Surveillance cameras or known as Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) are devices that users rely on to monitor homes, offices, or any important places for us.
Especially when the house is left to travel while on vacation or will stay outside for a long time. Then if we have valuables stored in our home, then CCTV is a great tool to monitor it.
As technology develops, monitoring footage from CCTV can also be done from a smartphone, so users can monitor their homes remotely.
In addition to CCTV cameras, you can also use old cellphones as surveillance cameras. This practice can be done by using an application that can conjure up old cellphones as a substitute for CCTV.
How to use a cellphone as a CCTV
This method can be applied to smartphones based on Android or iPhone. So, the first step that you need to do is to prepare your phone. Next, follow the steps below.
1. Install the security camera application
There are various security camera applications available in the application store, both the Google Play Store and the App Store.
However, most security camera applications offer similar features, such as local streaming, cloud streaming, recording and saving video footage, motion detection, and alerts. So you can choose any application that suits your needs.
One of the security camera applications that you can use is the Alfred Camera application. This application is available for both Android and iOS smartphones.
Install this app on both your old phone and the phone you will be used to monitor video recordings. Once installed, select the “Camera” option on older phones.
2. Set the phone placement location
Once the camera menu is activated and streaming begins, you need to prepare a place to position the phone as a CCTV. Choose a location that is safe and can reach many areas so that home surveillance becomes more optimal.
It’s a good idea to choose a location that is not so conspicuous. In addition, it would be better if the old phone is placed near a power source in order to keep the phone remains active.
To support the phone, you can use additional tools, such as a tripod, or some kind of holder so that the phone remains in its position and it is able to record at the right angle.
3. Activate various supporting features
In the Alfred application, you can activate the motion detection feature. As observed by us, this application is quite sensitive in detecting movement and immediately recording every movement.
Another feature that can be set by the user is the audio which can be turned on/off. There is also an option to use the front camera or the rear camera from an old cellphone that is used as CCTV.
The features on the cellphone that act as a monitor include activating notifications, adding users who have access to surveillance cameras, viewing recordings, and adjusting the sensitivity of motion detection, as we summarized from CNet.
But make sure you use the same account between the old cellphone that acts as CCTV and the cellphone used for monitoring. Apart from the Alfred app, you can also use other security camera apps that are available for free.
