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Interview with a user of the new Gigaset outdoor camera
1. September 2020 Published by Raphael DoerrThe security portfolio of the Gigaset smart home system was recently expanded to include an outdoor camera. This enables customers to extend active property protection and monitor the outside area. An early user of the camera took the time for an interview and gave an answer to his impression of the product and his satisfaction with it.
Gigaset: Hello and thank you for taking the time to talk to us. You were one of the first users of the outdoor camera and have also documented its installation in pictures. Our first question would be: Why did you decide to use an outdoor camera?
User: My wish was to monitor the entire terrace area as well as the living room windows, since in the neighbourhood exactly these two points were used to enter houses. So the burglars had not gained access through the front door, but had always entered through the quieter, rear garden area.
Gigaset: So there was a concrete risk involved. Of course, burglaries in the neighbourhood make you take notice.
User: That is correct. I have been a user of the Gigaset smart home system for quite some time now. My patio windows and doors are equipped with window and door sensors, but the first floor is additionally secured with the Gigaset motion and siren. When I heard about the outdoor camera, I quickly realised that this was exactly the expansion for my system that I had been waiting for.
Gigaset: We are pleased to hear that. Our system is supposed to be a “do it yourself” approach for everyone. How did the installation go for you?
User: I had the following possibilities: I could have attached the camera directly to the house, if necessary in the area of the eaves/roof overhang. The advantage would have been a small distance to the camera, the disadvantage a small viewing angle or monitoring area. Alternatively I could have mounted the camera in the back of the garden. The advantage here is a large viewing angle or monitoring area. The disadvantage is a large camera distance.
Mounting the camera
Gigaset: What did you decide to do?
User: I chose option 2 because the wide viewing angle is very important to me. Accordingly, I attached the camera to my garden house, which is located at the back of the property.
Gigaset: How did the installation go? Did you have any problems?
User: Not really. I liked the assembly instructions. Actually everything went very quickly. I held the camera in the desired position, then used the drilling template to mark the screw holes and the insertion hole for the connecting cable on the garden shed wall, then drilled the cable hole and pushed the connecting cable through. Afterwards I only had to screw on the camera. This did not even take 10 minutes.
Installation of the Outdoor Camera
Gigaset: We’re pleased about that, and that’s exactly how we envisioned the installation. How did you get on with setting up the camera?
User: I am lucky that my garden house already had both a 230V socket and a LAN connection. I had this installed before. I was able to continue the process with the same ease. I plugged the connection cable into the connection box, connected the Ethernet cable and power supply unit to the connection box and finally plugged the power supply unit into the socket. The camera was now ready for operation.
Setup
Gigaset: That all sounds very fast. The last step now would be to set up the camera in the app. Since you’re already using the Gigaset smart home system, you probably knew your way around?
User: Correct. But anyone would feel the same way. The Gigaset elements app is really intuitive. You can’t do much wrong. I just had to start the app and add the new outdoor camera via the menu. Afterwards, as with the setup of all sensors, a step-by-step guide followed. A few clicks, wait a few seconds, and you’re done. So the installation was finished in a few steps and I could watch the first live recording on my smartphone.
Conclusion about the Outdoor Camera
Gigaset: Thank you again for your time and especially the documentation of the installation. What is your conclusion about the camera?
User: I like to experiment with new technology. So, you’re welcome. With the enclosed installation material and instructions, the camera can be mounted very quickly and set up in the elements app. The picture quality of the camera is very good – even without HD settings. Even at a distance of more than 10 meters, people and faces can be easily recognized. The night shots are also ok, of course the quality here is a bit worse than during the day. The microphone is relatively sensitive, many background noises like birds are recorded, but also voices are recorded very well. Overall I am very satisfied and would give the Outdoor Camera 4 out of 5 stars.
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