My husband and I always talk about what really goes on when we are not at home. With a “mini-zoo” we’re curious to see what our pets do all day.
I know our dog usually goes after one of our cats (he’s very jealous of her – she has health issues but he sees it as spending more time with her). I did an experiment where I pretended to leave for work and opened/closed the front door, just to see what our dog did when he THOUGHT I was gone. Sure enough I found him going after that one cat. He doesn’t attack her, per say, but rather he gets a little “frisky” with her, if you know what I mean. Being asthmatic she cannot handle his weight on her and the pressure on her lungs.
We also wonder what our kids do when we are not home. We have teenagers so they are OK to be home by themselves. We know that they spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
We have thought about getting a camera to video tape what goes on when we are not around, but the ones we looked into are too complicated to set up. Not only that, you have to adhere them to a wall, and we didn’t want to do that. We wanted something that offered a bit more flexibility.
A few weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to review an Oco Camera.
The Oco Camera is a small, unobtrusive camera that is so simple to set up that even a “technologically challenged” person like myself could set it up in as little as 1-2-3. Normally my husband has to help me set up “techie devices.” This was one of the rare times where I was able to set it up on my own.
This is how easy it was to set up.
- Plug in the camera.
- Download the FREE Oco Camera app
- After you create an account on the app a QR code will appear. Place the code in front of the camera so it can “read” it and you are done. That’s it! There is nothing more to do. It literally took mere minutes to set it up.
With other cameras you have to configure your router (or add it to it), charge the device, or mount it on the wall. They are typically more involved to set up. The Oco Camera was by far the easiest thing I have ever had to set up. It’s almost like a “plug and play” device.
What I really like, aside from the ease of set up, is that you can put the Oco Camera anywhere you want. You don’t have to mount it anywhere (unless you want to). You can move it from room to room and set it up at a different location depending what you want to see.
The Oco Camera sends you alerts too to let you know what the camera is “seeing” or what is going on wit the camera (if it’s turned on, or turned off, detects sound or motion…).
The alerts come to you via the app which you can view on your phone or mobile device. I have the app on the phone and the app sends me messages when the Oco Camera detects something.
The video you see from your app is a live stream of what your camera sees. We did notice there is about a 1-2 second delay from what we see and what the Oco Camera sees, but that is not a problem at all.
The camera also records at night via night vision.
A cool feature with the Oco Camera is that you can record and send a message via the app. Someone can respond back via the camera too (it’s a two-way talk feature). That is handy when you catch your kids don’t something wrong or if you want to let your dog know you’ll be home soon.
You can even record and save the recordings to the Cloud. The first year is free when you purchase the Oco Camera. After that, if you wish to continue saving the recordings to the Cloud there is a monthly fee. I don’t plan on saving any of our recordings, so I’m not worried about that.
FYI… If you purchase the Oco Camera and want to watch the live streaming (or even recordings) do so with your phone sideways for a larger view. I was watching them on my iPhone in the normal position until I realized turning it on it’s side (the same way you would record a video) gives you a much better view.
The quality of the video is really good too. I was impressed by that. It’s pretty clear. You get a good view of everything that the camera sees.
Check out a live stream demo from the Oco Camera site HERE.
Up to 16 people can also view the streamed content, so my husband and I can both check on things at home. If you use this for your place of business you can allow the store owner and managers to access the content (up to 16 people) so that everyone can check in to make sure everything is OK.
Why would you want an Oco Camera? In our case it’s to check in on our teens when we are not home (it also lets us know that they are home from school) and to see what our pets are up to. The Oco Camera can also be used as a baby monitor and as a security camera.
Oco is an indoor camera. I cannot be used outdoors.
I never thought I would use this camera as much as I do. I like being able to see things going on at home when I am at work. Nothing ever happens (occasionally I see one of my cats walk by), but that is OK with me.
If you would like to learn more about Oco Camera visit GetOco.com/US.
SAVE 20% with the discount code SHESCRIBES20 (Valid until June 21, 2015) on the Get Oco website.
Would you have a need for Oco Camera? If you owned one what would you use it for (security, check in on pets, baby monitor…)? Feel free to share your thoughts.
Kimberly
*I received a free product sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.