Intelligent home environments are one of the
major application areas of pervasive computing. Safety and
security are two most important issues in the remote monitoring
and control of intelligent home environments. This article takes
safety and security into consideration together and proposes a
phone-out-only policy for ensuring security and virtual home
environments for safety. A remote monitoring and control
system for a security camera is used to illustrate the new
methodologies for safety and security. By using the
demonstration system people are able to easily monitor and
control a security camera, central heating, microwave oven and
washer from anywhere by using mobile phones. Our system
distinguishes from the existing DTI (Department of Trade and
Industry in the UK) next wave technologies and a few of
on-going EU projects in the ways of dealing with safety and
security and its simplicity. Remote monitoring and control of
intelligent home environments can be of great benefits to the
working families and holiday makers and has a great
commercial potential