Every marketer knows that a deep understanding of the product they promote is essential. When I first joined the Reconeyez team, I asked if I could test this innovative system myself. 

Installation, I was assured, was a breeze. The only time-consuming aspect was the initial setup, which could consume up to an hour. Subsequent installations, however, were lightning-fast, often taking just a few minutes. 

“You’ll do fine,” reassured my colleague after noticing my enthusiasm turn to hesitation after I opened the demo case. “We’ve got YouTube video tutorials, meticulously crafted step-by-step guides, and a support team ready to answer your calls—even on weekends.”

“I’ll get to it soon,” I promised, naively thinking it would happen sooner rather than later.

Fast forward 11 months, and my demo kit was still occupying a lonely corner of my kitchen, despite the support team’s persistent questions about how the installation went.

I decided it was time. To keep the momentum going, my colleague and I made a friendly wager: whoever successfully installed the system first would claim a coveted prize—a book of their choice.

Now came the question of where to install it. Three options presented themselves:

• My own backyard (0 km).
• A summer cottage on a remote island (311 km) – involving a 5.32-hour journey.
• A summer cottage on the mainland (157 km) – a more accessible 2.2-hour drive.

My backyard seemed mundane, capturing little more than my cat’s daily walks and naps in the garden. It hardly did justice to a security camera designed to safeguard critical infrastructure or even national borders, did it?

The island cottage, although remote and intriguing, required a taxing 5-hour drive and a 30-minute ferry ride. Perhaps a tad too ambitious.

The mainland cottage, less than 200 km away, seemed like a more practical choice, especially given occasional reports of break-ins in the area. 

Meanwhile, we were planning to test a new Time-lapse feature. One of the testing locations was a 3-hour drive from most team members and a mere 40 minutes from my location. Since I was the closest, I decided to grab my demo kit and install it myself. Since it was an important task and my first deployment,  my colleague from dev-ops preconfigured my devices, so I didn’t have to fuss with SIM cards or server configurations—it was all ready to go.

However, an unexpected illness struck me down. Consequently, my other colleague had to transport his own devices for the testing, installing everything himself. But this meant that I now possessed a preconfigured, ready-to-install system. Was it cheating a little if I installed it now in my summer cottage and claimed the prize? Kind of. But it also felt like the deus ex machina of my installation story.

I had been skeptical about my ability to outpace my colleague in installing the system, but what happened next truly surprised me.

Is it really that simple?

Leaving the area after my first installation. Real photo from Reconeyez cloud

I’ll be honest: I was prepared for hiccups and complications even with the assistance I had received. But to my astonishment, everything went off without a hitch. “Is it really this easy?” I wondered.

After choosing a suitable spot, attaching the antenna to the Bridge, and inserting batteries into the devices, I received a live image of myself within moments, sent directly to my phone.

Now, it was time to explore the settings in the cloud. I selected the photo quality (maximum!), the time interval for technical check-ups (every hour, just to be safe!), and so on. 

Of course, I was impatient and wanted to see at least every hour that there were no strangers wandering around the territory. After 1.5 months, I noticed a significant battery drain. With no two-hour drives planned anytime soon, I had to modify the settings to preserve battery life. I changed the maintenance check frequency from hourly to just twice a day, and the battery, which had plummeted to 30%, lasted an additional two months.

It really is flexible and customizable.

This flexibility and customization in Reconeyez’s system struck me. Not only could it be installed in challenging locations with no access to power, but the installer could also prioritize either an extended battery life or top-notch photo quality. The ability to adjust settings remotely from anywhere in the world was a game-changer.

What have I seen with my camera so far?

Two badgers, two cats, one spider, and numerous birds. And fortunately, not a single intruder!

An unexpected visitor – badger! Real night-time photo from Reconeyez cloud

Another night-time visitor captured by Reconeyez detector.

Did I emerge victorious in our friendly bet?

Absolutely! (Fortunately, my colleague didn’t mind the help I had received!)

What did I learn from this experience?

The task I had postponed for nearly a year took less than five minutes to complete. Procrastination had cost me the time I could have spent exploring the full potential of Reconeyez.

Me with the prize

Reconeyez builds and develops intelligent wireless outdoor camera solutions for enterprises. Initially designed for border control, our cameras are now used commercially in more than 50 countries worldwide. The used materials are of the highest quality and exceptionally long-lasting, even in the most demanding environments. All Reconeyez devices are developed, built, and assembled in the EU. For more information, please send an email to info@reconeyez.com or request a free demo.