OK, I'm back....if you want to have your cameras monitored by a security company, there is a monthly fee. My cameras are not monitored. Whenever there is movement in front of my cameras, I am notified by a bell on my phone. If something looks suspicious, I can call 911 even if I am away. In the mean time, a video is kept on my phone to help with the ID of the bad guy. In our area, they use the video systems to help convict.
I noticed the link you sent is in Canada. Are you in Canada? I am unfamiliar with systems there or if they monitor., Here in the US, Vivant is a popular company where you own your own cameras etc and they do the monitoring. Girlfriend has an old camera and monitoring system from Best Buy. She is only paying to receive indoor camera action, no monitoring. Her camera is top quality. But those pictures were screenshots off my phone while I was not at home. I think they suffice for what we are using them for. You just screw them in (or set the camera somewhere), plug it in and it goes.
I also have a KUNA light fixture. www.kuna.com It is a wired in porch light on a timer and a camera. It gives me notifications on my phone as well for when there is activity by the porch light. I can also turn the light on and off on using my phone. I can answer the door via speaker, or recorded message: "I can't come to the door right now. This is being recorded. Please leave a message." Or, "Hi Mary! I am upstairs. I'll be right there!!" They never need to know if I am home or not. DH is handicap and it takes him longer to get to the door. This way, he can see who is there and decided whether if he want to make the effort to answer the door. And with the cameras, he can watch to see if something serious enough is going on even from the bed and decide if something needs to be done.
BTW we don't live in a high crime area. Most of these cameras we installed for DH's convenience. It's one thing answering the door at 9 pm if you are on foot vs in a wheelchair. Or if he hears a noise outside, all he has to do it look at the app from where he is. And it's kind of nice when I am notified by Amazon (Both via camera and text) that a package has been delivered, and I can ask a neighbor to pick it up if I am not home. Hope this helps.
As far as police not wanting to use camera images, my feeling is that my cameras, two of which are indoors looking out of window, and the warning signs are deterrents. Most simple bad guys want no issues but just to get the goods and leave. They don't want to deal with dogs, scaling gates, or cameras, or security systems. I figure if they see all we have installed, they will just move on to the next target and skip us.
You made the search a lot more simpler.
