When a parent lives alone, the question on your mind most days is a small one: are they up, and are they all right? Phoning three times a day wears on both of you, and a stream of motion alerts from a camera tells you very little.

Agent DVR records their cameras to its own disk. It can run on a small computer in their home, or on your own computer, connecting to their cameras over the internet. From your phone you can look in live, or ask an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini to look for you: it goes through the day's recordings and gives you the short version, with times and pictures you can check. You can also describe a check you want made, and it becomes a rule that runs by itself.

Do not rely on it alone. This is a way to check in, not an alarm. It does not detect falls or medical emergencies, and it can miss things or be offline when it matters. It does not replace a personal alarm, a carer or a visit.

On your phone, however far away you live

An iSpyConnect subscription from $7.95 a month puts their cameras on your phone: live and recorded video in the iOS and Android apps, alerts as push notifications, and the AI assistant in the Claude or ChatGPT app. One flat price covers every camera, and the apps need no port forwarding. Agent DVR itself is free on a home network, so you can set it up and try it before you pay.

Plans from $7.95/month Try it free at home first

What it looks like

Did the carer come today, and how has Dad been?

Yes, she came. Looking at the hallway and kitchen cameras today:

  • 07:55 - your dad came into the kitchen and made breakfast.
  • 10:02 - a woman in a blue tunic let herself in at the front door. She was in the kitchen with him until 10:40 and left at 10:44.
  • 13:15 - he made lunch and took it through to the living room.
  • 15:30 - he went out of the front door with his walking stick and came back at 16:05.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Want the live picture from the kitchen?

Things to ask

  • Has Mum been in the kitchen this morning?
  • Did the carer come today, and how long did she stay?
  • Where is Dad right now?
  • Has anyone come to the front door today?
  • Show me the kitchen across the day.

Rules to set up by asking

  • Every day at 10am, tell me if the kitchen blind is still down.
  • Tell me if nothing has moved in the kitchen by 9am.
  • Weekdays between 9 and 11, tell me when the carer arrives.
  • Between 8am and 9pm, tell me if nothing has moved in the living room for two hours.

Rules run on your own server with no assistant connected. They need Agent DVR 8.0.7 or later, and questions about what is in the picture need an AI provider set up in Server Settings - AI Settings. More rule examples

Why build it this way

Ask once instead of phoning three times

One question gets you the shape of their day, with times. Follow up on anything that looks odd and get the clip, then phone because you want a chat, not to check.

Ordinary cameras, only where you both agree

Any IP camera or a USB webcam works. Put them in the rooms you have agreed on together, such as the kitchen, the hallway and the front door, and leave bedrooms and bathrooms alone.

A voice in the room

If the camera has a speaker you can talk through it, and a rule can speak a message when something happens, such as someone arriving at the front door.

Their home stays private

Recordings are kept on the computer that runs Agent DVR, in their home or yours. Nothing is uploaded ahead of time: frames go to the AI assistant only when you ask a question or a rule needs to check a picture.

What you need

1

A camera

Almost any IP, ONVIF, RTSP or USB camera works, including a spare webcam. You do not need a special bird, pet or doorbell camera. Look yours up in the camera database.

2

Agent DVR on a computer

Install it on Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker or a Raspberry Pi. It records to your own disk and is free for private use on your own network. Download.

3

An AI assistant

Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI or any other MCP client and start asking. Free on your own network. From your phone or the cloud it is part of an iSpyConnect subscription from $7.95 a month. How it works.

Set it up

1

Agree where the cameras go

Decide together, then add them: on a computer at their home, or from your own by their home's external address. See Adding Cameras.

2

Get it on your phone

A subscription puts live and recorded video in the mobile apps with nothing to open on their router. See Remote Access.

3

Ask, and set the check-ins

Connect an AI assistant, ask how the day has gone, and describe the checks you want, such as "tell me if nothing has moved in the kitchen by 9am".

Good to know: Set it up with your relative's agreement, tell carers and regular visitors that there are cameras, and check the rules on recording where they live. A rule about nothing moving cannot tell a still room from a camera that is offline, and it starts watching afresh if Agent DVR restarts, so it can miss a quiet morning. A rule can also look at a set time and tell you what the picture shows. Each rule that looks at the picture is capped by default at 30 AI calls an hour so it cannot run up your AI bill. Agent DVR needs a computer that stays on. It can be in their home, on the same network as the cameras, or in yours: add each camera by their home's external IP address and a port forwarded to the camera on their router, and give the camera a strong password, because it can then be reached from the internet. Speaking through a camera needs one with two-way audio set up in Agent DVR and a connected iSpyConnect account.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a camera to check on an elderly parent who lives alone?

Yes, with their agreement. Install Agent DVR on a computer that stays on, at their home or your own, and add one or more cameras. With an iSpyConnect subscription from $7.95 a month you can look in from your phone, from anywhere, and ask an AI assistant how their day has gone.

Can it tell me if my parent has had a fall?

No. It is not a fall detector or an emergency alarm, and you should not rely on it as one. You can ask the assistant to look at a camera at any time and it will describe what it sees, but an AI model can misread a picture and a camera only covers part of one room. For falls, use a personal alarm made for the job.

Can it tell me if they have not got up this morning?

Yes. Ask for it in a sentence, such as "tell me if nothing has moved in the kitchen by 9am" or "between 8am and 9pm, tell me if nothing has moved in the living room for two hours", and it becomes a rule that runs by itself. You are told once, and the rule is ready again as soon as there is movement. It cannot tell a still room from a camera that has gone offline, so it says nothing then. You can also ask "has Mum been in the kitchen this morning?" whenever you want to know.

Do I need their permission?

Ask first. A camera in someone's home should be there because they have agreed to it, and it works best when they know what it is for and where it points. Keep cameras to shared rooms, tell carers and regular visitors, and check the rules where they live: the law on recording people in a home, and carers at work in particular, differs from country to country.

What does it cost?

Phone access, the mobile apps and push notifications are part of an iSpyConnect subscription from $7.95 a month: one flat price, however many cameras there are. Agent DVR is free for private use on a home network, so you can try it first. The AI provider you use may have its own costs.

Download Agent DVR Plans from $7.95/month

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