BiiSafe Turns Old Smartphones into a Remote Security Solution

    Got an old Android phone or iPhone laying around? Espoo-based security app BiiSafe allows you to take advantage of all of your old phone’s sensors to use as a remote monitoring solution, sending updates to your main phone if it hears an alarm going off at your home, or if you want to be sent photo or video of what’s going on in the office.

    It makes a huge amount of sense considering how a smartphone gives you a near full-package of security features, like motion sensing, audio sensing, a camera, and can tell if the power is connected to the device or not. Additionally, an old Android smartphone is cheap compared to the up-front cost of installing a hardwired security system, and much more flexible. If you want a hacked together security system on your boat for the summer, you could throw a phone onboard and take advantage of all the sensing and tracking powers.

    “Today’s technology with smartphones and other mobile devices provide enormous amount of new possibilities also in the field of safety devices and services. Location sharing and alert sending are just a couple of examples”, says BiiSafe’s CEO Jouni Suutarinen.

    The BiiSafe app allows you to add up to eight monitoring devices to your account with the premium plan. On the monetization side of things, the app going with the freemium model, allowing two alarms to be connected for free, with more features and devices coming in their $1.99/mo or $3.99/mo plans.

    BiiSafe is also pushing the app also as a personal security solution, allowing your loved ones to see where you are at all times. Or more realistically, so you can track your kids. There’s value in being a full-security solution like that, but I found it confusing to figure out what the app actually does, with so many mixed messages between the personal and property security. It’s my day job to figure out what startups are doing, so it might also be confusing to consumers.