Home Alone No More

There are a million things that run through your head when it comes to summer vacation. What should you pack? When should you leave? How are you getting there? Where are you going to eat? Who is going to take care of the pets while you are away?

In the summer it become increasingly more difficult to find someone who can take care of our two cats while we, as parents, try to make this summer unforgettable for ourselves and our children. As difficult as it is to find someone who can care for your pet while you are away, there is nothing more difficult than handing over those keys and trusting that the furry parts of your family are being attended to. It takes a lot of trust to let others into your house while you are gone. Wouldn't it be great if from time to time while away, you could check up on things at home?

If there were a way to monitor your house without investing an outrageous amount of money, would you do it?  Piece of mind is great but spending thousands of dollars on a home monitoring system isn't where I want to spend my money. Luckily, for us, there is Canary from Verizon.

The Canary is smart home security for everyone and it's easy to use. Just download the app to your phone and plug it in to a power supply and you will be instantly monitoring your home for a fraction of the cost. With the Canary, you can stream real-time video of your home with the 1080p HD camera that gives you a 180 degree view and it monitors your home whether you are there or away 24 hours a day.

Get instant alerts sent to your phone when activity is detected and view recorded video of the activity right from your smartphone. Want to watch multiple spots in your house? Buy more than one Canary unit and you can make sure your pet fish is getting fed or that the back door that sticks has been locked properly.

The Canary has multiple settings including privacy where the camera and microphone are turned off, armed, where motion activated recording happens with mobile alerts, or disarmed where motion activated recording happens without mobile alerts. Notifications sent to your phone give you the option to either sound a 90+ decibel siren remotely to scare off any intruders or call an emergency service as you witness what is happening in real time.

Infrared mode far left, home screen, and updates right to your phone on far right

With a Canary unit well placed in your home, if you are upstairs in your house while alone and you hear a sound downstairs, never fear, switch to Watch Live via your phone and listen to the high quality audio and video it records. Most monitors don't have night vision but the Canary has automatic infrared LEDs that respond to lights going on and off in your house.

Canary records activity in the Cloud throughout the day so at the end of your day you can review your timeline of activity. A yellow band indicates how long movement was detected. After viewing the footage, you can either tag, bookmark, watch live, or share the video footage via email or messaging with a caretaker or family member so that they are aware of what is happening too. If you're on vacation and you want to catch up on what happened at home, you can view audio and video for up to 30 days.

The Canary also monitors interior temperature in case your power goes out while you are away and you find out the air conditioning you are relying on is not on for your pets you can alert someone. It also monitors humidity and air quality inside your home as well.

On a recent trip to Canada, Canary kept me apprise of our pet's status at home. Luckily, I mostly received notifications of my cat who kept setting it off because he likes to sleep in front of the unit.   But, I also had notifications of the teenager I hired coming in and out of my house along with a time stamp about when it was happening so it gave me great piece of mind that they were being fed in a timely manner.

Each unit goes for $199 but if you shop now, you can save $20 at Verizon right now. If Canary seems like a good fit for you and your family, head to a Verizon Wireless store or purchase one online and get a great deal on a Canary home security unit so you make sure you don't leave the things most precious to you home alone.

Disclaimer: This post was created in partnership with Verizon Wireless. As a Verizon Influencer, I received the Canary home security device from Verizon in exchange for my honest review of the product. All opinions expressed are my own. #VZWBuzz