Piper : Home Security

I know when we are about to go on holiday, we often sit and strategies how we are going to tackle security for our home. I don’t think we are alone in this. If you are going away, whether it’s for a day, weekend, or longer, it’s a real worry, that something might happen.

We have an alarm, and have upgraded our locks. For us, we need something to give us greater peace of mind. Something that gives us complete confidence when leaving our home. Well with this in mind, we’ve been testing out an award-winning, brand new, home automation and security device, the Piper.

Piper

This really is a neat clever device. There are no monthly ongoing fees to pay, and does not require you to get an expert in to install.

1. You simply take the devices provided AA batteries (these are for backup power) and put them in the back of the device.

2. Plug in the power cable – you will need to reattach the stand afterwards, unless you want to wall mount the Piper, then use the wall mount provided.

3. Next download the Piper App

getpiper.com/download (ios/android)

4. Wait until the piper light is blue, then open the app.

5. Create an account by following the instructions on your phone.

Please note, this took quite some time to set up, as its was updating, but also the Piper app didn’t at first see the Piper we wanted to connect to. Once connected though, it had remained connected so far.

So what’s so special about the Piper?

Alerts and notifications

Once you are all set up, you get told when something is detected at you home, with a phone call, text message, or email you can then watch a video of what got Piper’s attention. you can also add other trusted people, so Piper will contact them if you’re for some reason unreachable.

Smart hardware

With a motion detector, microphone, piercing siren, and battery backup.

Two-way Audio

Piper can be used as a video intercom, allowing you to interact with your pets and family from anywhere. I’m not sure we will use intercom whilst out, as we have a dog, and I can imagine that might scare him, or make him bark.

Like 4 cameras in one

Piper’s field of view is very wide, here is a still from the live video from Piper. We have set it up for the time being in our kitchen, though we will move it to it final place after this review. My kitchen is around 20ft long, so I was surprised, that it picked up the entire length of it.

It also uses something called Quad view and shows you four parts of the same room all at once. Not a feature I’ve use yet.

Recording

Piper will automatically record video of events that you decide are important – when someone enters the room, a loud sound occurs, or a door or window opens. This is something that I think is one of its most important features for security.

It is possible to also buy an additional pack Z Wave pack, so that you can automate lights etc, something we haven’t got, but I thought it important to mention, and its something we are considering purchasing as we really are interested in fully automating the house.

piper screen shot of app page on my phone

Your home’s vitals

I love this feature as Piper gives statistics on the environment of your home throughout the day – temperature, humidity, ambient light, ambient sound, and motion. See when your home gets hot, cold, and when it’s the busiest.

You can also tell the piper you have a pet (in the settings) so it doesn’t record their movements.

For a home security system I do think that it very affordable at £140 for one unit. Its well designed, both the style of the Piper and the app, as its very intuitive to use. We’ve enjoyed road testing it, and can’t wait to see where this is going to go eventually as we seem to be getting closer and closer to fully automating our homes. Exciting times!

I was given a free Piper, my thoughts expressed here are my own however.