New Comcast service uses Xfinity broadband for home security
Comcast has introduced a new service that uses its Xfinity broadband internet to provide home security.
“We have a more robust product than security companies,” said Kevin Gunkel, Xfinity home security manager.
The basic monthly cost – with a three-year service contract – is $29.95. a preferred package is $39.95 per month. Both packages come with control equipment and a small amount of monitoring equipment. To cover a house with multiple motion-sensors, cameras and glass-break monitors, customers must buy additional equipment upfront.
As Gunkel explains the service, it integrates home-automation and security functions in a single package that can be controlled by a touchpad at home or with a computer or smartphone away from home. one advantage over traditional home-security systems, he said, is that Xfinity’s program is wireless, eliminating the need for snaking wiring through walls.
Equipping a home with the security and automation features enables homeowners to reprogram lights or thermostats at a distance. they can have email or text alerts sent every time a monitored door opens in a home, for example, and if they’re suspicious, they can call up a live image from a monitoring camera.
As is the case in many security services, a monitoring service calls a homeowner if an entry is detected (without the system being reset with a code). If the homeowner or an alternate contact can’t be reached, the monitoring service will contact law enforcement.
The idea of using broadband capability has not escaped other telecommunications companies. Matt Kelley, spokesman for Frontier Communications in Fort Wayne, said. He said that Frontier is running some small test projects on home security. By the end of this year, the company expects to decide whether to offer home security as part of its available services and whether to do so in cooperation with a corporate partner.
Fort Wayne isn’t the inaugural market for Xfinity home security, but it is being rolled out in phases around the country. Gunkel said it was first offered in Houston in 2010. The services the company offers now through Xfinity may prove only a foundation to build on.
“This is an evolving product,” Gunkel said. “there are already plans to come out with additional products and features.”
For the details – and there are a lot of details – on the costs and features of Xfinity home security, go to comcast.com/homesecurity/product_details.htm?SCRedirect=true
