With the advent of street lighting over a hundred years ago, pundits speculated that the world’s major cities would stamp out crime, which flourished mainly in the dark. I will make no such predictions in our own age regarding security lighting, alarm systems and security cameras controlled through the Internet. I will say, however, that without such tools, condominium complexes are more vulnerable to break-ins, tenant assaults, vandalism and even frivolous lawsuits.
Indeed, an enormous range of security applications can be run on broadband over power lines, cable – even DSL. Security cameras, lighting and alarm systems are often included in modules devoted to energy management. These tools allow condo managers – as well as unit owners – to manage condo security from one’s own computer onsite or even from remote locations as readily as one might control the heat and air-conditioning.
Imagine being connected to a network that simultaneously allows condo managers and unit owners to turn on their alarm systems, control and monitor security cameras and switch on lighting via the Internet. Such systems can even burn CDs of videoed crimes as evidence for law enforcement or to forefend pesky lawsuits.
The network-delivery platform can also support a host of data and communications services, including front-gate intercom, direct lines to police precincts, high-speed Internet access, voice-over-Internet protocol and even Internet television.
By way of example, at a 213-unit, 17-story condominium complex on New York City’s upper west side, condo managers and residents enjoy a system that allows them to do these things and more. The security systems monitor the halls, lobby, sundeck, storage areas and bicycle room. The overall effort is part of a pilot project being carried on by the management company with the cooperation of Consolidated Edison (the local utility); EarthLink (an Internet service provider); and Ambient Corporation, a publicly traded technology company devoted to delivering broadband services through power lines.
The condo manager there is finding out what many building managers have already learned elsewhere: Broadband by power lines is cheaper than traditional cable, faster than DSL and less intrusive than either. When cable companies wire an entire building, they have to drill through the street to the building’s basement and then drill holes through each of the building’s floors to run the cable to each unit. None of that is necessary with broadband by power line. The Internet signal is connected to repeaters, which are attached to the power lines. As the power lines shunt the electric current into the condominium complex, another device zips off the Internet signal and feeds it into the in-wall electrical wiring.
Managers and unit owners can even access these systems wirelessly. And if the power goes out, most systems have a battery backup system that can keep the network up and running for an appreciable length of time.
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Author : Timothy S. Carey
Timothy S. Carey is former president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority.
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