A recent update to the Echo Show system has activated a very interesting function that could attract the attention of those users who are away from home and would like to keep an eye on what is happening at home. This is the “Home Surveillance” function, an option that will turn your Show into a surveillance camera that you can review remotely.
Amazon Echo Show as a surveillance camera
Considering that the Echo Show 5 , Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 10 have a built-in camera for video conferencing, it was quite strange that this camera could not be used for other types of functions. That is just what they have activated with the new feature of the Home Monitoring system, which will allow us to connect to the Echo Show to take a quick look at what is happening around you.
The difference between this function and doing a Drop-in is mainly that the Echo Show will not show the image of the person who is taking control of the camera, since unlike what happens in Drop-in video conferences, in In this case, the only intention is to remotely browse, and not to communicate with another person. Drop-in requires the attention of the user on the other side of the camera to activate it and start the chat, while the Home Surveillance we can activate the camera immediately in a matter of seconds.
Can I communicate with the other side?
When starting the video, the interface will show two icons of speaker and microphone that will remain in mute mode. If you activate them, you can hear what is happening on the other side, and you can also send sound from the microphone of your mobile phone from which you check the camera remotely.
Therefore, you will be able to talk to the other person who is on the other side of the camera in the same way that you would with a camera with two-way communication, although do not forget that that person will not see you unless you start a Drop-in video call. In the case of the Echo Show 10, you can also use its pan function to move the orientation of the camera so you can keep an eye on everything around the smart speaker.
How to activate Home surveillance mode
To activate the Home Surveillance mode in the Echo Show you will need to have the operating system updated to the latest version. To check it, enter the Settings panel of your Echo by touching the top of the screen, gesturing down and clicking on the settings button that you will find on the right. Go to Device Options and click on “Check for Software Updates”.
Once you have the Echo updated to the latest version, you must follow the following steps to activate the Home Surveillance mode:
- Go back into your Echo’s System Settings panel. Be careful, this is done on the Echo itself, and not from the Alexa application on your mobile phone or tablet.
- Access the Camera section
- You will see the option Home surveillance with a button on the right that will remain disabled. Activate it by clicking on it.
- When activating it, you must confirm your access data to your Alexa account for simple security. The screen will ask for your Amazon account password to complete the account verification process.
- Once the password is completed and confirmed, click on Done to confirm the configuration and complete the process.
How can I see the camera view of my Echo Show?
With the Home surveillance option already activated, now you will only have to access the Alexa application on your Smartphone and enter the devices tab. There, in the “Cameras” group, the Echo Show camera that you just configured will have been immediately added, so you will only have to click on it for the broadcast to start and you can see what is happening on the other side.
Is it better than a security camera?
Although the remote video and communication function through the microphone and the speaker works really well, in reality this function does not replace the capabilities that a security camera can offer, since it is not capable of configuring detection zones nor send notifications when someone is in front of the camera.
For cases in which you require a higher level of alerts or more precise surveillance, you will have no choice but to purchase a security camera that allows you to have greater control of the room it monitors.
About camera privacy
But let’s not forget that by taking control of a camera remotely we could be violating someone’s privacy. If your Echo is in common areas and even if you want to keep an eye, you prefer to warn of your interference, you can do so by selecting the options that will appear on the Camera settings screen within the options menu.
There you can add a delay to the video so that, once you try to connect, the video appears blurry for a few seconds so that the other person in front of the camera has time to react and decide to leave or not in the broadcast.
You can also add an audible warning with the Audio Alert function, which will only launch an alert when the camera starts broadcasting, so that those monitored can be aware of when the camera has been activated or not.
Anyway, something that will be permanently active and that cannot be avoided is the message “A family member is looking at your camera”. It is an informative message that will serve to alert that said camera is being controlled remotely, so if you are in front of it, you will be able to know that they are seeing you at that precise moment.
If you want to end the surveillance, you only have to click on the Stop button, and a message will inform you that the family member has stopped remotely viewing the camera.
