Liftmaster’s latest models feature a garage door opener with a camera. They have had a few come out recently and they just replaced the 8360W, one of their DC-powered chain drives, with the 84505 R. That’s their mid-level machine with the built-in camera. Liftmaster is calling it the Liftmaster Secure View.
Basically, it has a camera built into the bottom that you can have facing toward your garage so when your garage door opens you can view the camera through your Liftmaster myQ app. You will be able to see who’s coming in.
They did a big push with this with their Amazon key service as well. This is where you let Amazon have permission to open your garage door, to leave packages, groceries, and things like that, to try to stop porch pirates and people from stealing packages. Then they closed the door down safely behind them as they leave your packages inside the garage. That’s a feature that they came out with probably about a year or so ago. I’m not sure how many people are taking advantage of it. We’ve mentioned it to our customers, and the majority of people don’t want the Amazon delivery drivers going into their garage.
Another concern we have is if there’s an issue closing the door, say they go in and bump a photo eye and can’t close the door. So how do we fix that? There are still some kinks to be worked out, but it’s definitely the future of package delivery. And I know Amazon really wants it because, you know, when their packages go missing, Amazon is usually liable and they have to resend it. So I’m sure they want to mitigate those losses, which is another reason for the big push of this Amazon Key service.
Back to the camera, a garage door opener with a camera is actually a very handy feature. Almost all the top-tier models now have a camera built-in. It’s only the contractor grades, I believe, that don’t have the built-in camera.
The only non-camera premium series machine they have is the 84501, which is the belt drive that replaced the 8355W. All the new ones, the newer premium, and elite models have built-in LEDs, which is nice you don’t have to worry about light bulbs anymore and they’re very bright.
We’re still primarily doing the contractor-grade units and those are the ones that don’t have the camera. They do have a separate camera that you can retrofit to your existing machine that has a magnetic bottom to stick to it. If you want the camera, and you have a newer machine that’s just not quite so new that it doesn’t have the built-in camera. If it’s a feature that you want it’s a great way to add the camera to your existing machine.
The future is coming, I have some stats from Liftmaster on what they have found as far as people interested in the camera and the smart home technology. A recent study with them said 70% of people use their garage as their main entry in and out of the door, and I believe, the majority of people we work with use the garage door as the front door.
It is nice to know who’s coming, and who’s going especially if you have someone coming to the house like a dog walker. You can see them come, and see them leave. Making sure they’re doing their job. Or if you have kids, it’s a big one. People with kids love this because they can see the kids coming and going and make sure they’re not sneaking friends in when they’re not supposed to after school or things like that.
It’s becoming a popular feature to have. As you see, almost everybody now has a ring doorbell so they can see who’s coming and going through the front door. Well, it makes sense that this technology starts moving over to the garage that most people are now using as their front door.
Liftmaster actually surveyed 1000 homeowners and found out that more than half of people with young families do want this smart camera technology. It is popular and gaining traction with people. We haven’t done a whole lot of them but I’m sure it’s coming. Liftmaster is really pushing the smart technology to have smart locks as well for the front door. They have this camera, and accessory cameras. You can put it up anywhere and they’re planning on coming up with more smart home technology that will integrate with myQ.
Definitely, something to keep an eye out for. Most people love myQ technology mainly because they can see if they remembered to close the garage door or not. Sometimes you forget, especially if you’re in a hurry. With myQ, you could see on your phone whether or not the door was closed. Now you can have visual confirmation. Yes, the door is closed. So you know for sure that that door is closed, and your home is safe. And, you know, you can go about your day without worrying about that, at least.
So personally, I’m not really too sure. I do like having camera capabilities. I do like seeing who’s coming and going. Our garage is tucked into the side of the house. So it is nice to know that there is the ability to check that out and make sure that things are safe and secure.
A lot of the older customers that we work with have no interest in adding any more technology to their homes. But younger families want the camera. They want to be on top of their home and know what’s going on at all times.
Liftmaster looks like they will soon be implementing these cameras in most if not all of their garage door openers. It will soon be a question of if you are going to set it up and use the feature or not.
Leave a comment below on your thoughts. Is a smart camera on your garage door opener something that you want?
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