COOLTOOLS
San Francisco Chronicle – Saturday, October 13, 2001
 Laura Thomas, T.K. Bailey

 

HOME ALERT

Spying on things that go bump in the night

 

While Silicon Valley is momentarily in something of a tailspin, the technological advances it has pioneered keep sparking product breakthroughs that make consumers' lives easier, and sometimes safer.

 

One techno-marvel in the latter category is the Voice Alert system, which signals when someone's coming up the walk or about to fall in your pool. It was introduced in August at the International Hardware Show in Chicago.

 

On guard

 

Retailers with unattended areas, homeowners with potentially dangerous attractions, overextended parents (or is that redundant?), jumpy home-alones, owners of oft-stolen vehicles and people with perimeters larger than they can successfully patrol may find peace of mind with the Voice Alert.

 

Three little pieces of high-tech equipment - two infrared heat sensors and a base receiver - enable users to monitor home entrances, pool/hot tub enclosures, carports and driveways, or other unseen locations from the comfort of the living room - or any room.

 

Sensors, each of which is about the size of a large bar of soap and includes an impressive array of circuitry, come out of the box preprogrammed to radio body-heat-activated signals to the base receiver.

 

This receiver resembles a shelf-system stereo speaker and incorporates a microphone so you can record different messages for the separate sensor locations.

 

You can buy more than one receiver, and all will receive the same signals. But, the receiver is wireless, you can also carry one along when you go upstairs for the evening. Each sensor covers a 40-by-40 foot area and receivers can pick up alerts up to 300 feet away - through walls. (Unobstructed reception is 1,000 feet.)

 

Weather-proof (but not submersible) and operable in daylight and dark, Voice Alert is a serious tool for monitoring impending arrivals, expected or not. But there's no law that says you can't have fun recording messages.

 

And because a digital chip makes messages a snap to change (just record over the previous one), you can set up for Halloween ("Trick or treaters at 12 o'clock") and easily switch messages the next day.

 

("Run, there's a bear!" should be good for a couple of laughs before the bloom goes off the bon mot.)

 

Best of all, sensors and receiver arrive with the required 9-volt batteries (you do have to install them). So, even though the receiver usually operates off standard current, the system will automatically switch to battery operation if the power goes out. Setup takes 10 minutes. First, program messages. Then, install sensors (with included double-face tape) several feet off the ground to avoid false alarms caused by stray dogs, etc.

 

But if you're monitoring children, mount sensors at their level and simply be prepared to weather a few false positives - a small price to pay to keep errant children out of your unwatched pool.

 

Where to buy

 

While it's not offered in the catalogs or stores that expressed enthusiasm at the Hardware Show yet (it should be in 2002), Voice Alert is available now directly from the manufacturer online or by phone.

 

The much more flexible Voice Alert compares favorably in price with strap- on, single-child "pool alerts" that retail for about $180.

 

A single sensor/receiver set is available for $199; the standard set with one receiver and two sensors is $249. Call (760) 633-3737 or order at www.voicealert.com.

 

- T.K. Bailey