Inspiration

My stress-free holiday

Article by Homes to Love

Last month Your Home and Garden managing editor Shelley Ferguson went on a family holiday to Fiji and thanks to her new smart home security system Morepork by Spark there was less stress and more peace of mind

Shelley

My family and I headed to Fiji for a much-needed long weekend of relaxing and recharging, and it was awesome. We packed, prepped and touched down amped for some tropical time out. We tackled the pre-holiday to-do list, and thanks to our new smart home security system, Morepork by Spark, the house was one major responsibility we didn’t have to worry about.

Fiji

Take a peek
I’ve had the system for a couple of months now and already it’s proved invaluable. When my husband was away and I had an event to attend, I just used my smartphone to disarm my Morepork to let the babysitter and the boys into the house. We even solved a little mystery at our place. By using the “Peek in” function on the app (which allows me to see what’s happening at home by requesting a still photo or live video feed), I found out that a big ginger tomcat had been eating our cat Lily’s food!

In the loop
For this holiday, I’m using the “Loop in” function. I’ve set up my Morepork so that if a sensor is triggered and the alarm sounds, my neighbour is notified and can check that all is okay, without me needing to lose any of my long-awaited quality time with my family. She can also disarm Morepork to let herself into the house to feed Lily.

Arm myself
It’s also nice to know I won’t annoy the neighbours with a piercing alarm that can’t be switched off – because I can simply arm or disarm the system directly from the app on my smartphone. In the past, I’ve actually not set my house alarm when we went away on holiday, simply because I was worried about disturbing the entire street.

 

House-pics

Clean sweep
After staying in a comfortable resort, nothing says “holiday’s over!” like arriving back to a messy house. So this time I’ve asked my cleaner to come in while we’re away. I’ve assigned her a Morepork user code, which means I’ll receive an alert when she has arrived, and another when she has reset the Morepork and left the house.

Good sport
My husband Steven is a surf lifesaving and swimming coach, and our garage is packed with sports gear the Piha team use to train. There’s a competition the weekend we’re away, but rather than stress over logistics, Steve has assigned his athletes a user code so they can access the house and get the gear they need. There’s a camera in our garage, so he can “Peek In” to check they’re taking the right gear, and when it’s safely back in place.

Don’t fret, pet
Our cat Lily is part of our family and my two boys love her. Having Morepork installed means we haven’t had to put her into a cattery for our long weekend away, as strategically placed image sensors are designed to allow pets to move around at floor level without triggering the alarm. But my four-year-old sleeps with her every night, and I know he’ll still miss her. Luckily, checking on his fur baby is easy. By using the “Peek-in” function on my smartphone, we can actually see Lily perched on the couch at our house. My four-year-old is chuffed, and, I have to admit, so am I.

Now, all there is to worry about is which cocktail to order. I couldn’t be more switched off, unless I actually switched off my smartphone – although I think I’ll keep it on this time, because it’s my Morepork that’s giving me the peace of mind to finally relax.

Dining-room

Peace of mind these holidays is just an app click away with Morepork by Spark

– Give family, friends or neighbours access to the app. If you choose the Professional Response plan, alerts go to a home security monitoring service too.

– Check in on the teenagers at home, or pets, builders and babysitters (just let them know!). Request a still photo or live video feed using the “peek in” function on the app.

– There’s no need to annoy the neighbours with a piercing alarm that can’t be switched off, because you can turn Morepork on or off from the app. That means it’s also no problem if you’ve forgotten to set the alarm before you leave home.

– If your alarm goes off, you can see a photo or video clip of what triggered it so you can decide what to do. If it’s a false alarm, you can simply reset your Morepork.

– View your history. See a record of what has happened in your home by viewing the history list.

Morepork looks after the things you love:  www.morepork.nz

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