Watching intruders on your cellphone

The security industry is using mobile text and picture messaging technology to combat break-ins and vandalism.

Using the fixed-line telephone network, security companies monitor thousands of security alarms around New Zealand.

Under this system, they know instantly when a sensor is triggered - but their operators do not know what triggered the alarm. That is changing.

Obertech Security, which monitors alarms for customers across the central North Island from its New Plymouth base, has begun equipping its customers with cameras that are capable of transmitted images via a broadband connection.

The cameras have movement sensors so they send information only when motion is sensed.

Obertech's customers use digital video recorders to save the footage and a video feed is streamed back to Obertech.Of the handful of customers using the service so far, most have Jetstream DSL connections.

Software designed by Australian developer Surelab allows Obertech's monitoring staff to then send those images out to MMS (multimedia message service) capable mobile phones for their customers to check.

Text messages are also sent with details of what has triggered the alarm.

"We've got the ability to blow the image to the client's cellphone," said Norm McLeod, managing director of Obertech.

"Then the client can agree to let a person in or identify [him or her] as a possible intruder."

The same technology is being used in the Wonderland theme park in Sydney.

Park staff monitor the site in real-time and receive alerts via email and text messages if someone is in a restricted area of the park.

For Obertech, the use of MMS for security monitoring is limited by the slow uptake of MMS capable phones.

"We can't send them to a lot of people because the technology isn't there yet," said McLeod.

He said it was yet to be seen who would gain the upper hand in the MMS market,

At the moment it appeared Vodafone had the stronger offering - but "I don't know who's going to win the race."

How to enter

Mobile application developers are invited to enter the Frontier transtasman competition being run by the Herald with Ericsson.

The competition seeks to find the best mobile applications in New Zealand and Australia.

There are prizes for winners - and the chance to pitch applications to potential investors. See the website for details.