever you want. The cancellation fees only cost 49 euros and you must return the equipment by La Poste. Simple, effective and unrestrictive.

How do I subscribe to Orange's Maison Protégée service?

To find out all about the Protected House of Orange, we have created a special page on Frandroid. Here are the prerequisites to be able to subscribe to this offer:

Maison Protégée has two offers, depending on the nature of your accommodation: either a house or apartment on the ground floor, or an apartment upstairs. The material and the device change according to its layout. This explains why there are two different rates: €19.99/month (for 6 months then €25.99/month thereafter) for an upstairs apartment and €26.99/month (for 6 months then €32.99 €/month thereafter) for a house or apartment on the ground floor.